Senior Solution Architect-Internal Only

State of Washington • Multiple Locations Statewide, WA

7d • Hybrid

About The Position

This position is open to Internal Employment Security Department employees only. This position is mainly virtual but requires the flexibility of the incumbent to come into the office in Olympia infrequently or as business needs arise. The salary listed above includes the scheduled 2% general salary increase that goes into effect on July 1, 2026. The ideal candidate for the Senior Solution Architect (IT Architechture Senior Specialist) role is a strategic, technically adept leader who excels at designing scalable, sustainable, and enterprise-aligned solutions for mission-critical systems. They bring deep experience architecting complex applications and integrations, with the ability to independently evaluate design options, conduct advanced system analysis, and translate business needs into actionable technical designs. They demonstrate proficiency in developing system diagrams, data flows, integration patterns, and technical specifications, ensuring solutions remain stable, available, and aligned with the business needs of the divisions and partners who rely on it. Their architectural decisions consistently reflect sound judgment, long-term thinking, and adherence to agency standards, security requirements, and regulatory obligations. This candidate thrives in collaborative environments, partnering closely with product owners, developers, testers, business analysts, and enterprise architects to guide teams through the full solution lifecycle. They are a natural mentor who elevates team capability by coaching staff on design patterns, documentation practices, and technical decision-making. They excel at facilitating design discussions, clarifying system impacts, and building shared understanding across technical and non-technical audiences. With strong analytical skills, they lead root-cause investigations, resolve complex production issues, and drive continuous improvement, ensuring UI benefits technologies maintain maximum availability, utility, flexibility, and responsiveness. Their leadership strengthens system integrity and supports modernization efforts across the UTAB ecosystem. They are also a forward-thinking planner who evaluates existing systems, identifies improvement opportunities, and contributes to future-state architectural roadmaps. They understand the critical role UI systems play in serving Washingtonians and approach their work with a sense of stewardship, equity, and accountability. They recognize that architectural decisions directly affect system performance, data security, and the agency’s ability to deliver essential services including the ability to pay unemployment benefit payments to Washington citizens. With a commitment to high-quality outcomes, they ensure solutions are thoughtfully designed, well-documented, and aligned with ESD’s mission to provide equitable access to economic security resources.

Requirements

• 10 years of IT experience that includes designing technical solutions, defining system requirements, developing architectural documentation, and supporting complex system integrations or application development efforts OR Associate’s degree in Information Technology or closely related field and 8 years of IT experience designing technical solutions, defining system requirements, developing architectural documentation, and supporting complex system integrations or application development efforts OR Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology or closed related field and six (6) years of IT experience designing technical solutions, defining system requirements, developing architectural documentation, and supporting complex system integrations or application development efforts OR a combination of education and experience equal to 10 years
• Qualifying professional IT experience is defined as experience in one or more of the following IT disciplines: IT consulting, programming, systems security, network, systems development, or systems analysis.
• Progressive experience in software management and work item management using Azure DevOps (ADO)
• Progressive development of skills related to new tools and techniques related to application development, maintenance and support
• Technical Problem-Solving and Analysis: Ability to analyze and solve highly complex problems through a methodical process. Fixes application errors or failures on extremely complex applications or processes. Seeks opportunities to resolve problems and presents recommendations for review Works independently to analyze complex problems, communicating findings and recommendations Reviews and evaluates existing systems for potential improvements or re-architecture Collaborates with stakeholders to resolve technical challenges impacting applications and systems
• Systems Analysis: Ability to understand business processes or portions of large and extremely complex projects and propose technical solutions that can improve those processes; design information systems to automate business processes. Understand portions of business processes of extreme complexity by reviewing the documentation of others The methods used to perform the analysis are often innovative in nature
• Ability to demonstrate and adhere to the following ESD Employee Competencies: Accountability, Communication Effectiveness, Critical Thinking, Customer Service, Inclusiveness, Interpersonal abilities

Nice To Haves

• The ability to take action to learn and grow
• The ability to take action to meet the needs of others

Responsibilities

• Define Solution Architecture guidelines and practices to lead individual project level technology decisions
• Research and recommend appropriate technologies, tools, and design approaches that balance usability, maintainability, and technical feasibility
• Design and architect project solutions and services that align with agency goals, enterprise, architecture, and existing systems
• Lead the analysis, design, and development of complex technical solutions for customers using agency supported technologies, and standards
• Architects, directs, reviews and leads the modification, migration and maintenance of complex IT applications and associated components including database, application utilities, reporting, and system interfaces using agency supported technologies and standards
• Translate software requirements into a technical solution in line with current technology and anticipate technology trends
• Evaluate current system functionality, workflows, and integrations to identify gaps or improvement opportunities
• Conduct impact assessments for proposed changes and help teams understand downstream effects
• Recommend updates to processes, configurations, or system components to improve performance or usability and security

Benefits

• flexible work schedules
• teleworking opportunities

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Associate degree