Digital Architect

Job Summary: The Digital Architect has ownership and accountability to define and maintain the architecture for the development and optimization of customer facing digital E-commerce and Lodge Automation technology solutions. The purpose of this role is to create best in class digital solutions that will empower our guests to engage through our digital channels. The Architect will own the digital architecture blueprint for Great Wolf Resorts and continue to evolve it to meet the growing needs of the business. This role is located in Chicago, Illinois.

The position will work closely with Digital product and engineering teams to understand to digital roadmap and help shape the application architecture and technical roadmap to deliver on strategic objectives. This role will also require hands-on development of key system components and building proofs of concept involving complex system functionality. The Digital Architect will be responsible for optimizing and tuning the application performance and identify ongoing areas for non-functional improvements.

Responsibilities:

• Be a software engineering leader in the design, development, unit testing, and support of web and mobile customer technologies.
• Continually improve the underlying architecture and technology stack.
• Build microservices-based digital solutions to support omni-channel experiences for customers.
• Be passionate about applying technology to deliver a great customer experience.
• Help develop the roadmap strategy, vision, business benefits, and prioritization of goals, focusing on strategic growth initiatives
• Maintain deep understanding of initiatives to develop requirements for features and work alongside product & development teams to determine technical feasibility
• Keep up to date with evolving ecommerce and technology trends, and explore new and effective products or enhancements that will improve site & mobile experiences to lift user traffic, engagement, and conversion
• Collaborate effectively with executive and department stakeholders within the division to understand the needs of the business as it relates to digital and omni-channel
• Develop deep product understanding to determine useful ways for guests to use smart technology to enhance their experience pre stay and onsite
• Collaborate with the engineering and design teams to manage timelines and frequent product iterations
• Uncover and understand customer needs and build the proofs of concept for new ideas and technologies
• Define security best practices and blueprints that are used by the development team
• Define and evangelize efficient coding and design techniques and perform reviews to ensure compliance
• Understand, research and follow technical trends in the industry and in general. Assess emerging products and companies to measure their potential
• value or threat to the company and its products, as well as make recommendations on which new technologies to invest in or leverage
• Use observability platforms and telemetry data to analyze system performance and evaluate experiments
• Coach and mentor the development team to adopt the technology best practices
• Evaluate competitors and the market for capability-oriented and emerging development and technology trends
• Serve as primary technical expert for digital technical product managers and business stakeholders
• Act as a point of contact for external software providers and vendors

Required Qualifications:

• A bachelor’s degree is required. An advanced degree in a related field such as computer science is preferred
• Expertise in C#/ASP.NET Core framework with over 10 years of relevant experience.
• Expertise in microservice patterns, data structures, algorithms and object-oriented design best practices.
• Expertise in Single Page Application frameworks; ideally React
• Past experience as a Digital/Applications Architect or Tech Lead for Digital/E-Commerce platforms
• Experience with containerized applications and workload/container orchestration using Kubernetes.
• Experience running platforms on Azure cloud leveraging Infrastructure as Code principles and systems
• Experience with SQL and NoSQL database systems.
• Experience automating software delivery using CI/CD, ideally in Azure DevOps
• Strong analytical and creative problem-solving skills.
• Extensive experience integrating custom development with complex external systems including ERPs and other enterprise platforms
• Effective written and verbal communication skills.
• Must be self-motivated, detail oriented and able to prioritize effectively
• Experience working in Agile environment
• Ability to work from our Chicago Corporate Headquarters on a hybrid-remote work schedule (M/F optional work from home and T/W/TH in-office)

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience optimizing website performance for an e-commerce platform
• Familiarity leveraging LLMs and AI agents to accelerate application development
• Enthusiasm and curiosity for new technology, be forward thinking and continuously researching disruptors and disruptive technologies to execute on innovative trends
• Bias for collaborative action (team player who can drive action). Entrepreneurial mindset of finding a way even with roadblocks.
• Ability to effectively interact and communicate with executive management
• Hands-on coding & development experience for building complex, high-transaction systems with a focus on scalability and stability

Estimated Salary Range:

$105,000 - $185,000 annual base salary

An employee’s pay position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, seniority, geographic location, performance, travel requirements, revenue-based metrics, any contractual agreements, and business or organizational needs. The range listed is just one component of Great Wolf’s total compensation package. Other rewards may include annual bonuses, a Paid Time Off policy, and other perks.

This contractor and subcontractor shall abide by the requirements of 41 CFR 60-1.4(a), 60-300.5(a) and 60-741.5(a). These regulations prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities, and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, and for inquiring about, discussing or disclosing compensation. Moreover, these regulations require that covered prime contractors and subcontractors take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status.