Lead Solutions Architect

Blend360 • Full-time • Columbia, MD, US • $130k - $180k / year • 7m ago

Company Description

BLEND360 is an award-winning, new breed Data Science Solutions Company focused on powering exceptional results to our Fortune 500 clients. We are a fast-growing company-born at the intersection of advanced analytics, data and technology.

Job Description

**This is a contract opportunity that could become permanent over time.

Seeking a strategic and technically proficient Solutions Architect with experience in consulting and a demonstrated ability to lead discovery and delivery initiatives. This role demands a visionary leader with experience in driving digital transformation across cloud platforms, data engineering, and system architectures. The position will be responsible for setting the architectural vision, leading cross-functional teams, and aligning technology initiatives with business objectives while maintaining a strong focus on innovation and scalability.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership:

Define and execute the long-term architectural vision, aligning technology strategies with business objectives.

Identify emerging technologies and assess their applicability to the organization or client needs.

Consulting and Discovery

Lead discovery phases for new projects, conducting interviews and assessments to understand client or stakeholder needs.
Consult with stakeholders to translate business goals into actionable functional requirements.

Drive technology roadmaps by aligning stakeholder objectives with best-in-class architectural practices.

Team Leadership:

Oversee and mentor development teams, guiding technical decision-making, project prioritization, and career development for team members.

Manage cross-functional collaboration across technical and non-technical teams to ensure seamless execution of architectural initiatives.

Architectural Oversight:

Provide high-level architectural guidance on cloud platforms, data engineering solutions, and system designs, ensuring they meet current and future business needs.

Ensure the creation of scalable, secure, and high-performance systems aligned with Well-Architected Frameworks (AWS, GCP, Azure).

Stakeholder Engagement:

Partner with business leaders and key stakeholders to understand their challenges and translate them into actionable technology roadmaps that align with overall company strategy.

Present findings, recommendations, and proposed architectures to stakeholders, ensuring alignment and buy-in.

Governance & Risk Management:

Ensure governance and compliance across all technology initiatives, particularly in areas of data security, regulatory compliance (e.g., HIPAA, GDPR), and cloud infrastructure management.

Conduct risk assessments and manage mitigation strategies for architectural initiatives.

Qualifications

Consulting Expertise:

Ability to lead discovery phases, conduct stakeholder workshops, and define technical strategies from ambiguous requirements.

Proven track record in delivering value-driven technical consulting services.

Strategic Vision & Architecture:

Expertise in cloud-native architectures across AWS, GCP, and Azure. Ability to develop scalable, high-availability solutions aligned with business objectives.

Experience with large-scale system designs, distributed systems, and scalable architectures.

Leadership & Team Building:

Strong history of leading technical teams, fostering collaboration, and mentoring team members to drive innovation and excellence.

Excellent communication skills to bridge the gap between technical teams and business stakeholders.

Data Engineering & Architecture:

Extensive experience designing data pipelines, ETL processes, and scalable data architectures.

Data Security and Compliance:

Expertise in maintaining regulatory compliance (e.g., HIPAA, GDPR) across technology initiatives.

Understanding of best security practices (SOC-2, PGP, SSL/TLS protocols).

Pluses (Nice to Have):

Infrastructure as Code: Familiarity with Terraform or similar tools for automating infrastructure management.

Advanced Data & AI Technologies: Experience with big data, streaming data, Generative AI, and Responsible AI.

API Design: Familiarity with RESTful or GraphQL APIs to support scalable, service-oriented architectures.

Soft Skills:

Visionary Thinking: Ability to anticipate future technological needs and create forward-looking architectures.

Strategic Communicator: Capable of communicating complex technical concepts in a clear and concise manner to both technical teams and business stakeholders.