Principal, Infrastructure Architecture

Job Description

As a Principal, Infrastructure Architecture, you will partner with IT, Operations and business stakeholders to lead development of infrastructure architecture, particularly for high complexity and high-risk IT initiatives. You will provide direct support to development teams and to the Lead infrastructure Architect. May be called upon to perform the duties of the Lead Infrastructure Architect as events warrant. Provide thought leadership on infrastructure aspects of architecture. The Infrastructure Architecture team is responsible for establishing the strategic direction and leading the development and support of infrastructure solutions globally for all RBC businesses including, Technology and Operations, Insurance, Investor & Treasury Services, Personal and Commercial Banking, Capital Markets, & Wealth Management.

What will you do?

The ideal candidate will have a sharp business mind, understand user needs and align them with the products, designs and patterns that are being created or can be re-used.

Infrastructure Architecture

• Develop the strategic vision and architectural direction for infrastructure within the Enterprise
• Represents Infrastructure Architecture as required at architecture governance reviews, such as ARB (Architecture Review Board), EAB (Enterprise Architecture Board), IAR (Intermediate Architecture Review) etc.
• Meets with a broad range of business and IT stakeholders to gather requirements for the design of infrastructure solutions.
• Acts as the primary infrastructure contact for applications across the Enterprise, with a focus on resiliency, Safety & Soundness, non-functional requirements, scalability and security that is both pragmatic and that lays the foundation for a long-term strategy.
• Develops infrastructure architecture related artifacts - current and target state, roadmaps, strategies, policies, standards, guidelines.
• Presents technical architecture to clients and forums including the ARB and EAB.

Developer/Engineering Expertise

• Proven experience in software development or engineering roles.
• Mastery of at least one programming language, such as Python, Golang, Java or JavaScript.
• Strong understanding of software design patterns, data structures, and algorithms.

Infrastructure and Architecture as Code

• Familiarity with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and Architecture as Code (AaC) concepts.
• Hands‑on experience with tools like Terraform, Pulumi, or similar IaC frameworks.

Generative AI Expertise

• Experience working with Generative AI technologies and frameworks.
• Familiarity with Generative AI concepts, including Prompt Engineering, Agentic AI, and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG).
• Hands‑on experience with Generative AI tooling, such as MCP Server, GitHub Copilot, OpenAI APIs, or similar platforms.

Technical Leadership & Mentoring

• Advocates architecture principles and provides infrastructure expertise, feedback and development to mentor others.
• Produces infrastructure architecture artefacts including diagrams and blueprints as defined by the PMF/SDLC and reviews with Lead Architects and the key program/project stakeholders.
• Reviews infrastructure architecture to ensure compliance/fit in the portfolio.
• Ensures that new projects / programs meet enterprise application, infrastructure standards and follows enterprise governance framework and processes.

Collaboration

• Facilitates meetings and builds rapport to review infrastructure architecture, decision making and problem solving.
• Resolves technical issues and escalates as appropriate.
• Prepares and delivers presentations to business and technology partners and senior management/executives.
• Resolves conflicts/issues and escalates as appropriate.
• Facilitates knowledge transfer and collaboration to other architects and operational support teams.
• Defines design guidelines and best practices.

Training & Professional Development

• Stays current on technological advancements, identifying potential benefits and risks to the implementation / use of new and evolving technologies.
• Continually enhances skills and builds knowledge in all aspects of the organization, the business and information systems.
• Identifies operational or architectural risks and recommends mitigation strategies.
• Leads and/or oversees initiatives to contribute to the ongoing reliability and security of systems/applications.

What do you need to succeed?

Must have

• 7-10 years of enterprise industry experience at defining infrastructure architecture, with a major focus on resiliency, nonfunctional and security
• Solid t