[Hiring] Senior Architect, GCP & AI Platform Architecture @Ulta Beauty, Inc.

Role Description

The Senior Architect, GCP & AI Platform Architect is a senior individual-contributor architecture role on the AI Architecture pod, owning the scale lane for Ulta’s core AI platforms. This role architects and evolves platform capabilities for:

• Model serving
• Infrastructure fit
• Model Gateway and tool integration
• MLOps
• Observability
• Cost-per-unit economics
• Peak-load readiness

It collaborates with cross-functional stakeholders and peer Senior architects in Design and Stability, and sets platform architecture direction so systems are scalable, performant, reliable, and cost-efficient. At least fifty percent of this role is hands-on architecture work, including platform design, infrastructure decisions, MLOps patterns, reviews, and standards authorship.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, a related field, or applicable work experience.
• 10+ years of experience in software development or architecture; minimum of 3+ years of individual-contributor technical leadership in platform or architecture roles.
• Deep knowledge of AI/ML ecosystems.
• Experience designing MLOps pipelines and AI Ops frameworks at enterprise scale.
• Strong expertise in GCP and cloud-native architecture, with hands-on knowledge of GCP services and architecture patterns supporting AI/ML platforms, MLOps frameworks, and CI/CD practices.
• Experience with multi-agent architecture concepts: orchestration patterns, tool/skill registry, memory and state management, and agent observability.
• Experience setting technical standards and coordinating across distributed engineering teams.
• Proven ability to lead platform architecture across cross-functional engineering partners and deliver enterprise-scale AI platform solutions.
• Comfortable navigating new, novel technology solutions and working through ambiguity to deliver in evolving domains.
• Familiarity with security and compliance standards for platform operations.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a data-driven mindset.
• Excellent communication, program coordination, and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Comfortable with presenting up to senior leadership (VP+ level); able to present technical concepts to non-technical and executive levels.

Requirements

• Translate enterprise AI strategy defined by the AI Architect Principal, Enterprise Architecture, Enterprise AI Tech Leaders (AI Engineering, DS/ML Engineering, AI Emerging Tech), AI Product Teams into actionable platform roadmaps and technical priorities.
• Partner with data, cloud, security, and infrastructure teams to define the end-to-end AI architecture framework, including compute, model lifecycle, and deployment strategies.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend platform enhancements to improve model performance, scalability, and sustainability.
• Define and deliver AI/ML/Agentic operations strategy – including tool suite, standards, and technology/capability roadmap.
• Establish POV on key evaluations – including, but not limited to “buy v. build”, platform assessments, tool comparisons, cost/performance optimizations.
• Drive the technical strategy for the platform, balancing short-term needs with long-term scalability and reliability.
• Design, implement, and scale cloud-based infrastructures (GCP and Databricks) to support internal and external applications.
• Oversee platform architecture decisions, ensuring that the platform is robust, efficient, and capable of supporting growing business needs.

Benefits

• The pay range for this position is $143,000.00 - $190,000.00 / Year with the opportunity for eligible associates to earn additional compensation pursuant to the Company’s bonus plan.
• Exact pay will be based on factors including, but not limited to relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, level, shift, geographic location, and business and organizational needs.
• Full-time positions are eligible for paid time off, health, dental, vision, life and disability benefits.
• Part-time positions are eligible for dental, vision, life, and disability benefits.
• For additional information concerning our benefits, visit our Benefits and Career Development page: Benefits and Career Development .