Principal Architect, Digital Thread

Position Type: Contract

Location: Washington, DC

Job Description

Randstad is partnering with a premier client in the Washington, D.C. area to identify a Principal Architect, Digital Thread. This is a high-impact leadership role designed for a visionary technologist who can bridge the gap between complex engineering design and long-term asset operations. You will be the primary strategist responsible for weaving a seamless data fabric—the Digital Thread—across the entire asset lifecycle, from initial BIM and CAD modeling through to Geospatial Digital Twins and Enterprise Asset Management (EAM). Working at the intersection of ET, OT, and IT, you will define the standards and integration patterns that allow data to flow unimpeded, ensuring operational agility and executive-level clarity for large-scale, asset-intensive infrastructure projects.

Key Responsibilities

Architectural Strategy: Define and govern the end-to-end architecture for asset lifecycle management, ensuring seamless integration between design, construction, and maintenance phases.

Digital Thread Leadership: Lead the evolution of a comprehensive digital thread, connecting PLM, CAD, and CAE tools with real-time telemetry, asset registries, and enterprise data lakes.

Platform Integration: Drive technical coherence across a diverse ecosystem including Hexagon, Bentley, AVEVA, PTC Windchill, and Siemens Teamcenter, integrating them with EAM powerhouses like IBM Maximo and SAP.

Digital Twin Innovation: Architect and govern geospatially enabled digital twins that harmonize BIM, GIS, and IoT data to support field operations and predictive risk management.

Standards & Governance: Advocate for and implement open industry standards (ISO 15926, IFC, railML, OAGIS) to ensure long-term interoperability and data integrity.

Executive Influence: Mentor a cross-functional team of solution architects and present long-term technology roadmaps to executive leadership to steer enterprise-wide investment.

Minimum Qualifications

Experience: 12+ years of progressive experience in Enterprise Architecture, Solution Architecture, or Technical Leadership within asset-heavy industries (Energy, Rail, Utilities, or Infrastructure).

Technical Mastery: Deep hands-on experience architecting integrations for engineering platforms (SmartPlant, iTwin, Teamcenter) and geospatial systems (ESRI ArcGIS, GeoMedia).

Domain Expertise: Proven track record in Digital Twin strategy, geospatial intelligence, and harmonizing complex spatial data into cloud-native analytics platforms.

Systems Knowledge: Expert-level understanding of the relationship between PLM, BIM, GIS, ERP, and SCADA/OT systems.

Regulatory & Compliance: Strong grasp of cybersecurity frameworks and data governance as they apply to critical infrastructure and engineering data flows.

Communication: Exceptional ability to translate complex technical concepts into strategic business outcomes for C-suite stakeholders.