Solution Architect

Title: Senior Solution Architect 
Duration: 6-12 month contract to hire 
interview process: 3 stage interview process- 1st stage is virtual; 2nd stage is onsite technical; 3rd stage is virtual
Direct Hire Salary is $145k-$165k base + 10% bonus + 15% ESOP
Hybrid- 3 days onsite per week (Tuesday- Thursday)- 1 FirstComm Plaza, Fort Worth TX 76109

Microsoft Tech Stack. MS Azure Cloud (but open to any cloud experience). Looking for someone who’s been a software developer in the past, but this is strictly going to be architecture level work. 

Impact
The Senior Solution Architect is a technical leader within the Digital Solutions organization. The role provides architectural guidance across engineering teams, coordinates technical initiatives, and partners with business leaders to ensure delivered solutions meet organizational needs. The architect collaborates with other architects, senior leaders, and product teams to design scalable and resilient architectures that address customer and business problems. The role operates with a high degree of autonomy and accountability and requires strong time management, communication, and project leadership skills to drive cross-team initiatives.

What will the employee do in this role?
• Lead architectural design for new systems and major enhancements, including decomposition of solutions into implementable work.
• Define system, data, and integration architecture patterns to support scalable and secure enterprise solutions.
• Provide architectural oversight throughout the solution delivery lifecycle.
• Define the vision and roadmap of technology-based solutions for the Solution Development group. 
• Produce high-level architectural designs and specifications that address system integration, scalability, and compatibility requirements.
• Evaluate the technical feasibility of business requirements in collaboration with stakeholders.
• Mentor engineering roles by guiding them through architectural principles, solution design, and best practices, ensuring alignment with the overall technical vision.
• Evangelize and evolve development and design standards and best practices. 
• Establish and enforce architectural standards, patterns, and governance processes across teams.
• Partner with engineering teams and business stakeholders to ensure solutions align with business objectives and enterprise architecture standards.
• Serve as an escalation point for team members on technical issues. 
• Lead internal knowledge sharing and technical training initiatives.
• Facilitate technical and business knowledge transfer across teams.
• Pursue continuous education to master new technologies, agile processes, programming languages, industry best practices, and tools that are needed.

Education
• A Bachelor''s degree.  Years of experience may be considered in lieu of degree.

Work Experience
• 7+ years of progressive experience in technology with a focus on software development
• 5+ years of experience with business analysis and systems design
• 3+ years of experience in a leadership role leading projects 

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
• Technical Expertise: Experience designing scalable platform, integration, data, and application architectures with a deep understanding of architectural frameworks, design patterns, and engineering best practices. 
• Cloud Technologies: Proficiency with cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud.
• Software Development: Strong background in software development and familiarity with multiple programming languages and frameworks.
• Analytical Skills: Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to think strategically.
• Communication: Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
• Leadership: Strong leadership and project management skills, with the ability to lead cross-functional teams or enable other leaders.
• Adaptability: Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment and manage multiple priorities simultaneously.

Notes:
This architect supports: Investing platform & Compensation platform - These are considered two of First Command''s most strategic platforms.
This is an integration and solution architecture role. They''ll work with: Product Managers, Business stakeholders and Engineering teams, designing System integrations, Architecture, Solution flows, Vendor integrations - Not writing code. The specific technology stack is not as important, The expectation is understanding architecture, not administration
They must come from a Software Development Background. Needs someone who understands: Software architecture, Systems design, Integration. 
Product-focused Solution Architects.
Financial industry experience preferred, not required
Senior Solutions Architect is an enterprise architect focused on product integration, systems design, and business-driven technical solutions.
• Product-focused architecture 
• Integration-heavy 
• Business analysis and systems design are critical 
• Financial services preferred but not required 
• No coding 
• No infrastructure-only architects 
 
They will need experience leading projects, not people. Owning architecture, leading technical decisions and guiding project. 
 
These aren''t maintenance projects.
These teams are:
• Modernizing the compensation platform 
• Transforming investing products 
• Redesigning core systems 
Candidates will leave fingerprints on major initiatives