QAD is looking for a
Chief Architect, ERP
to join our team in Pune, India. You will be responsible for designing and evolving our ERP technology landscape, ensuring it aligns with our strategic business goals and industry best practices. You will collaborate closely with business leaders and technology teams, providing insights and expertise to drive innovation, address complex challenges, and ensure the scalability, security, and compliance of our ERP solutions. This is a key leadership role where you will report directly to the GM, Manufacturing ERP.
What will you do
- Define and own the architectural blueprint for QAD s next-gen ERP platform.
- Re-platform the legacy Progress monolith into a multi-tenant, microservices, AI-native architecture.
- Design core platform services: identity/tenant management, workflow/rules engine, integration hub, event bus, data fabric, observability, and edge runtime.
- Partner with Product, Engineering, and CloudOps to balance cost efficiency, vertical specialization, and compliance needs.
- Establish upgrade-safe extension patterns (metadata-driven workflows, APIs, extension services).
- Drive platform adoption across domains (Quality, Supplier, Inventory, Finance).
- Champion secure-by-design, cloud-native patterns (zero trust, KMS encryption, tenancy isolation).
- Define standards for CI/CD, observability, testing automation, and DevSecOps.
- Partner with the SVP of Engineering and Transformation Office to accelerate adoption across teams.
- Champion internal developer platforms and paved paths to boost developer velocity and autonomy.
- Establish architectural principles and frameworks that balance modernization with maintainability.
- Oversee a federated architecture governance model, driving convergence without bottlenecks.
- Mentor and grow the architecture community across business units.
- Embed scalable practices for infrastructure security, identity, performance, compliance, and uptime.
- Implement SLO/SLI-based reliability engineering and operational standards.
- Build a high-trust working relationship with SVP Engineering, Chief Architect, and Platform PMs.
What experience do you bring:
- Proven track record in re-platforming monoliths to cloud-native, multi-tenant SaaS.
- Deep experience with microservices, event-driven design, and API-first ecosystems.
- Strong grounding in data architecture: OLTP per service, streaming, data lakehouse, AI/ML pipelines.
- Hands-on with edge-to-cloud architectures (offline-first, shop-floor/IoT integrations a plus).
- Familiarity with metadata-driven platforms (ServiceNow, Salesforce, Workday, etc.) and their trade-offs. Demonstrated ability to balance mid-market economics with enterprise compliance (21 CFR 11, ITAR, GxP, GDPR).
- Experience leading cross-functional platform transformation initiatives.
What success looks like
- Within 8-12 months, deliver a scalable platform foundation (tenant services, event bus, workflow, integration hub).
- First domains (Quality, Supplier, Inventory) running on a new platform in multi-tenant mode.
- Demonstrated edge runtime for shop-floor resilience.
- AI-native capabilities embedded in workflows (e.g., quality risk predictions, copilots).
- Standardized CI/CD pipelines and observability practices embedded across all teams.
- Architectural governance model functioning with active cross-BU participation.
- Developer velocity, release frequency, and quality metrics significantly improved.
- Positive feedback from early adopter customers on performance, configurability, and upgrade ease.
- 12+ years in software architecture, 5+ years in cloud-native SaaS at scale.
- Bachelor s or Master s in Computer Science/Engineering (or equivalent).
- Expertise with AWS (or equivalent), Kubernetes, modern CI/CD, observability, and security practices.
- Bonus: experience with ERP, MES, or manufacturing systems.
- forward-thinking architect with a passion for shaping technology.
- Strong collaboration and communication skills, with the ability to work effectively with both business and technology stakeholders.
- Expertise in driving innovation and addressing complex challenges.
- Deep understanding of scalability, security, and compliance within ERP solutions.
- Ability to work in a fast-paced and dynamic environment.
