Principal Solutions Architect & Technical Lead

Job Description Job Description Principal Solutions Architect & Technical Lead

Our client in Plano, Texas, is seeking a Principal Solutions Architect & Technical Lead. This is an onsite, direct hire opportunity.

Principal Solutions Architect Company Profile

Our client is an established technology and government contracting organization developing innovative software platforms and AI solutions for complex technical challenges.

The company supports sophisticated projects involving artificial intelligence, telecommunications, national security, and advanced software systems. Its growing product development division focuses on solving challenging technical problems through innovative engineering and collaboration.

The organization offers a highly collaborative environment where talented engineers have significant technical autonomy, direct access to executive leadership, and the opportunity to contribute to cutting edge technology. The company has demonstrated its technical capabilities through multiple competitive engineering challenges and continues to expand its products, strategic partnerships, and market opportunities.

Principal Solutions Architect Role

Our client is seeking an exceptional Principal Solutions Architect & Technical Lead to drive the architecture, development, integration, and delivery of sophisticated software solutions.

This is a critical technical leadership position designed for someone who combines exceptional engineering ability with strong customer engagement, communication, and problem solving skills.

The ideal candidate will be comfortable moving between hands-on software engineering, solution architecture, customer demonstrations, and technical team leadership.

Approximately 40% of the position will involve hands-on technical work, with the remaining responsibilities focused on architecture, planning, customer engagement, engineering oversight, and mentorship.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design and architect complex software solutions involving distributed systems, microservices, APIs, and integrated technology platforms.

• Translate customer requirements and operational challenges into scalable, secure, and practical technical solutions.

• Lead customer discovery meetings, technical workshops, presentations, and product demonstrations.

• Communicate sophisticated technical concepts effectively to both technical audiences and nontechnical executives.

• Remain actively involved in software development, code reviews, debugging, and complex technical problem solving.

• Guide engineers through architecture decisions, system integration, development, testing, and deployment.

• Develop and oversee prototypes, proofs of concept, and technical demonstrations.

• Establish technical roadmaps, development priorities, and implementation strategies.

• Review engineering deliverables and ensure solutions meet performance, security, reliability, and scalability expectations.

• Mentor software engineers and provide technical direction without initially having formal direct reports.

• Collaborate closely with executive leadership on product strategy, customer solutions, and emerging technical opportunities.

• Support the integration of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and intelligent automation capabilities into software platforms.

• Participate in Agile development practices, technical planning, and delivery oversight.

Principal Solutions Architect Background Profile

• Significant hands-on software engineering experience with demonstrated success designing and delivering complex software systems.

• Strong expertise in software architecture, distributed systems, microservices, APIs, and system integration.

• Experience with Kubernetes, containers, Linux environments, and modern software deployment practices.

• Proven ability to independently architect solutions and solve sophisticated engineering challenges.

• Recent hands-on development experience with the ability to review production code, troubleshoot technical issues, and guide engineering teams.

• Demonstrated experience presenting technical solutions to customers and leading technical discussions or demonstrations.

• Ability to translate complex engineering concepts into clear, understandable business and operational solutions.

• Experience developing prototypes, proofs of concept, or technical demonstrations.

• Strong technical leadership and mentorship skills.

• Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills.

• Self motivated, adaptable, and energized by solving challenging technical problems.

• Ability to work collaboratively in a fast paced environment with evolving technical priorities.

• Must be able to work onsite in Plano, Texas.

• Must be authorized to work in the United States without employer visa sponsorship.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Hands-on development experience with C#/.NET and Python.

• Experience with Kafka, NATS, RabbitMQ, or comparable messaging technologies.

• PostgreSQL or similar database technologies.

• DevSecOps, CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and observability.

• Experience integrating AI/ML capabilities, large language models, retrieval augmented generation (RAG), or intelligent agents into software platforms.

• Experience with digital twins, modeling and simulation, reinforcement learning, or autonomous systems.

• Background in telecommunications, defense, cybersecurity, mission systems, or advanced technology development.

• Experience working with government customers or complex enterprise technology environments.

Principal Solutions Architect Features and Benefits

• Competitive base salary of $175,000 to $215,000 annually, depending on experience and qualifications.

• Potential quarterly performance based incentive opportunities, with the structure determined based on the selected candidate and agreed performance objectives.

• Opportunity to work directly with executive leadership and influence technical strategy.

• Significant ownership of sophisticated software architecture and product development initiatives.

• Challenging projects involving artificial intelligence, national security, telecommunications, and advanced software systems.

• Collaborative engineering culture with a highly capable technical team.

• Opportunity to mentor engineers and shape the organization's technical direction.

• Exposure to growing proprietary technology platforms, strategic partnerships, and future business opportunities.

• Opportunity for long term professional growth within an expanding technology organization.