Application Architect - Enterprise & AI

Application Architect — Enterprise & AI

This is a delivery-focused architecture role for someone who loves turning complex business problems into working technical solutions.

As an Application Architect, you’ll be the technical lead on product and platform initiatives — taking requirements from product and engineering and designing the systems needed to deliver them. You’ll work closely with delivery teams, product owners, and engineering leads, making the architecture decisions that keep initiatives on track and technically sound.

You’ll be embedded in delivery — shaping how AI-enabled features, integrations, and services are designed and built responsibly, with security and compliance embedded from the start.

What you’ll own

Solution design for your initiatives.

You translate product and business requirements into clear, well-reasoned technical designs — component diagrams, integration specs, data models, and sequence flows that engineering teams can build from. You work within enterprise reference architecture, applying the right patterns for the problem at hand.

AI & agent implementation design.

You design AI-enabled features and workflows within your initiatives: LLM integrations, agentic flows, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and tool-use patterns. You make these capabilities concrete, buildable, and production-ready — informed by the architectural standards set at enterprise level.

Integration & API design.

You define how your solution integrates with surrounding services, APIs, event-driven systems, and external platforms — with clear contracts, resilience patterns, and well-understood boundaries.

Security & compliance by design.

In partnership with AppSec and risk functions, you ensure security controls, PCI/PII requirements, and responsible AI practices are embedded in solution design — not retrofitted during delivery.

Technical governance within delivery.

You guide and review engineering work throughout the build — attending design sessions, reviewing pull requests where it matters, and helping teams navigate technical decisions without creating bottlenecks.

Estimation & gate input.

You produce Gate 0 (ROM) and Gate 1 (detailed) architecture estimates for your initiatives, with clearly documented assumptions, risk flags, and dependency inventories that product and portfolio teams can plan from.

What you’ll deliver

•       Well-documented solution architectures for each initiative — clear enough that engineering teams can build without constant clarification

•       Integration designs with explicit API contracts, event schemas, and data ownership boundaries

•       Architecture estimates (Gate 0 and Gate 1) with assumptions logs and risk registers

•       AI feature designs that are production-ready, governed, and aligned with enterprise AI patterns

•       Fewer late-stage surprises caused by integration gaps, compliance oversights, or unresolved NFRs

Our technology environment

You’ll be designing across a modern, cloud-native stack. You don’t need to be an expert in all of it, but you should be able to navigate it confidently and make good architectural decisions within AWS, Java, Angular, Oracle, PostgreSQL, Amazon Kiro, Kafka, SQS, GitHub etc

AI tooling is evolving quickly. We expect our architects to stay close to that evolution — evaluating new capabilities critically and integrating them where they genuinely improve outcomes, not just for novelty.

How we work

Architecture here is a delivery function, not an ivory tower. We work in agile delivery teams, and solution architects are embedded participants — not external reviewers who parachute in at the start and disappear until go-live.

Architecture in agile

You’ll attend sprint ceremonies, backlog refinement sessions, and design reviews as a first-class team member. Architecture decisions are made iteratively — you’ll produce just enough design upfront to unblock the team, then evolve it as delivery progresses and complexity becomes clearer.

Design reviews and ARB

Significant architectural decisions are documented in Architecture Decision Records (ADRs) and reviewed by the Principal Architect. You’ll lead the preparation and presentation of your solutions, with the Principal Architect providing governance and pattern alignment rather than sign-off on every detail.

Cross-team collaboration.

Most initiatives touch shared platforms, APIs, or data services owned by other teams. You’ll be expected to negotiate integration contracts, resolve boundary disputes, and align across teams without needing escalation for every decision.

Documentation culture.

We write things down. Architecture artefacts — diagrams, ADRs, integration specs, assumptions logs — are first-class outputs of your role, not afterthoughts. Good documentation reduces re-work, enables team autonomy, and is a mark of craft.

The first 90 days

Month 1:

Get across the enterprise reference architecture, approved patterns, and existing system landscape. Meet your product and engineering counterparts. Begin designing the solution for your first assigned initiative.

Month 2:

Deliver your first application architecture. Run design reviews with delivery teams and iterate based on feedback. Produce a Gate 1 estimate ready for build commitment.

Month 3:

Embed into delivery rhythm — design sessions, sprint reviews, and integration checkpoints. Begin contributing architectural observations back to the Principal Architect to inform pattern refinement.

What we’re looking for

•       5–10 years in software engineering, with meaningful experience in solution or technical architecture roles on multi-team delivery programs

•       Solid cloud architecture experience on AWS — services, networking, data, and security patterns in a delivery context

•       Hands-on experience designing and integrating AI-powered features — including LLMs, RAG patterns, and agentic workflows

•       Strong integration design skills — APIs, event-driven systems, service boundaries, and resilience patterns

•       Good working knowledge of backend services (Java ecosystem preferred), data systems, and front-end integration points

•       Experience in regulated environments (PCI/PII) and comfort embedding compliance requirements into design

•       Able to produce clear architecture artefacts: component diagrams, sequence diagrams, ADRs, and integration specs

Beyond the credentials, you’re someone who makes things clear and builds trust quickly with delivery teams. You write well — your design docs are readable, your assumptions are explicit, and your trade-offs are explained. You’re excited about AI’s potential in product but grounded about what that means in practice.

Growth & career development

We invest in the growth of our architects. This role sits within a defined architecture career path and comes with structured support to develop in it.

Mentorship from the Principal Architect.

You’ll have regular 1:1 time with the Principal Architect — not just for design reviews, but for deliberate coaching on architectural breadth, strategic thinking, and stakeholder influence. The Principal Architect is invested in developing application architects who can grow into senior and principal roles over time.

Architecture community of practice.

We run a fortnightly architecture community that brings application architects, tech leads, and the Principal Architect together to discuss patterns, review emerging technology, and share lessons from delivery. This is a learning environment, not a governance forum.

Career progression.

For strong performers, the natural path from this role is a Principal Architect, with time and breadth, Enterprise Architect. We’re explicit about what that progression requires and actively support the people who are working toward it.

External development.

We support ongoing professional development through cloud certifications (AWS Solutions Architect Professional), architecture frameworks (TOGAF), and attendance at relevant industry events and conferences.

Who you’ll work with

You’ll work closely with product owners, delivery leads, engineering teams, and InfoSec on a day-to-day basis. You’ll engage with the Principal Architect on standards alignment, pattern exceptions, and cross-initiative design issues. You’re the technical voice on solution decisions — with the credibility to challenge scope, surface risk, and unblock delivery.

Compensation:

The good faith compensation for this position is $120,000 - $130,000 USD, commensurate with experience.

Other Duties

Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time according to business needs.

The performance of additional responsibilities if you are designated as a Data Protection Champion (DPC), Senior Information Risk Owner (SIRO) or Information Assurance Accounting Officer (IAAO).

Work Environment

This position operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to stand, walk; use hands to finger, handle or feel; and reach with hands and arms.

AAP/EEO Statement

Accommodations Plus International is an Equal Opportunity Employer that does not discriminate on the basis of actual or perceived race, creed, color, religion, alienage or national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, disability or handicap, sex, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, genetic information, arrest record, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws. Our management team is dedicated to this policy with respect to recruitment, hiring, placement, promotion, transfer, training, compensation, benefits, employee activities and general treatment during employment.

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