Solution Architect (Java, Cloud & AI)

Day to Day Job Duties: (what this person will do on a daily/weekly basis)

• Design end-to-end architecture for scalable, secure, resilient enterprise applications using Java, Spring Boot, microservices, APIs, and event-driven patterns.
• Lead cloud-native application modernization and migration initiatives across AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud, including containerization and platform transformation.
• Define solution blueprints, integration patterns, data flows, non-functional requirements, and architecture standards aligned with enterprise technology and security guidelines.
• Architect and integrate AI-enabled capabilities such as generative AI, intelligent agents, retrieval-augmented generation, prompt workflows, and enterprise knowledge assistants.
• Evaluate and select appropriate cloud services, AI models, frameworks, vector databases, and integration technologies based on scalability, latency, security, cost, and business requirements.
• Collaborate with product owners, business stakeholders, enterprise architects, developers, data teams, DevOps, infrastructure, and cybersecurity teams throughout the delivery lifecycle.
• Provide technical leadership to engineering teams through design reviews, code reviews, proof-of-concept development, troubleshooting, performance optimization, and mentoring.
• Ensure solutions incorporate security, privacy, responsible AI, observability, high availability, disaster recovery, and regulatory compliance requirements.
• Define CI/CD, infrastructure-as-code, deployment, monitoring, logging, and production support approaches for cloud-based Java and AI applications.
• Support technical estimations, proposal development, architecture presentations, vendor evaluations, risk identification, and delivery planning.

Basic Qualifications: (what are the skills required to this job with minimum years of experience on each)

• Minimum 12+ years of experience in software engineering, application architecture, or solution architecture, including at least 5+ years designing enterprise-scale solutions.
• Minimum 8+ years of hands-on experience with Java, Spring Boot, REST APIs, microservices, distributed systems, and enterprise integration patterns.
• Minimum 4+ years of experience designing and delivering solutions on AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud using cloud-native services.
• Minimum 3+ years of experience with Docker, Kubernetes or OpenShift, CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure-as-code, and DevOps practices.
• Minimum 2+ years of experience designing or integrating AI solutions using large language models, generative AI, AI agents, RAG, embeddings, prompt engineering, or vector databases.
• Strong experience with Kafka or other messaging platforms, API gateways, relational and NoSQL databases, caching, and event-driven architecture.
• Experience with AI platforms or frameworks such as OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, Amazon Bedrock, LangChain, LlamaIndex, Semantic Kernel, or equivalent technologies.
• Strong knowledge of application security and identity standards including OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, JWT, IAM, encryption, and role-based access controls.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate complex architecture concepts to technical and non-technical stakeholders and lead cross-functional engineering teams.

Degree: Bachelor''s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent work experience.

Must Have Skillset

• Experience with Python and AI application development using FastAPI, Flask, or similar frameworks.
• Experience building enterprise AI assistants, autonomous or semi-autonomous agents, and knowledge-based applications.
• Familiarity with model evaluation, hallucination and bias testing, AI governance, model monitoring, and MLOps practices.
• Experience with Snowflake, Databricks, data lakes, streaming platforms, or modern enterprise data architectures.
• Experience in financial services, retirement services, wealth management, insurance, or another highly regulated industry.
• Cloud architecture, Java, Kubernetes, or AI-related professional certifications.
• Pre-sales, consulting, proposal development, estimation, and client presentation experience.