Senior Staff Platform Architect

aiven36; Helsinki; Hybrid; EUR 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity plan

Hybrid work policy

Equipment for setup

Professional development budget

Wellbeing support

Job summary

Aiven is re-establishing a dedicated Architecture function to own the hardest, longest-horizon technical decisions across our platform. This role is the senior technical anchor driving our 10x scaling and cross-domain coordination.

As Senior Architect, you'll set cross-domain direction, design complex changes, mentor senior engineers, and partner with executives to translate strategy into sequenced roadmaps. Hybrid work in Helsinki, with global benefits and equity opportunities.

Qualifications

• Experience at Staff/Senior Staff/Principal level in distributed systems or platform engineering.
• Ability to set architectural direction and deliver deep technical work.
• Resolve cross-team architectural disagreements with credibility.
• Comfort operating with multi-quarter roadmaps and ambiguity.
• Strong written and verbal communication to executives.
• Previous architecture function background is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Set cross-domain architecture direction for long-horizon initiatives and scaling.
• Design and drive complex, high-risk technical changes across the platform.
• Maintain hands-on expertise to write, debug, review critical designs.
• Resolve architectural conflicts between service domains and coordinate evolution across domains.
• Escalate as senior technical authority for architecture decisions.
• Translate strategy into sequenced technical roadmaps with leadership.
• Mentor senior engineers on cross-domain problems without management duties.

Skills

Staff-level leadership

Distributed systems

Cross-domain architecture

Ambiguity management

Technical communication

Architectural governance

Job description

We're a global team of over 400 people, working together to push the boundaries of open-source technology and multi-cloud solutions. Our vision is to help developers, builders, and creators bring their ideas to life with speed and simplicity, by providing a cloud data platform that makes open-source databases, search, streaming, and application infrastructure easily accessible to everyone.

The Role:

Aiven is re-establishing a dedicated Architecture function to own the hardest, longest-horizon technical decisions across our platform - the cross-domain problems that no single service team is positioned to solve alone. This role is the senior technical anchor of that function, driving our 10x scaling initiative and the broader coordination of complex technical (r)evolution across service domains.

What You'll Do:

• Set technical direction for cross-domain architecture initiatives that no single service team owns, particularly the "10x scaling" effort and related long-horizon platform decisions.
• Design and drive the most complex, high-risk technical changes impacting the whole company, as a hands-on contributor rather than someone who delegates the hardest problems.
• Maintain deep, current hands-on technical expertise, sufficient to personally write, debug, and review the most difficult systems designs and code in the areas this role touches.
• Identify and resolve architectural conflicts or misalignment between service domains, making binding technical calls where domains would otherwise diverge or duplicate effort.
• Coordinate complex technical evolution efforts that span multiple domains and multi-quarter timelines, ensuring changes land coherently rather than as isolated domain-level decisions.
• Act as the senior technical authority and point of escalation for architecture decisions that require deep systems expertise and cross-team credibility to resolve.
• Partner with engineering leads and Executive Team Members across domains to translate strategic direction and scaling targets into concrete, sequenced technical roadmaps.
• Mentor and raise the technical bar of senior engineers working on cross-domain problems, without formal management responsibility.

What We're Looking For:

• Track Record: A track record of operating at Staff/Senior Staff/Principal level (or equivalent) in distributed systems, infrastructure, or platform engineering, ideally at a large-scale operation.
• Direction + Depth: Demonstrated ability to both set architectural direction across teams and personally deliver deep technical work.
• Cross-Team Influence: Experience resolving architectural disagreements between teams that don't share a manager, and earning buy-in through technical credibility rather than positional authority.
• Ambiguity: Comfort operating with significant ambiguity on multi-quarter, cross-domain initiatives where the roadmap is being defined as the work happens.
• Communication: Strong written and verbal communication; this role needs to translate deep technical judgment into direction that engineering leads and executives can act on.
• Architecture Function Background (nice-to-have) : Prior experience in an architecture function (rather than a purely product-engineering role).

Global Benefits:

Our global benefits are designed to help you thrive and grow, personally and professionally:

• Participate in Aiven's equity plan.
• Balance work and life with our hybrid work policy.
• Choose the equipment you need to set yourself up for success.
• Use your Professional Development Plan budget for learning opportunities.
• Receive holistic wellbeing support through our global Employee Assistance Program.
• Inquire about our Global Time Off Commitment (Parental and Sick Leave, as well as Personal Time)
• Enjoy country-specific benefits for our global cast.

How to Recognize and Avoid Employment Scams:

There has been a rise in fake job postings used by scammers to get personal information. At Aiven, all of our emails relating to recruitment come from an @aiven.io, @greenhouse.io or @eu.greenhouse.io domain and all of our interviews are conducted by video call or in person. Our interviews will never occur via text or chat. If you're unsure of the legitimacy of a job opportunity/offer pertaining to Aiven, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at [e-mail] .

Equal Opportunities:

Aiven provides equal employment opportunities to all qualified employees and applicants for employment without regard to age, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation