Solutions Architect

Jobtailor; Rockville (MD); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Jobtailor is seeking a Senior Solutions Architect to lead the technical vision for a unified, AI‑driven CMS platform. You will own the AWS‑based architecture and guide modernization across enterprise data systems, ensuring reliability and security.

You will collaborate with the AI lead, implement modular, containerized services, and establish observability with CloudWatch and Splunk, translating business needs into clear technical direction and mentoring engineers.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or a related field.
• 5+ years of experience in solutions architecture, software engineering, or systems engineering, including significant time architecting AWS cloud environments.
• Deep expertise in AWS services, cloud architecture patterns, and modern best practices.
• Strong command of modern engineering practices – microservices, containerization (Docker), infrastructure as code (Terraform, Ansible), and CI/CD (Jenkins, GitLab CI).
• A track record of leading the technical direction of complex, distributed systems and guiding engineering teams.
• Proficiency in one or more programming/scripting languages (e.g., Python, Bash, Go) and the credibility that comes from having built things yourself.
• Excellent communication skills, with a real talent for presenting complex technical concepts to both engineers and stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead the technical vision for CMS's modern AI‑driven enterprise platform.
• Own the architecture on AWS with Well‑Architected and Twelve‑Factor principles.
• Ensure high availability and minimal disruption to core business.
• Refactor and modernize by applying strangler fig and cyclomatic analyses.
• Design modular systems with containers, IaC, and CI/CD.
• Collaborate with AI Lead to identify automation opportunities.
• Establish observability with CloudWatch, New Relic, and Splunk.
• Translate stakeholder needs into technical direction for non‑technical audiences.
• Provide technical leadership, mentoring, and set engineering standards.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Mentoring

Architectural vision

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field

Tools

AWS

Terraform

Ansible

Docker

Jenkins

GitLab CI

New Relic

CloudWatch

Splunk

Job description

Responsibilities

• Lead the technical vision for CMS as it merges and modernizes its enterprise knowledge and data systems into a single, AI‑driven platform, reducing manual effort, improving data accuracy, and enhancing transparency for stakeholders.
• Own the architecture. Design a robust, modern enterprise architecture built on AWS, guided by the AWS Well‑Architected Framework, the USDS playbook, and Twelve‑Factor App principles, while minimizing on‑premises footprint and maintaining strong disaster recovery.
• Steer a seamless, low‑risk transition and ongoing operations, meeting infrastructure and application availability SLAs without disrupting CMS’s core business.
• Merge two systems without breaking either. Apply patterns like strangler‑fig and cyclomatic‑complexity analysis to identify, prioritize, and sequence refactor, integration, and modernization opportunities.
• Design for change. Build modular systems using containerization, infrastructure as code, and CI/CD so the platform can flex with CMS’s evolving strategies and new initiatives.
• Partner with the AI Lead to identify and architect automation opportunities, including LLM‑driven and automated data‑collection strategies.
• Establish observability and insight. Work with the team to stand up continuous monitoring (CloudWatch, New Relic, Splunk) and turn performance, health, and cost data into decisions.
• Be the bridge between technology and business. Translate stakeholder needs into technical direction and explain technical trade‑offs to non‑technical audiences with clarity.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship. Set engineering standards, guide the development team, and grow the technical capability of the people around you.

Requirements

• A bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or a related field.
• 5+ years of experience in solutions architecture, software engineering, or systems engineering, including significant time architecting AWS cloud environments.
• Deep expertise in AWS services, cloud architecture patterns, and modern best practices.
• Strong command of modern engineering practices – microservices, containerization (Docker), infrastructure as code (Terraform, Ansible), and CI/CD (Jenkins, GitLab CI).
• A track record of leading the technical direction of complex, distributed systems and guiding engineering teams.
• Proficiency in one or more programming/scripting languages (e.g., Python, Bash, Go) and the credibility that comes from having built things yourself.
• Excellent communication skills, with a real talent for presenting complex technical concepts to both engineers and stakeholders.