Front End Architect - VP

Charles River Development empowers investment firms worldwide with a cloud-based platform that streamlines and automates the investment process across asset classes. As part of State Street Alpha®, we bring together data, technology, and services to help clients make confident decisions and scale with agility. Our open ecosystem and global support model enable investment professionals—from portfolio managers to private markets specialists—to navigate complexity and drive innovation. At Charles River, we thrive on collaboration, continuous improvement, and a shared commitment to shaping the future of financial technology.

Who we are looking for

We are seeking a highly experienced and visionary Front End Architect to lead the architectural design and modernization of our web-based SaaS platform. You will play a key role in reimagining a native client application into a modern, scalable, cloud-native web interface, leveraging best-in-class frontend technologies and design patterns. This is an opportunity to influence the evolution of our platform while fostering innovation and collaboration across global engineering teams.

What you will be responsible for

• Own the front-end architectural vision and guide implementation of scalable, performant, and maintainable web applications.
• Lead the modernization effort of a native desktop client to a cloud-native, browser-based application using modern frontend frameworks.
• Define architecture strategies around modular UI composition, including adoption of micro-frontend architectures.
• Collaborate closely with product managers, backend architects, UX designers, and cross-functional teams to define and execute technical solutions aligned with business goals.
• Ensure best practices in performance optimization, accessibility, testing, and maintainability across frontend codebases.
• Drive innovation and productivity through evaluation and integration of AI-driven UI and DevOps tools.
• Guide and mentor engineering teams on frontend design patterns, componentization, and reusable architecture principles.
• Evaluate and recommend tools, frameworks, and technologies that align with our tech roadmap.
• Maintain focus on customer experience, performance, and scalability.
• Drive proof-of-concepts and prototyping of innovative solutions and tools.

Qualifications

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• 10+ years of experience in software engineering with at least 5+ years in a frontend architecture or technical lead role.

Technical Expertise

• Proven experience designing large-scale enterprise web applications using modern JavaScript frameworks, particularly React.
• Strong grasp of frontend architecture principles including component-driven development, state management (e.g., Redux, Recoil), and micro-frontend patterns.
• Experience transitioning monolithic or native applications to modern SPA (Single Page Application) architectures.
• Proficiency in JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML5, CSS3, and modern frontend build tools.
• Experience designing and integrating REST and streaming APIs.
• Working knowledge of CI/CD pipelines and deployment strategies for frontend applications, including blue/green deployments.
• Familiarity with application monitoring, logging, and performance tooling
• Cloud-native development experience, preferably within Azure environments; knowledge of authentication and identity federation models (OAuth, OpenID Connect).
• Experience with Kafka or event-driven systems is a plus.
• Strong understanding of frontend security considerations (CSP, XSS, CORS, etc.).
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to articulate architectural decisions and influence stakeholders.
• Ability to work well with peers in a collaborative team environment

Why this role is important to us

The Front End Architect is a critical role in our organization, helping transition to a cloud-native web based SAAS solution operating at the highest standards of quality and performance. Your leadership will drive innovation, ensure compliance with global regulatory standards, and enable seamless collaboration across geographically distributed engineering tams. This is a rare opportunity to shape the future of the State Street Alpha platform.

About State Street Alpha

State Street Alpha® is a comprehensive, cloud-native platform providing institutional investors and wealth managers with an integrated, front-to-back solution for managing the entire investment lifecycle. Alpha unifies portfolio management, trading, compliance, risk analytics, and investment servicing into a single, interoperable ecosystem.

About State Street

What we do. State Street is one of the largest custodian banks, asset managers, and asset intelligence companies in the world. From technology to product innovation, we’re making our mark on the financial services industry. For more than two centuries, we’ve been helping our clients safeguard and steward the investments of millions of people. We provide investment servicing, data & analytics, investment research & trading, and investment management to institutional clients.
 
Work, Live, and Grow. We make all efforts to create a great work environment. Our benefits packages are competitive and comprehensive. Details vary in locations, but you may expect generous medical care, insurance, and savings plans among other perks. You’ll have access to a flexible Work Program to help you match your needs. And our wealth of development programs and educational support will help you reach your full potential.
 
Inclusion, Diversity, and Social Responsibility. We actively work toward creating a more inclusive, diverse workplace through internal initiatives, employee resource groups, and external partnerships. We truly believe our employees’ diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives are powerful contributors to creating an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive and reach their maximum potential while adding value to both our organization and our clients. We warmly welcome candidates of diverse origin, background, ability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, and personality. You will have tools to help balance your professional and personal life, paid volunteer days, matching gift programs, and access to employee networks that help you stay connected to what matters to you.
 
State Street is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer.
 
Discover more at StateStreet.com/careers.

Charles River Development

Salary Range:

$140,000 - $222,500 Annual

The range quoted above applies to the role in the primary location specified. If the candidate would ultimately work outside of the primary location above, the applicable range could differ.

Employees are eligible to participate in State Street’s comprehensive benefits program, which includes: our retirement savings plan (401K) with company match; insurance coverage including basic life, medical, dental, vision, long-term disability, and other optional additional coverages; paid-time off including vacation, sick leave, short term disability, and family care responsibilities; access to our Employee Assistance Program; incentive compensation including eligibility for annual performance-based awards (excluding certain sales roles subject to sales incentive plans); and, eligibility for certain tax advantaged savings plans.

For a full overview, visit https://hrportal.ehr.com/statestreet/Home.

About State Street

Across the globe, institutional investors rely on us to help them manage risk, respond to challenges, and drive performance and profitability. We keep our clients at the heart of everything we do, and smart, engaged employees are essential to our continued success.

We are committed to fostering an environment where every employee feels valued and empowered to reach their full potential. As an essential partner in our shared success, you’ll benefit from inclusive development opportunities, flexible work-life support, paid volunteer days, and vibrant employee networks that keep you connected to what matters most. Join us in shaping the future.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we consider all qualified applicants for all positions without regard to race, creed, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, ethnicity, age, disability, genetic information, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, citizenship, marital status, domestic partnership or civil union status, familial status, military and veteran status, and other characteristics protected by applicable law.

Discover more information on jobs at StateStreet.com/careers

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