Chief Architect

Oddball believes that the best products are built when companies understand and value the things they are working on. We value learning and growth and the ability to make a big impact at a small company. We believe that we can make big changes happen and improve the daily lives of millions of people by bringing quality software to the federal space. 

What you'll be doing:

We are seeking a Chief Architect to join our Oddball labs team to lead our technical vision, set architecture standards, and ensure Oddball delivers scalable, reliable, and future-proof systems. This is a senior technical leadership position for someone who picks the best tool for the job, hands-on when needed, and also has experience with AI/ML enough to know when it makes sense to use it.

This is a highly visible, hands-on role where you’ll define Oddball lab’s technical vision, support growth and sales efforts,  implement ideas through agile experimentation and delivery cycles.

What you’ll bring:

• 7+ years of experience in software engineering / systems architecture / technical leadership roles.
• Experience in deploying application to production environments
• Strong experience across multiple technologies (polyglot): cloud platforms (e.g., AWS / Azure / GCP), containerization, microservices, distributed systems.
• Hands-on experience or practical knowledge in AI/ML: recognizing when to employ these tools and integrating them into systems.
• Deep understanding of architecture concerns: performance, scalability, security, reliability, observability.
• Experience with infrastructure as code, CI/CD, and deployment pipelines.
• Excellent communication skills — able to explain architectural trade-offs to engineers, product stakeholders, sometimes leadership.
• Experience leading engineers and helping raise technical maturity.
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to make decisions in ambiguous or rapidly changing situations.
• Performs other related duties as assigned

Bonus if you have:

• Certifications or background in architecture frameworks (TOGAF, etc.).
• Experience working with vendor partners/CSP (AWS, GCP, Azure, Anthropic, OpenAI)
• Prior experience in startups or fast-moving environments where you build and iterate quickly.
• Experience designing systems that incorporate both AI/ML and non-ML components.
• Prior experience working with Government, either contractor or federal.

Location: Candidates located in the DMV area (DC, Maryland, Virginia) are strongly preferred due to occasional in-person collaboration opportunities.

Requirements:

• Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States. In alignment with federal contract requirements, certain roles may also require U.S. citizenship and the ability to obtain and maintain a federal background investigation and/or a security clearance.

Benefits:

• Fully remote
• Annual stipend
• Comprehensive Benefits Package
• Company Match 401(k) plan
• Flexible PTO, Paid Holidays

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities:

Oddball is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against applicants based on race, religion, color, disability, medical condition, legally protected genetic information, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, gender identity or expression, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions), age, veteran status or other legally protected characteristics. Any applicant with a mental or physical disability who requires an accommodation during the application process should contact an Oddball HR representative to request such an accommodation by emailing hr@oddball.io 

The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)

Compensation:

At Oddball, it’s important each employe