Director, Solution Architect

GSK•Philadelphia, PA

9d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Solution Architect provides solution architecture and design assurance for major GSK initiatives. The role ensures solutions meet architecture standards, fit the target architecture, and deliver intended business outcomes. It produces solution designs and builds reliability, resilience, and observability into them from the outset, while applying AI-enabled solutions when they genuinely accelerate delivery or operations. The position works across domains to ensure end-to-end solutions are coherent rather than locally optimized. Platform-level reference architectures and standards are owned by Platform Architects and Platform Architecture Directors in each business domain; platform engineering teams deliver engineering work; and enterprise architecture strategy and the architecture team sit with the Head of Solution Architecture and Enterprise Architects. When a design touches platforms, the business-facing domain architect leads and this role provides assurance. The role is hybrid in the United States, typically working remotely and on-site as agreed with the manager.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a technology or engineering discipline, or equivalent practical experience, such as Computer Science, Software Engineering, or Information Systems.
At least 8 years in technology architecture or senior engineering, including at least 3 years producing solution designs for major initiatives.
Experience in more than one technology domain, sufficient to design and assure end-to-end solutions rather than work only within a specialism.
Experience working with and influencing one or more business domain architects, such as in R&D, Commercial, Global Functions, or Global Supply Chain.
Experience running architecture reviews or design assurance.
Experience designing solutions for reliability, resilience, and observability.
Experience designing secure and compliant technology solutions.
Experience reviewing or assuring supplier or systems integrator designs against established architecture standards.
Experience applying AI patterns within solution architecture or technology design.
Experience designing solutions across SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS using Azure and/or GCP.
Experience with Modern Engineering workflows, including CI/CD, infrastructure as code, and observability, including AI-assisted or agentic tooling.
Experience creating solution architecture documentation and diagrams for technical and business audiences.
Experience working across multiple technology domains and communicating architectural decisions and trade-offs to stakeholders.

Nice To Haves

Architecture certifications, including a recognized cloud, network, or workplace architecture certification.
Familiarity with GxP validation requirements for solution designs beyond platform standards.
Experience producing designs later delivered through third-party systems integrators.
Exposure to FinOps or cost-to-operate considerations in solution design decisions.
Hands-on experience with AI-enabled patterns, including RAG and agentic workflows, as delivery accelerants.
Ability to decline a design while clearly explaining what would meet the required standard.
Judgement about when an exception is genuinely warranted and when it is a matter of convenience.
Comfort engaging early in initiative shaping when requirements are still ambiguous.
Pragmatism about technical debt, making its cost visible rather than blocking delivery.

Responsibilities

Produce solution designs for major DPTF and broader Digital & Tech initiatives, aligned to reference architectures, enterprise standards, and strategy.
Build reliability, resilience, and observability into designs from the outset, taking account of the SLOs committed to by consuming services.
Design AI-enabled solutions where AI genuinely accelerates delivery or operations, and explain the rationale rather than including AI by default.
Provide design assurance and architecture review for initiatives led by others; reject designs that do not meet standards and explain what would meet them.
Balance business outcomes, cost, risk, and technical fit in each design.
Work across platform domains to make end-to-end solutions coherent and surface conflicts between domain architectures early.
Assure supplier and managed-service solution architectures to the same standard as internal designs.
Uphold architecture standards and governance, routing genuine exceptions through Enterprise Architecture rather than allowing local workarounds.
Ensure designs meet security and compliance requirements, including GxP where initiatives support regulated activity.
Engage early in initiative shaping to reduce rework and provide evidence of the reduction.
Advise on architectural risk and the consequences of accepted technical debt.
Maintain role boundaries with Platform Architects on platform-level reference architecture, Enterprise Architects on enterprise strategy and standards, and engineering teams on build.
Work with business domain architects and communicate architectural decisions and trade-offs to stakeholders.