Senior Solutions Architect

Title:

Belong. Connect. Grow. with KBR!

KBR is seeking a Senior Solutions Architect to join our team in the greater El Segundo, CA area. Our customer is standing up a state-of-the-art suite of enterprise-level applications using an evolving Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) technology stack. This effort represents a fundamental shift in how the DoD procures and delivers software, leveraging Agile practices common in commercial environments while fostering a collaborative, startup-like culture that values innovation and work-life balance.

As a Senior Solutions Architect, you will be a key technical leader responsible for defining, shaping, and evolving end-to-end software and platform solutions that support the U.S. Space Force mission. You will work closely with users, stakeholders, and product owners to translate mission needs into well-architected, scalable technical solutions, while guiding development teams through implementation.

This role requires a strong architectural mindset, deep software engineering experience, and the ability to operate effectively across organizational boundaries, including frequent interaction with government customers and mission stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the architecture and solution design for enterprise-scale applications and platform services
• Engage directly with users, mission stakeholders, and product owners to elicit, clarify, and decompose requirements into actionable architectural designs and technical backlogs
• Define system-level and application-level architectures, including trade studies, technology selection, and interface definitions
• Provide architectural guidance to development teams, ensuring alignment with enterprise standards, security requirements, and long-term maintainability
• Act as a technical bridge between mission needs and engineering execution, ensuring solutions are fit-for-purpose and operationally viable
• Mentor engineers and contribute to technical decision-making across multiple teams

Required:

• An active Secret clearance required for this position
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related technical discipline (or equivalent experience)
• 10+ years of professional experience in software engineering or related technical roles
• 2+ years of experience in software or solution architecture
• 2+ years of DevOps or platform engineering experience
• 4+ years of hands-on experience with:
  • Microservices architectures
  • Linux-based systems
  • Java and Spring Boot
  • Scripting (Python and/or Bash)
  • CI/CD platforms (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, etc.)
  • Docker and containerized environments
  • Message queues and event-driven systems (Kafka, RabbitMQ)
  • SQL and NoSQL databases (PostgreSQL, Redis, MongoDB)
• Experience working in Agile environments, including decomposing user stories and shaping backlogs
• Deep understanding of software architecture principles and patterns, with the ability to design complex, scalable, and maintainable systems
• Experience designing microservices-based architectures, including API design and decomposition of monolithic systems
• Strong background in requirements decomposition, translating user and stakeholder needs into architectural solutions
• Expertise in database architecture and data modeling, including relational and NoSQL technologies
• Experience designing event-driven systems, including event sourcing and CQRS patterns
• CI/CD pipeline architecture and implementation, including security scanning and compliance considerations
• Containerization expertise, including Docker image creation, hardening, and scanning
• Linux systems architecture and administration experience
• Strong understanding of Agile software development methodologies
• Proficiency with scripting languages (e.g., Python, Bash)
• Strong background in Java and Spring Boot
• Experience providing technical leadership to software teams, both internal and external
• Ability to clearly communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders

SATCOM Domain Expertise (Required):

• Background in SATCOM systems, including ground, space, and network integration considerations
• Understanding of EMI / EMC impacts on SATCOM systems and associated software and infrastructure
• Familiarity with SATCOM service ordering and provisioning workflows, including:
  • Capacity requests and service activation
  • Integration with mission planning and operational systems
  • Data flows between ordering, management, and monitoring systems
• Ability to translate SATCOM operational needs into software and platform requirements

Preferred:

• Deployment and configuration management tooling (Terraform, Ansible, CloudFormation)
• Observability platforms (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK stack)
• Cloud-native security and compliance tooling
• Experience operating in distributed governance environments where infrastructure, networking, and platforms are owned by different stakeholders
• Experience integrating heterogeneous teams and systems into cohesive enterprise solutions
• Proven ability to provide architectural guidance to both front-end and back-end development teams
• Kubernetes architecture and operations (cluster design, administration, monitoring)
• Infrastructure-as-Code (e.g., Terraform, Ansible, CloudFormation)
• Static and Dynamic Application Security Testing (SAST/DAST)
• Cloud architecture experience (AWS, Azure, GCP, Oracle Cloud, or equivalent)
• Event streaming platforms such as Kafka
• Front-end architecture familiarity (e.g., Angular)
• GitOps and deployment tooling (e.g., ArgoCD, Helm)
• Service mesh technologies (e.g., Linkerd) and certificate management
• Identity and access management solutions (e.g., Keycloak)

Basic Compensation: $156,000-$196,000 in California

The offered rate will be based on the selected candidate’s knowledge, skills, abilities and/or experience and in consideration of internal parity.

Ready to Make a Difference? If you’re excited about making a significant impact in the field of space defense and working on projects that matter, we encourage you to apply and join our team.

KBR Benefits

KBR offers a selection of competitive lifestyle benefits which could include 401K plan with company match, medical, dental, vision, life insurance, AD&D, flexible spending account, disability, paid time off, or flexible work schedule. We support career advancement through professional training and development.

Belong, Connect and Grow at KBR

At KBR, we are passionate about our people and our Zero Harm culture.  These inform all that we do and are at the heart of our commitment to, and ongoing journey toward being a People First company.  That commitment is central to our team of team’s philosophy and fosters an environment where everyone can Belong, Connect and Grow. We Deliver – Together. 

KBR is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, union status and/or beliefs, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.