Principal IT Architect (f/m/d)

Your responsibilities

JTL is one of the leading providers of e-commerce software in the German-speaking region – with around 450 employees across the corporate group and more than 50,000 customers from a wide range of industries. We develop scalable, flexible solutions for the online commerce of the future – from ERP systems to shop and marketplace integrations.

You will join our IT team at the highest technical level and work closely with other Principals and IT leadership. We set the technical standard for the entire organization – architecture, platforms and the decisions that are hard to reverse later on. You are a good fit if you prefer to gain influence through judgment and technical depth rather than through a reporting line.

This role operates at the highest technical level of the IT team. You carry significant responsibility for architecture, solution design and technical quality, ensuring that initiatives are implemented sustainably, scalably and in line with the IT strategy.
This is not classic management. Your influence comes from technical depth, clear judgment and the ability to convince teams and stakeholders. Principals at this level shape the organization’s technical standard together – with a high degree of autonomy in their domains and on equal footing with peers of the same rank.

What you bring

• You have 5+ years of experience in a technical leadership role – as an Architect, Tech Lead or Principal Engineer
• You bring proven architecture expertise in Microsoft environments: M365, Intune, hybrid infrastructures and Active Directory
• You have a deep understanding of modern architecture patterns: cloud-native, Zero Trust, API-first and automation
• You lead teams technically without disciplinary authority and communicate technical topics clearly and appropriately for the audience – for both technical and non-technical audiences
• You factor costs into your technical decisions (TCO, ROI, scaling, vendor lock-in)
• You bring a high level of reliability and judgment to sensitive, critical tasks – someone who acts autonomously on critical systems, escalations and strategic decisions without constant consultation
• You have very good German and English skills

Nice to have

• Experience in ERP, e-commerce or SaaS platform environments
• Background in security architecture (Zero Trust, IAM, compliance requirements)
• Confident use of AI tools for productivity gains and technical decision support