Staff Architect (f/m/d)

IONOS; Karlsruhe; On-site; EUR 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Subsidized canteen

Free drinks

Modern office

Great transport links

Employee discounts

Training & development

Health programs

Job summary

IONOS is building a brand-new AI Agent platform to serve SMBs with autonomous agents for tasks from reservations to marketing campaigns. You will architect and guide the core application enabling agents to operate, learn, and collaborate at scale from Karlsruhe, Germany.

Lead technology roadmap, standards, and direction for a large distributed system, while embedding responsible AI guardrails and observability.

Qualifications

• 8-10+ years designing and implementing large-scale distributed systems.

Responsibilities

• Design architecture for large-scale distributed system serving extensive customer bases.

Skills

Deep AI

Agentic AI

Distributed Systems

RAG

Vector DB

Kubernetes

Cloud Platforms

Architecture Leadership

Discovery Sprints

Human-in-the-Loop

Tools

LangGraph

CrewAI

AutoGen

Job description

We're launching a brand-new AI Agent platform that will become the digital assistant of choice for small- and medium-businesses (SMBs). This platform features various intelligent, autonomous agents handling tasks from customer interactions. These can be reservations and support to strategic initiatives like marketing campaigns and sales.

The ideal candidate will be instrumental in developing the core application that enables these agents to operate, learn, and collaborate, ultimately driving significant value for our customers. This pivotal role involves defining the technology roadmap, architectural standards, and technical direction for a large-scale, distributed system. If you're passionate about applying cutting-edge AI and agentic technologies to solve real-world business challenges, join our motivated team at the forefront of modern product development.

This role requires an architect who is deeply immersed in the fast-moving AI field and possesses a comprehensive mastery of Deep AI and Agentic Technology. The ideal candidate will focus on solving real customer problems by working backwards from the user to the tech stack, while successfully embracing ambiguity as an opportunity in a newly defined space.

In this role, you will be expected to display:

• Deep AI & Agentic Technology Mastery: Requires practical, hands-on understanding of modern AI (LLMs, multi-modal, tool use), multi-agent systems architecture, continuous tracking of emerging frameworks (like LangGraph, CrewAI, AutoGen), and embedding responsible AI guardrails and observability into the architecture.
• User-Centric Architecture: Focuses on solving real customer problems by starting from SMB operator realities and working backwards to translate fuzzy needs into precise technical ecosystems, validating assumptions via discovery sprints, and articulating technical trade-offs based on user impact.
• Thriving in Ambiguity: Mandates a strong bias for action (prioritizing prototypes and speed-to-value), full end-to-end ownership of outcomes, constructive problem-solving with early risk mitigation, and balancing startup velocity with enterprise engineering discipline for scalable production systems.

Tasks

• Design and evolve the architecture for a large-scale, distributed system capable of serving extensive customer bases and processing massive data volumes.
• Evaluate and select the optimal technology stack, focusing on modern web technologies and AI foundational platforms, including agent workflow platforms and builder frameworks.
• Define interfaces to enable seamless agent interaction, information sharing, and autonomous action triggering, incorporating necessary Human-in-the-Loop checks.
• Act as the subject matter expert on system design, providing technical guidance to development teams and ensuring adherence to architectural standards.
• Partner with various teams across the organization to clarify technical requirements and establish architectural standards and interfaces.
• Design components for agent knowledge, including strategies for Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) and the use of vector and distributed databases.
• Continuously research and track advancements in the AI domain, with a specific focus on agentic AI, to maintain a cutting-edge technology stack.

Qualifications

• At least 8-10 years of experience in designing and implementing large-scale distributed systems and high-traffic customer-facing applications.
• Prior experience in Technology and Software companies, FinTech, E-Commerce, or related fields. Exposure to Cloud Services, SaaS, AI, and Automation is a strong plus.
• Agentic AI Domain: Deep understanding of modern AI foundational technologies, including expertise in agent workflow platforms and builder frameworks.
• Distributed Systems Expertise: Strong familiarity with RAG, vector databases, and modern distributed database architectures.
• Cloud & Deployment: Proficiency with containerization and orchestration (Kubernetes) and experience deploying on major cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure).
• Technical Acumen: Ability to rapidly evaluate new technologies, articulate trade-offs, and make sound recommendations under uncertainty.

As well as:

• Demonstrable, hands-on fluency with state-of-the-art AI models and agentic frameworks as evidenced by projects, prototypes, or published work.
• Track record of translating ambiguous user needs into concrete, well-reasoned technical architectures in fast-moving product environments.
• A portfolio of moments where you pushed a project forward and succeeded, despite uncertainty, resource constraints, or stakeholder hesitation.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and influencing skills to convey complex technical concepts across diverse teams and seniority levels.
• Demonstrated ability to lead by example, mentor engineers, and foster a culture of curiosity, ownership, and continuous improvement.
• Flexible working hours through trust-based working hours.
• A subsidized canteen at Karlsruhe HQ and various free drinks.
• Modern office space with very good transport connections.
• Various employee discounts for activities and products.
• Employee events such as summer and winter parties, as well as workshops.
• Numerous training and development opportunities.
• Various health offers, such as sports and health courses.