Director, Solution Architect

GSK•Philadelphia, PA

8d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Solution Architect provides solution architecture and design assurance for major GSK initiatives, ensuring solutions meet architecture standards, fit the target architecture, and deliver intended business outcomes. The role produces solution designs, incorporates reliability, resilience, and observability from the outset, and designs AI-enabled solutions when they accelerate delivery or operations. It 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 handle engineering delivery; and the Head of Solution Architecture and Enterprise Architects own enterprise architecture strategy and the architecture team. When a design touches platforms, the business-facing domain architect leads and this role provides assurance. This is a hybrid position based in the United States. The employee will typically work remotely and on-site as agreed with their 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 across 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 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.
Judgment about when an exception is genuinely warranted and when it is merely convenient.
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 into account the SLOs that consuming services commit to.
Design AI-enabled solutions when AI genuinely accelerates delivery or operations, and state the rationale rather than including AI by default.
Provide design assurance and architecture reviews for initiatives led by others; reject designs that do not meet the standard and explain what would meet it.
Balance business outcomes, cost, risk, and technical fit in every design.
Work across platform domains to keep 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 requirements when initiatives support regulated activity.
Engage early in initiative shaping to reduce rework rather than reviewing completed designs, 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.