Senior Solution Architect

EPAM Systems, Inc.; United States; Remote; USD 160,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance (

401(k) Plan with Matching

Paid Time Off

Job summary

EPAM Systems, Inc. seeks an AI Architect to design AI-native applications and enterprise AI solutions. You will define orchestrations, retrieval, integration, and guardrails while shaping business-aligned decisions and architecture documents.

You will prototype to provide evidence and coordinate with delivery teams across client engagements. You will ensure clear accountability, cost models, and observability, guiding both engineers and coding agents to implement safe, effective AI-native

Qualifications

• Experience architecting AI-native systems in production (RAG, assistants, agents, agentic workflows).
• Ability to surface trade-offs with business terms and owners.
• Proven delivery accountability for complex enterprise architectures.

Responsibilities

• Design end-to-end AI-native architectures including orchestration, retrieval, and tool integration.
• Define evaluations, guardrails, and constraints for agents and autonomous components.
• Document architecture decisions and trade-offs for future teams to reuse.
• Collaborate with delivery teams and presales to shape proposals and client options.
• Prototype where evidence is needed to guide decisions.

Skills

AI-native architectures

Distributed systems

Stakeholder communication

Architecture decision records

Prototyping

Tools

OAuth 2.1

SPIFFE

AuthZEN

DPoP

Job description

Enterprises are past the point of asking whether AI belongs in their systems. The question now is which AI capabilities should exist, how much autonomy each one earns, how they integrate with systems of record and real business processes, and how anyone will know they are working. Answering those questions well - and writing the answers down so that engineering teams and coding agents can build against them - is the AI Architect's job.You will design the target architecture of AI-native applications, Enterprise AI and Applied AI solutions for large clients across industries, from assistants and RAG systems to agents, agentic workflows and autonomous components. You will decide what the system should do and, just as importantly, what it should not. You will define the evaluations, guardrails, and constraints that shape what gets built, whether the builder is an engineer or an AI coding agent.This is an architecture role. The output is decisions, structure, and the reasoning behind them - not code volume. You will still prototype when a decision needs evidence, but most of your time goes to framing problems, resolving conflicting requirements, making trade-offs explicit, and getting the right people to own them.Req# 1090267686ResponsibilitiesDesign end-to-end architectures for AI-native solutions: orchestration, retrieval, tool and system integration, agent autonomy and guardrails, identity and authorization, evaluation, observability, and cost modelFit each solution exactly to the business scope - no more, no less - and be able to explain what you deliberately left out and whyTurn incoherent or contradictory requirements into explicit business decisions: surface them, reframe them in business terms, price the options, and get a named owner to decideMake and document architectural trade-offs (build vs buy, model selection, retrieval strategy, autonomy level, cost vs quality) in a form that stakeholders can challenge and future teams can trustDefine the evaluation strategy for each system: how we will know that an assistant or agent fits the business scope, not just that it produces fluent outputAuthor the constraints, guidelines, and architectural fitness functions that engineering teams and coding agents build within, and revise them as the organization learns what generation gets wrongDecide where humans must stay in the loop - regulated decisions, data of record, security boundaries, anything with legal or contractual consequenceWork within EPAM delivery teams and in presales: shape proposals, present options and costs to client executives, and review designs across teamsBuild proofs of concept and reference implementations when, and only when, a decision needs evidence or a team needs an example of \"good\"Contribute to EPAM's AI architecture practice: reference architectures, reusable patterns, and mentoring architects who are transitioning into AI-native designRequirementsYou have architected AI-native systems in production - RAG, assistants, agents or agentic workflows with real users or real business processes behind them - and you held architect-level responsibility for the system around the modelYou are a proven solution or software architect with a strong production track record who has started building with AI on your own initiative in the last year or so - a side project, a proof of concept, an internal tool, published writing - and wants to make AI-native design the center of your workSolid experience as a solution, software, or enterprise architect with delivery accountability: systems you designed that shipped, ran, and were maintained over timeDepth in distributed systems, integration, cloud, and data-flow architecture at enterprise scaleDemonstrated ability to work with ambiguous, conflicting requirements and to make trade-offs explicit rather than resolving them silentlyExperience presenting options, costs, and risks to non-technical decision makers and getting decisions madeA habit of writing things down: architecture decision records, design documents, reference architectures that other teams built fromRecent hands-on coding ability, enough to prototype and to keep your constraints honestUnderstanding of how AI-assisted development changes the architect's role: what to specify, what to evaluate, and where to keep human judgmentNice to haveExperience in regulated industries - financial services, healthcare and life sciences, insuranceAgent frameworks, tool and function calling, MCP, orchestration patterns, LLM observabilityIdentity and authorization for agentic systems (OAuth 2.1, SPIFFE, AuthZEN, DPoP)Ownership of cost and token economics for a production AI systemConsulting or pre-sales experiencePublished writing, talks, or open-source contributions on AI architectureWe offerMedical, Dental and Vision Insurance (Subsidized)Health Savings AccountFlexible Spending Accounts (Healthcare, Dependent Care, Commuter)Short-Term and Long-Term Disability (Company Provided)Life and AD&D Insurance (Company Provided)Employee Assistance ProgramUnlimited access to LinkedIn learning solutionsMatched 401(k) Retirement Savings PlanPaid Time Off – the employee will be eligible to accrue 15-25 paid days, depending on specific level and tenure with EPAM (accrual eligibility may change over time)Paid Holidays - nine (9) total per yearLegal Plan and Identity Theft ProtectionAccident InsuranceEmployee DiscountsPet InsuranceEmployee Stock Purchase ProgramIf otherwise eligible, participation in the discretionary annual bonus programIf otherwise eligible and hired into a qualifying level, participation in the discretionary Long-Term Incentive (LTI) ProgramThis Remote Position Cannot be Performed in New York City.EPAM is a leading global provider of digital platform engineering and development services. We are committed to having a positive impact on our clients, our employees, and our communities. We embrace a dynamic and inclusive culture. Here you will collaborate with multi-national teams, contribute to a myriad of innovative projects that deliver the most creative and cutting-edge solutions, and have an opportunity to continuously learn and grow. No matter where you are located, you will join a dedicated, creative, and diverse community that will help you discover your fullest potential.Engineer the Future with a Career at EPAMThis posting includes a good faith range of the salary EPAM would reasonably expect to pay the selected candidate. The range provided reflects base salary only. Individual compensation offers within the range are based on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to: geographic location, experience, credentials, education, training; the demand for the role; and overall business and labor market considerations. Most candidates are hired at a salary within the range disclosed. Salary range: $160,000 - $230,000. In addition, the details highlighted in this job posting above are a general description of all other expected benefits and compensation for the position.Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis.In accordance with the LA County Fair Chance Ordinance, you may find a copy of the Notice containing a summary of the Ordinance’s key provisions here: Concept FCO Posting 8 27 24 (lacounty.gov)EPAM will not provide new H-1B visa sponsorship for this position. Candidates with existing transferable H-1B status may be considered.It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.