Senior Director, Architecture

At Ping Identity, we believe in making digital experiences both secure and seamless for all users, without compromise. We call this digital freedom. And it's not just something we provide our customers. It's something that inspires our company. People don't come here to join a culture that's built on digital freedom. They come to cultivate it. 

Our intelligent, cloud identity platform lets people shop, work, bank, and interact wherever and however they want. Without friction. Without fear. 

While protecting digital identities is at the core of our technology, protecting individual identities is at the core of our culture. We champion every identity. One of our core values, Respect Individuality, reminds us to celebrate differences so you are empowered to bring your authentic self to work. 

We're headquartered in Denver, Colorado and we have offices and employees around the globe. We serve the largest, most demanding enterprises worldwide, including more than half of the Fortune 100. At Ping Identity, we're changing the way people and businesses think about cybersecurity, digital experiences, and identity and access management. 

We are seeking a leader for the Architecture team to lead the technical architecture strategy across the organization and drive the evolution of scalable, secure, and modern platforms. This leader will partner closely with engineering, product, security, and executive teams to define long term technology direction, establish architectural standards, and accelerate innovation.

The ideal candidate combines deep technical expertise with strong business judgment, organizational influence, and an AI-first mindset that shapes how products are built, operated, and experienced.

• →Define and drive enterprise and product architecture strategy aligned with business goals.
• →Lead architectural decisions across cloud, platform, application, data, security, and integration domains.
• →Establish architecture principles, governance, reference architectures, and engineering standards.
• →Drive modernization initiatives including cloud-native platforms, distributed systems, APIs, and data architectures.
• →Partner with product and engineering leaders to ensure scalability, reliability, performance, and security.
• →Champion developer productivity, platform engineering, automation, and operational excellence.
• →Evaluate emerging technologies and translate innovation into practical business value.
• →Lead technical due diligence efforts for acquisitions, including platform evaluation, architecture assessment, scalability analysis, security posture review, technical debt assessment, and integration planning.
• →Partner with executive leadership, corporate development, and product teams to assess acquisition targets and integration strategies.
• →Build and mentor a high-performing architecture organization and technical leadership community.
• →Collaborate with executive leadership on technology investments, roadmaps, and strategic initiatives.
• →Influence cross-functional teams through technical leadership, communication, and organizational alignment.
• →Embed AI-first thinking into platform, product, and engineering strategies, including the use of AI-assisted development, intelligent automation, and AI-enabled product capabilities.

• 15+ years of experience in software engineering and architecture leadership roles.
• Proven experience designing and scaling large distributed systems and cloud-native architectures.
• Strong expertise in security, identity, APIs, data architecture, and modern application platforms.
• Experience leading architecture across complex enterprise environments.
• Experience conducting technical due diligence for mergers and acquisitions, including evaluation of architecture, engineering maturity, security, scalability, operational readiness, and integration complexity.
• Demonstrated ability to influence senior executives and large engineering organizations.
• Deep understanding of modern software development practices including DevSecOps, SRE, CI/CD, and platform engineering.
• AI-first mindset with practical experience applying AI technologies to software development, operational efficiency, platform capabilities, or customer experiences.
• Strong communication, collaboration, and strategic thinking skills.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.

• Experience with generative AI, LLM platforms, AI infrastructure, or AI governance frameworks.
• Background in cybersecurity, identity, SaaS, or enterprise platforms.
• Experience driving digital transformation in high-growth or global organizations.
• Track record of building architecture practices and mentoring senior technical leaders.
• Experience integrating acquired technologies and engineering organizations into larger enterprise platforms.

• Operates with a strategic and enterprise-wide perspective.
• Balances innovation with execution and operational rigor.
• Raises the technical bar across the organization.
• Drives clarity, simplicity, and scalability in architecture decisions.
• Fosters a culture of continuous learning, experimentation, and accountability.

Salary Range: $190,798 - $272,569 + variable bonus

In accordance with Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (SB 19-085) the approximate compensation range for this role in Colorado is listed above. Final compensation for this role will be determined by various factors, such as knowledge, skills, and abilities.

We believe in and facilitate a flexible, collaborative work environment. We’re growing quickly, but remain true to the innovative, can-do startup values that got us here. Most importantly, we keep hiring talented, smart, fun, and genuinely nice people because that’s who we want to succeed with every day. 

• A company culture that empowers you to do your best work.
• Employee Resource Groups that create a sense of belonging for everyone.
• Regular company and team bonding events.
• Competitive benefits and perks.
• Global volunteering and community initiatives