Sr. Data Architect, Large Scale Distributed Systems

About Us:

Proofpoint is a global leader in human- and agent-centric cybersecurity. We protect how people, data, and AI agents connect across email, cloud, and collaboration tools. Over 80 of the Fortune 100, 10,000 large enterprises, and millions of smaller organizations trust Proofpoint to stop threats, prevent data loss, and build resilience across their people and AI workflows. Our mission is simple: safeguard the digital world and empower people to work securely and confidently. Join us in our pursuit to defend data and protect people.

How We Work:

At Proofpoint you’ll be part of a global team that breaks barriers to redefine cybersecurity guided by our BRAVE core values: 

Bold in how we dream and innovate

Responsive to feedback, challenges and opportunities

Accountable for results and best in class outcomes

Visionary in future focused problem-solving

Exceptional in execution and impact

Role Overview

We are seeking an experienced Senior Architect to lead the design and evolution of enterprise-scale distributed systems supporting 50M+ connected sensors and high-volume event processing pipelines.

This role is critical to building and operating mission-critical backend platforms that process millions of events per second across both synchronous and asynchronous architectures, with stringent requirements for scalability, reliability, security, and performance.

The ideal candidate brings a proven track record of architecting and scaling production-grade systems at extreme scale, along with the ability to drive technical strategy, governance, and cross-functional alignment in a complex enterprise environment.

Key Responsibilities

Architecture & System Design

• Define and lead the architecture of large-scale distributed systems capable of ingesting and processing high-velocity data streams from 50M+ sensors
• Design resilient systems across synchronous (API-driven) and asynchronous (event-driven, streaming) paradigms
• Establish architectural standards for scalability, fault tolerance, and performance optimization

Data Platform Engineering

• Architect real-time and batch data pipelines for high-throughput ingestion, transformation, and storage
• Drive design decisions across streaming, processing, and storage layers to ensure optimal performance and cost efficiency
• Enable support for time-series, event-driven, and analytical workloads

Technology Strategy & Governance

• Define and enforce enterprise architecture principles, standards, and best practices
• Evaluate and guide adoption of modern data technologies, including:
  • Distributed messaging systems (e.g., Kafka, Pulsar)
  • Scalable data stores (e.g., Cassandra, DynamoDB, Bigtable, ClickHouse, Elasticsearch)
  • Stream and batch processing frameworks (e.g., Flink, Spark, Beam)
• Ensure alignment with security, compliance, and data governance requirements

Scalability, Reliability & Observability

• Establish and operationalize SLAs, SLOs, and error budgets
• Design for high availability, multi-region resilience, and disaster recovery
• Implement enterprise-grade observability frameworks (monitoring, logging, tracing)

Leadership & Collaboration

• Partner with engineering, product, security, and data teams to align architecture with organizational objectives
• Provide technical leadership, mentorship, and architectural oversight across multiple teams
• Lead design reviews and ensure adherence to architectural standards

Required Qualifications

Experience

• 10+ years of experience in distributed systems and backend architecture
• Demonstrated success in scaling systems to:
  • 50M+ connected devices/sensors, or
  • Comparable high-scale environments (e.g., IoT, telecom, fintech, ad-tech, infrastructure platforms)
• Proven experience with high-throughput event-driven architectures in production environments

Technical Expertise

• Deep understanding of distributed systems concepts, including:
  • CAP theorem, consistency models, and trade-offs
  • Partitioning, replication, and sharding strategies
  • Event delivery semantics (at-least-once, exactly-once, idempotency)
• Strong experience with:
  • Streaming and messaging systems (Kafka, Pulsar, or equivalent)
  • Real-time and batch processing frameworks
  • Scalable NoSQL and analytical data stores

System Design & Engineering

• Expertise in designing:
  • Low-latency, high-throughput APIs
  • Event-driven and asynchronous processing systems
  • Multi-region, highly available architectures
• Strong programming proficiency in one or more of: Go, Java, Scala, or Rust

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with large-scale IoT or telemetry platforms
• Familiarity with edge-to-cloud architectures
• Experience operating in multi-cloud or hybrid environments
• Knowledge of enterprise security frameworks, data governance, and compliance (e.g., SOC2, ISO, GDPR)
• Exposure to AI/ML data pipelines and large-scale analytics platforms

Success Metrics

• Architecture supports billions of daily events with consistent performance and reliability
• Systems demonstrate horizontal scalability and fault isolation
• Clear separation and optimization of real-time vs batch workloads
• Strong adherence to enterprise architecture and governance standards

Why Proofpoint?

At Proofpoint, we believe that an exceptional career experience includes a comprehensive compensation and benefits package. Here are just a few reasons you’ll love working with us:

• Competitive compensation

• Comprehensive benefits

• Career success on your terms

• Flexible work environment

• Annual wellness and community outreach days

• Always on recognition for your contributions

• Global collaboration and networking opportunities

Our Culture:

Our culture is rooted in values that inspire belonging, empower purpose and drive success-every day, for everyone.

We encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. If you need accommodation during the application or interview process, please reach out to [email protected].

How to Apply

Interested? Submit your application along with any supporting information- we can’t wait to hear from you!

Consistent with Proofpoint values and applicable law, we provide the following information to promote pay transparency and equity. Our compensation reflects the cost of labor across several U.S. geographic markets, and we pay differently based on those defined markets as set out below. Pay within these ranges varies and depends on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The actual offer will be based on the individual candidate. The range provided may represent a candidate range and may not reflect the full range for an individual tenured employee. This role may be eligible for variable compensation and/or equity. We offer a competitive benefits package, including flexible time off, a comprehensive well-being program with two paid Wellbeing Days and two paid Volunteer Days per year, plus a three-week Work from Anywhere option.

Base Pay Ranges:

SF Bay Area, New York City Metro Area:

California (excludes SF Bay Area), Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Washington DC Metro, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Texas, Washington, Virginia, and Alaska:

All other cities and states excluding those listed above: