Architect, AI

OVERVIEW

Live the experience. From professional empowerment to continual learning opportunities. From ongoing investment in new and emerging technologies to a career of self-determination. At Ulta Beauty, our tech team is critical to our scalability—and is recognized that way. We’ve been defined as a “mature start-up.” A place where interdepartmental exposure, open doors, and genuine collaboration is ubiquitous. Where challenges come fast and furious, requiring agility, mental dexterity, and creativity. Where our passion for better solutions drives us and is core to who we are.

 

We’re engineering for the future of retail, and it’s no-holds-barred. But for those motivated by continual change and ambiguity, by superior leadership, by whip smart colleagues who will press you daily for your very best, you’ll find that virtually nothing’s impossible at Ulta Beauty.

THE IMPACT YOU CAN HAVE: 

The Architect is responsible for providing the overall technical solution for digital initiatives in our strategic focus areas, help evaluating the solution design process through technology implementation. They contribute to the practice of designing, describing, and managing the solution engineering in relation to solving business problems or developing MVPs. The role of Architect is a critical position within the AI/ML CoE, which will work closely with all CoE teams within the AI space to understand requirements and participate in design discussions in a highly collaborative, dynamic, and fast paced environment. This individual constantly strives to raise the bar on engineering excellence, lead the way, staying up to date with tools, trends, technologies, and frameworks both industry-wide and within Innovation Architecture.

 

The Architect is a highly skilled technical resource who collaborates with cross-functional internal business & technology teams, as well as external partners, to drive the overall architecture and designs of Ulta Beauty digital products and capabilities. This role is a hands-on technical contributor who anticipates implementation risks, defines appropriate mitigation plans, and implements them as appropriate.

 

The Architect will have a passion to discover & evaluate innovative digital solutions, drive the process to experiment with new digital solutions to gain key insights, and be able to analyze the output of those experiments to determine potential viability for a larger scale implementation with the organization. The Architect will also mentor other developers on best practices and identifying and determining design patterns to deliver high quality maintainable codebase.

 

YOU'LL ACCOMPLISH ALL THESE GOALS BY: 

• Business Process Improvement: Continually identify and evaluate external capabilities & products that could complement and rapidly accelerate our AI solutions. Advise on significant digital innovations that will improve existing business capabilities or accelerate the creation of new capabilities. Serve as an advocate and thought leader for technology and innovation within ULTA Beauty while championing a culture of continuous improvement.
• Solution Architecture: Provide technology solutions and best practices in implementing and scaling any products & features within the AI/ML CoE. Contribute to the development of architectures for complex systems, ensuring consistency with specified requirements agreed with both external and internal customers while balancing between functional, service quality and systems management needs. Ensure that appropriate standards (corporate, industry, national and international) are adhered to.
• Innovation Development Management: Rapidly prototype and pilot test products, quickly moving successful pilots into production with the core delivery teams. Oversees the quality and appropriateness of the work performed and the achievement of measurable business benefits. Contribute to the effort in scaling capabilities and collaborating with the Enterprise to spin off development to IT organization and production support.
• Programming/Software Development - Defines standards for programming tools and techniques, including security guidelines, and the selection of appropriate development methods. Takes technical responsibility for all stages and/or iterations in a software development project, providing method specific technical advice and guidance to project stakeholders.
• Innovation/Research: Manage, monitor, and seek opportunities, new methods, trends, capabilities, and products to the advancement of the organization.  Assess and identify new technology and develop prototypes for new experiences.

THE ESSENTIALS FOR SUCCESS: 

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent professional experience
• 7 years of digital technology or information technology including architecture, design, and development.
• Demonstrated passion for, and ability to drive, innovation & emerging digital technologies.
• Experience evaluating technology solutions for fit and viability against use cases, as well as evaluating the companies for viability.
• Proven experience in designing, implementing, and managing large-scale digital projects and solutions.
• Proficiency in modern architecture patterns (Microservices, Serverless, APIs, etc.).
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and understanding of cloud-native architectures.
• Knowledge of DevOps practices and tools (CI/CD, containerization, orchestration with Kubernetes/Docker).
• Familiarity with database technologies (both SQL and NoSQL), and an understanding of data modeling and management strategies.
• Experience with integrating a variety of data sources and databases into a unified system.
• Familiarity with front-end and back-end development frameworks and languages.
• Understanding of cybersecurity best practices and designing secure systems.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to tackle complex issues and drive them to resolution.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to influence peer leaders within the organization.
• Ability to multi-task and adapt quickly to change.
• Possess a strong work ethic; takes pride in producing a quality product.

• Must be driven, self-motivated, and passionate for technology.
• Self-starter requiring minimal supervision.

 

The pay range for this position is $117,000.00 - $170,000.00 / 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: https://learn.bswift.com/ulta

ABOUT

At Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ: ULTA), the possibilities are beautiful. Ulta Beauty is the largest North American beauty retailer and the premier beauty destination for cosmetics, fragrance, skin care products, hair care products and salon services. We bring possibilities to life through the power of beauty each and every day in our stores and online with more than 25,000 products from approximately 500 well-established and emerging beauty brands across all categories and price points, including Ulta Beauty’s own private label. Ulta Beauty also offers a full-service salon in every store featuring—hair, skin, brow, and make-up services.

 

We will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with arrest records, conviction records, or other criminal histories, in a manner consistent with the requirements of any applicable state and local laws, including the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and the New York City Fair Chance Act.

Salary : $117,000 - $170,000