Solution Architect

Role : Solution Architect / Senior Solution Architect

Role Purpose

The Solution Architect is responsible for designing and driving the end-to-end technical solution for complex business problems and ensuring that the solution remains technically viable from presales through production.

The Senior Solution Architect operates at a higher level of complexity, ambiguity, and business impact, typically involving multiple technology domains, complex integrations, enterprise-scale solutions, or multiple delivery teams.

Both roles are expected to operate as Technical Outcome Owners, not merely architecture advisors.

Key Responsibilities

Solution & Architecture

• Lead end-to-end solution architecture from business requirement through production.
• Understand business objectives and translate them into scalable technical solutions.
• Define application, integration, data, cloud, security, infrastructure, and AI architecture as required.
• Evaluate multiple solution alternatives and establish the recommended approach.
• Define technology strategy, architecture principles, patterns, and standards.
• Ensure NFRs are explicitly addressed.
• Identify architectural constraints, assumptions, dependencies, and risks.
• Review and govern architecture implementation throughout delivery.
• Ensure architecture evolves appropriately as requirements and business priorities change.

Technical Delivery

• Own the overall technical outcome of complex projects/solutions.
• Establish the technical delivery approach across multiple teams and technology areas.
• Coordinate technical dependencies across workstreams.
• Ensure technical readiness at key delivery gates.
• Drive resolution of cross-team and cross-technology technical issues.
• Ensure technical decisions are made at the right time and communicated effectively.
• Partner with PMs to understand the impact of technical decisions on schedule, scope, resources, and delivery commitments.

Technical Quality

• Define the technical quality strategy for the solution.
• Ensure security, scalability, performance, reliability, accessibility, maintainability, and operational readiness are addressed.
• Establish appropriate technical quality gates.
• Review major implementation decisions and technical deviations.
• Drive reduction of systemic technical debt.

Technical Risk

• Identify and manage technical risks across the complete solution.
• Evaluate technical risks in relation to business and delivery outcomes.
• Establish mitigation and contingency strategies.
• Drive resolution of critical technical problems.
• Provide clear recommendations to project and business leadership when technical risks affect delivery commitments.
• Engage TAX/Architecture Governance for significant architectural exceptions or unresolved risks.

Technology & Engineering

• Provide technical direction across engineering teams.
• Establish appropriate architecture and engineering practices.
• Drive technology modernization and engineering excellence.
• Evaluate new technologies and platforms.
• Ensure operational concerns such as observability, disaster recovery, resilience, deployment, and supportability are considered.

AI Adoption & Governance

• Identify AI opportunities across both the solution and delivery lifecycle.
• Define AI-enabled solution capabilities where appropriate.
• Drive AI-assisted development, testing, documentation, operations, and engineering workflows.
• Define AI architecture and integration patterns where AI is part of the solution.
• Ensure AI usage follows security, privacy, responsible AI, human-in-loop, and organizational governance requirements.
• Ensure AI adoption produces measurable technical or business value.

Presales Solutioning

• Lead technical solutioning for complex opportunities.
• Conduct discovery and requirement analysis.
• Develop solution options and architecture proposals.
• Define technical approach, technology stack, integration, NFRs, risks, dependencies, and delivery approach.
• Provide technical estimation and complexity assessment.
• Participate in client workshops, technical presentations, solution reviews, and proposal defense.
• Support commercial teams while retaining technical integrity of the proposed solution.

Additional Expectations Senior Solution Architect

A Senior Solution Architect is expected to:

• Handle highly complex, ambiguous, or enterprise-scale problems.
• Lead architecture across multiple technical domains.
• Drive solutions involving multiple systems, teams, platforms, or business units.
• Provide technical leadership to other architects.
• Influence senior client stakeholders.
• Anticipate architectural and technology risks beyond the immediate project.
• Drive strategic technology decisions.
• Contribute to reusable architecture patterns and organizational standards.
• Support major presales and strategic opportunities.

Technical Competencies

• Enterprise and solution architecture.
• Distributed and cloud-native systems.
• Complex integration architecture.
• Application and data architecture.
• Cloud platforms and infrastructure.
• Security architecture.
• NFR engineering.
• DevOps and platform engineering.
• Modern software engineering.
• AI/ML architecture and AI-enabled applications.
• API and event-driven architecture.
• Observability, resilience, disaster recovery, and scalability.
• Architecture governance and technical standards.

Behavioral Competencies

• Strategic thinking.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Executive/client-level communication.
• Strong business understanding.
• Influencing and negotiation.
• Ability to simplify complex technical problems.
• Strong ownership and accountability.
• Mentoring and technical leadership.
• Ability to operate effectively under ambiguity.

Experience & Qualification

Solution Architect

• Bachelor's/Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, IT, or related field.
• Typically 10–15 years of relevant technology experience.
• Significant experience in solution architecture and technical delivery.

Senior Solution Architect

• Typically 13–18+ years of relevant technology experience.
• Demonstrated experience with complex enterprise solutions and multiple technology domains.
• Strong presales and client-facing experience preferred.