Remote Solutions Architect jobs

About the Solutions Architect role

What the work looks like

• Lead technical discovery workshops to map a customer's existing systems, constraints and non-functional requirements.
• Produce architecture diagrams and written design documents that engineers and security reviewers can act on.
• Build proofs of concept or reference implementations to show that a proposed design actually works.
• Answer security, compliance and scalability questions from the customer's own architects and infrastructure teams.
• Feed recurring customer requirements and integration gaps back to the product and engineering teams.

What employers ask for

• Cloud architecture on AWS, Azure or GCP
• Cloud certification such as AWS Solutions Architect
• API design and integration patterns
• Networking, identity and security fundamentals
• Clear architecture diagrams and written designs
• Working code in at least one language

Doing this job remotely

Design work, workshops and reviews translate well to video and shared diagrams, and many solutions architects work remotely with a regional customer base. Customer-facing roles usually involve travel for on-site workshops and executive sessions, and hours follow the customers' time zones. Roles serving government customers may require citizenship or a security clearance.

Where it comes from and where it leads

Solutions architects typically come from software engineering, infrastructure or technical consulting after several years of hands-on work. The role leads to principal or enterprise architect positions, management of an architecture team, or a move into product management.