Senior Applications Architect II

About Kirkland & Ellis

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is a preeminent, full-service law firm with offices around the world and a staff as diverse as the practice areas we support. Our clients range from Fortune 100 companies to medium and small corporations, financial institutions, and private equity firms.  Known for our commitment to excellence, Kirkland strives to provide superior service to our clients as well as our fellow employees. From Information Technology to Human Resources, Paralegal Services to Business Development, Kirkland offers non-attorney professionals challenging careers in a variety of functional areas. Whether starting or growing your career, Kirkland can offer a performance-driven culture filled with bright and innovative teams of co-workers.

Essential Job Functions

This Sr. Applications Architect 2 position is entirely dedicated to a significant, client-facing product with over five thousand users to date. The individual in this role will need to learn the application and its architecture from a front-to-back/back-to-front perspective in order to help optimize and support its further design, development and maintenance.  He/she/they will be  responsible for a design, development and providing application architectural guidance for the associated application stacks that run the business. They will be on both Windows and Linux operating systems that supports Kirkland’s day to day operations, providing subject-matter-expertise for current and future planning, technical architectures, models and standards. The role entails working closely with the other members of the development team, which includes developers on near and offshore teams through a third party consulting arm, to ensure a cohesive enterprise technology approach and optimal delivery. The position reports to the Associate Director of Applications Development.

Essential Functions:

• The Application Architect establishes and maintains enterprise level architecture through the stages of planning, design and execution of all new platform buildouts. They are responsible for setting our strategic direction and future roadmap in the server and systems space.
• Works closely with multiple internal teams and third-party vendors to plan, design and execute projects that support our application strategies.
• Provides expert consultation to inform strategic technology and system decisions as well as tactical decisions related to projects.
• Listening, drawing out key concepts and articulating advanced technical and non-technical concepts with ease (both written and oral formats) to customers, peers and management at several levels and across the organization with minimal oversight.
• Proceeds from concept, to design, to leading the implementation of complex, medium to large scale projects.
• Ability to solicit input from internal and external sources, including the ability to investigate and incorporate best practices from other corporations, experience and sound judgment.
• Shares best practices, lessons learned and constantly updates the technical system architecture requirements based on changing technologies, and knowledge related to recent, current and upcoming vendor products and solutions
• Collaborates with other members of the Kirkland management staff and contributes to manager meetings, quarterly summits, etc...
• Does "whatever it takes" to support the tactical and strategic goals of the team and in the Firm.

Qualifications & Requirements

Education, Work Experience, Skills

• BS in Engineering, Information Technology, or equivalent work experience.
• 10+  years general technology experience, Law firm experience a plus
• 6+  years designing, architecting external facing applications
• Must be fluent working with API based applications using REST with Microsoft Dot Net, C#.
• Expertise in designing, architecting applications using technologies such as Microsoft dot net core, C#, Rabbit MQ, ReactJS, KeyCloak, PostgreSQL. 
• Experience with containerization solutions and orchestration platforms, both on-premise and cloud based using Kubernetes, Azure Kubernetes Service.
• Strong understanding with DevOps practices such as source control, builds, testing, deployments, release management, and monitoring
• Strong understanding of modern approaches to software development such as micro services and event-driven architectures
• Experience with building and maintaining high-availability (>99%) environments
• Strong understanding of Active Directory and Group Policy
• Strong knowledge of Linux Server technologies
• Excellent analytical and organizational skills and attention to detail
• Excellent communication (verbal and written) skills in preparing reports, presentations and documentation.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and troubleshoot problems with speed and efficiency is required. Ability to perform code reviews as needed.
• Ability to travel (domestically and internationally) as necessary

Current K&E Technologies

• C#, Java Script, HTML5, CSS3, JQuery
• Azure ADO
• .NET Core, REACTJS, Web API
• Kubernetes, KeyCloak, Dynatrace, Azure, Rancher
• PostgreSQL, MS SQL Server
• Agile development methodology
• Linux, Windows OS

Certificates, Licensures, Registrations

• Technical certifications for solutions architect a plus (e.g. Azure Solutions Architect Expert).

Work Environment

•  “This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, and filing cabinets.”

How to Apply

Thank you for your interest in Kirkland & Ellis LLP.  To complete an application and submit your resume, please click "Apply Now."

Equal Employment Opportunity

All employment decisions, including the recruiting, hiring, placement, training availability, promotion, compensation, evaluation, disciplinary actions, and termination of employment (if necessary) are made without regard to the employee’s race, color, creed, religion, sex, pregnancy or childbirth, personal appearance, family responsibilities, sexual orientation or preference, gender identity, political affiliation, source of income, place of residence, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, age, marital status, military veteran status, unfavorable discharge from military service, physical or mental disability, or on any other basis prohibited by applicable law.

Closing Statement

The www.kirkland.com job postings and recruiting mailbox are for candidates only. If you are a recruiter, search firm or employment agency, and do not have a signed contract with Kirkland & Ellis LLP ("K&E") and have not been asked specifically to submit candidates, you will not be compensated in any way for your referral of a candidate even if K&E hires the candidate. Direct contact with K&E employees in an attempt to present candidates is inappropriate and will be a factor in determining any future professional relationship with the Firm.