Principal Architect - Money and Payments R&D

CompanyFederal Reserve Bank of BostonThe Federal Reserve System serves as the central bank of the United States. Its fundamental mission is to foster the stability, integrity, and efficiency of the nation's monetary, financial, and payments systems.This position is responsible for supporting the Federal Reserve System's Research and Development around the future of money and payments.What we do:Given the role of the US dollar and payment systems, the Federal Reserve System seeks to further understand the implications, costs, and benefits of the use of different technologies for the future of money and payments. This position offers a unique opportunity to be part of a world-class team working on cutting-edge technologies related to digital money and payments including tokenization, application of smart contracts, artificial intelligence and advanced cryptography. You will participate in a dynamic work environment that has the feel of a startup while also maintaining the benefits of a larger organization.This role requires an in-person schedule. Candidates must reside in a commutable distance from the Boston, San Francisco or Dallas Fed Bank location.How You'll SucceedCore Technical LeadershipArchitect high-throughput distributed payment systems (100K+ TPS) with strong consistency guaranteesDesign and implement EVM virtual machine infrastructure with parallel execution capabilitiesWrite production-grade Solidity implementing settlement, orchestration, and atomic cross-service compositionOptimize transaction processing for extreme load through parallelization and intelligent partitioningBuild cryptographic protocols including zero-knowledge proofs for privacy-preserving validationEstablish code quality standards and lead reviews across smart contracts, infrastructure, cryptography, and DevOpsPlatform & Infrastructure Architect cloud-native platforms with multi-region resilience and horizontal scalabilityDesign unified data platforms enabling cross-system analytics and eliminating data silosBuild Kubernetes-based orchestration with custom operators for distributed applicationsImplement GitOps workflows (ArgoCD/Flux) and Infrastructure as Code (Terraform/Pulumi)Create CI/CD pipelines with comprehensive testing, security scanning, and zero-downtime deploymentsEstablish observability strategies with distributed tracing, metrics, and real-time alertingAI-Native Payment Innovation Translate payment system challenges into AI-native and agentic capabilities that modernize payment workflows and operationsDesign and implement agentic AI systems for autonomous payment orchestration, fraud detection, and real-time decision-makingArchitect AI-enabled payment rails that leverage machine learning for intelligent routing, liquidity optimization, and risk managementBuild agentic commerce capabilities enabling autonomous financial transactions and smart contract executionDevelop AI systems that enhance payment system resilience through predictive analytics and anomaly detectionDesign multi-agent systems for coordinating complex payment workflows across institutional boundariesAI-First Engineering & Automation Drive adoption of AI-assisted programming tools (GitHub Copilot, Cursor, etc.) to accelerate development velocity system-wideBuild AI agents and custom tooling automating code review, testing, documentation, and security scanningEstablish governance and best practices for responsible AI usage in production systemsLead the shift toward AI-enabled software development operations, reducing manual burden and improving code qualityCreate frameworks for AI-assisted development that scale across distributed engineering teamsStrategic Impact Connect AI capabilities to strategic payment system value, ensuring AI delivers measurable business outcomesTranslate complex technical concepts into business value for executive stakeholders and policymakersSynthesize stakeholder pain points into validated AI-native technical solutionsMentor engineers across application development, platform engineering, DevOps, and AI implementationLead proof-of-concept development demonstrating feasibility of emerging payment and AI technologiesDrive cross-functional coordination across business lines, IT, security, and compliance to enable integrated AI deliveryWhat You BringRequired Technical Expertise Distributed Systems: Deep knowledge of consistency models, concurrency control (2PL, MVCC, OCC), transaction parallelization, and deadlock resolutionSmart Contracts: Expert Solidity programming, EVM architecture implementation, gas optimization, security auditing, and composable contract designCryptography: Experience implementing zero-knowledge proofs, Merkle trees, digital signatures, and blockchain-agnostic verification protocolsAI/ML for Payments: Experience applying machine learning to financial systems including fraud detection, intelligent routing, risk assessment, or payment optimizationAgentic AI Systems: Understanding of multi-agent architectures, autonomous decision-making systems, and AI orchestration frameworksKubernetes & Cloud-Native: Expert-level K8s including operators and admission controllers; Helm charts; service mesh technologiesDevOps & Observability: Infrastructure as Code, GitOps workflows, CI/CD pipelines, distributed tracing (Jaeger/Tempo), metrics (Prometheus/Grafana)AI-Assisted Development: Demonstrated expertise leveraging AI coding tools, building custom AI agents, and driving AI-first engineering adoption at scaleDomain Experience Background in high-performance financial systems (payments, settlement, trading) with understanding of operational workflowsExperience identifying and translating business problems into AI-native capabilitiesUnderstanding of consensus protocols (CFT/BFT) and their trade-offsKnowledge of payment system modernization challenges and AI applications in financial servicesFinOps practices and cloud cost optimizationAdvanced degree in Computer Science, Distributed Systems, Cryptography, Machine Learning, or related field preferredLeadership & Communication Exceptional ability to communicate technical concepts to non-technical executives and policymakersTrack record leading cross-functional teams from prototype to production in complex regulated environmentsExperience translating business requirements and operational pain points into technical architecturesAbility to connect AI innovation to measurable business outcomes and strategic valueExperience driving organizational transformation and technology adoption at enterprise scaleAbility to balance innovation with pragmatism, ensuring responsible AI deployment in production systemsThe salary range for this position is $178,600 - $223,200 - $267,800. The Boston Fed believes in salary transparency. The final salary and offer will be determined by the applicant's background, skills, internal equity, and alignment with market data. Whether you're developing into the job or are a more seasoned candidate, we aim to pay competitively. If you reside outside of the 1st District (Boston Fed) you may be hired by your local Federal Reserve District and compensation will follow hiring District's range and policy.The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston is committed to provide equal employment opportunities to all persons without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, genetic information, disability, or military service.All employees assigned to this position will be subject to FBI fingerprint/ criminal background and Patriot Act/ Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) watch list checks at least once every five years.For this job, any offer of employment is contingent upon successfully passing a two-phase security screening. The first phase consists of the satisfactory completion of a physical examination (including a drug screening), reference checks, and a security investigation consisting of credit and criminal history checks.The second phase is an additional risk-based security screening determined by the risk rating of the position. Depending upon the sensitivity of the position, this phase may include, and is not limited to, work and residency eligibility verification, and personal interviews with the candidate, references, and prior employers.All applicants must have resided in the United States for at least three (3) years.Full Time / Part TimeFull timeRegular / TemporaryRegularJob Exempt (Yes / No)YesJob CategoryInformation Technology Family GroupWork ShiftFirst (United States of America)The Federal Reserve Banks are committed to equal employment opportunity for employees and job applicants in compliance with applicable law and to an environment where employees are valued for their differences.Always verify and apply to jobs on Federal Reserve System Careers (https://rb.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/FRS) or through verified Federal Reserve Bank social media channels.Privacy Notice