API & Services Architect

The API & Services Architect is responsible for defining and evolving YouVersion’s core backend services, APIs, and infrastructure architecture to ensure scalability, reliability, and security. This role provides technical leadership in designing high-performance, resilient systems while collaborating with cross-functional teams to align backend strategies with business objectives. By establishing best practices and guiding engineering teams, the API & Services Architect plays a key role in shaping a robust and extensible technology ecosystem that supports the continued growth of YouVersion applications. The API & Services Architect utilizes their skills to deliver technical outcomes that align with the direction of their team to further Life.Church’s mission and to reach people for Christ. YouVersion was created by the local church in 2007 and remains a ministry of Life.Church today. At Life.Church, our mission is to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. Our team is committed to reaching people worldwide through innovative technology. And YouVersion is one of the ways we get to do that. Life.Church is a multi-site Christian church meeting in the United States and globally at Life.Church Online.  We wholeheartedly believe a daily rhythm of seeking intimacy with God has the power to transform lives. That’s why YouVersion creates biblically-based experiences that encourage and challenge people to seek God. We hope everyone in our community is on an active journey to become who God made them to be, abiding in Him, and drawing closer every day.  What You'll Do

• Own the architecture and evolution of YouVersion's API services and infrastructure, ensuring a seamless and efficient experience for engineering teams.
• Design and govern the architecture of API services and supporting infrastructure, ensuring interoperability, scalability, and security.
• Develop and evolve YouVersion's API services architecture to support global reach, higher concurrent user capacity, reliability, and flexibility.
• Lead the design and implementation of core system components, such as API Gateway, identity services, service orchestration, and serverless environments.
• Collaborate with the Security Architect and Infrastructure teams to ensure effective security design and best practices across all system components, focusing on authentication, data protection, compliance, and secure servicecommunication.
• Ensure high availability and fault tolerance through resilient architecture and redundancy strategies.
• Define architectural principles, patterns, and best practices to guide engineering teams.
• Collaborate with engineering teams to define backend system capabilities, enabling seamless application development.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend improvements to enhance YouVersion’s technology strategy.

Skills Needed to Succeed

• Ability to self-motivate, make independent decisions,and solve problems with innovation.
• Effective at multi-tasking and time management to meet strict deadlines while remaining flexible and open to change.
• Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills to clearly explain complicated processes and foster partnerships.
• Effective at process and organizational management to coordinate, structure, and provide vision to projects.
• Strong leadership skills and understanding of developing and guiding others.
• Proficiency in containerization and orchestration (Kubernetes, Docker, service mesh). 
• Strong knowledge of observability best practices (monitoring, logging, tracing).
• Familiarity with data modeling, caching strategies, and database scalability.
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to balance trade-offs between technical constraints and business needs, such as optimizing API performance while maintaining security or choosing between a monolithic approach versus microservices based on scalability and maintenance considerations.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field.
• 8+ years of experience in software engineering, with at least 4 years in API and backend system design and development.
• Relevant certifications in cloud architecture, such as AWS Certified Solutions Architect, Google Professional Cloud Architect, or Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect, are preferred but equivalent hands-on experience will also be considered.
• Strong expertise in cloud-native architecture on AWS, Azure, or GCP.
• Deep understanding of microservices, API design, and distributed systems.
• Hands-on experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, Pulumi, CloudFormation, etc.), with a preference for Terraform.

Benefits We Offer

・ Paid parental leave, including maternity, paternity, and adoption leave.

・ Generous employer-paid leave for the use of vacation, sick time, and other qualifying reasons. 

・ Innovative and comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance that provides team members with useful resources and savings to navigate their holistic health. 

・ Life insurance policy provided for all staff members at 2x annual salary at no cost. Additional life insurance coverage is available to purchase. 

・ Short-Term and Long-Term disability is covered at 100% for full-time qualified staff members.

・ Comprehensive wellness and mental health benefits allow staff to proactively invest in their physical and emotional health.

・ Generous 401(k) retirement plan allowing a team member to have up to 12.5% (including employee contribution, employer match, and employer discretionary contribution) contributed into their account in their first year. It doesn’t stop there—the more years on staff, the greater the investment! 

・ $160 annually in development dollars for team members to invest in their professional growth. 

・ Casual dress and work environment.

・ And much more!

Our Beliefs, Culture, and Commitment to Diversity

At Life.Church, every staff member, and intern is a minister and is expected to engage in the church's ministry fully. We consider ministry readiness and an individual’s capacity to represent Life.Church’s beliefs as a minister during the selection process for all staff and intern positions. An essential function within every position held by a staff member or intern at Life.Church is to uphold and represent the beliefs of Life.Church. Learn more about what we believe at Life.Church. 

While we unite around our mission, we know unity doesn’t mean uniformity. Our calling is too great, and our mission is too important not to be intentional about strengthening our team through diversity. We know that diverse perspectives in race, ethnicity, background, age, and gender are essential to reaching the world for Christ. To learn more about how we strengthen our team through diversity, visit our careers page. 

All data collected in our application process, from resume collection to application questions, is used for recruitment purposes only.