Senior Solutions Architect

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory • Laurel, MD

3d

About The Position

We are seeking a Senior Solutions Architect to lead the design and delivery of cloud-native enterprise software systems. In this role, you will serve as a technical anchor for cross-functional teams setting architectural direction, championing agile development practices, and ensuring every solution is production-ready, scalable, and aligned with business objectives. You will work hands-on with a modern technology stack and collaborate closely with stakeholders, product owners, and engineers to translate requirements into enterprise-grade software.

Requirements

• Possess a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, or other relevant field.
• Have 5+ years of experience designing and delivering cloud-native enterprise software systems in production environments.
• Demonstrate a solid understanding of cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and cloud-native patterns (microservices, event-driven architecture, 12-factor app principles).
• Demonstrate proven experience leading software engineering teams, including mentoring developers and driving technical decisions across the full SDLC.
• Have strong, hands-on proficiency with Java and the Spring Framework ecosystem (Spring Boot, Spring MVC, Spring Security, Spring Cloud).
• Have strong, hands-on experience designing and implementing data engineering solutions across varying data architectures and databases that scale to enterprise data volumes.
• Have strong experience with SQL, Transact-SQL and ETL processes.
• Have working experience with Vue.js for front-end development in enterprise contexts.
• Have experience with Groovy for scripting, build automation (Gradle), or application development.
• Can demonstrate a proven track record of applying agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, or similar) to drive iterative software delivery.
• Are solutions-oriented — you identify the right answer through data, collaboration, and pragmatic engineering judgment rather than over-engineering.
• Exhibit strong communication skills with the ability to align technical and non-technical stakeholders on architectural decisions.
• Are able to obtain a Top Secret level security clearance. If selected, you will be subject to a government security clearance investigation and must meet the requirements for access to classified information. Eligibility requirements include U.S. citizenship.

Nice To Haves

• Hold a Master's degree or higher in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or other relevant technical discipline.
• Have led architecture decisions in regulated or mission-critical enterprise environments.
• Have experience implementing observability stacks (logging, metrics, distributed tracing) at scale.
• Have hands-on experience with DevSecOps pipelines and security-by-design principles.
• Have contributed to or led communities of practice, guilds, or internal engineering standards bodies.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive end-to-end cloud-native architecture for enterprise-grade software systems, ensuring scalability, reliability, and security from day one.
• Lead and mentor cross-functional development teams, fostering a culture of collaboration, continuous improvement, and technical excellence.
• Apply Agile principles (Scrum, Kanban, or scaled agile frameworks) to structured delivery cycles, manage technical debt, and keep teams focused on outcomes.
• Design and implement software solutions using Java, Spring Framework (Spring Boot, Spring Cloud), Vue.js, and Groovy — writing and reviewing code at an appropriate level to maintain architectural integrity.
• Collaborate with product owners, business stakeholders, and DevOps engineers to translate functional and non-functional requirements into actionable technical designs.
• Establish and enforce engineering standards, patterns, and best practices across the development lifecycle (CI/CD, automated testing, observability, security-by-design).
• Evaluate and recommend cloud platform technologies, frameworks, and third-party integrations that support organizational goals.
• Facilitate architecture reviews, design sessions, and proof-of-concept efforts to de-risk complex technical decisions.
• Serve as a solutions-oriented escalation point — diagnosing production issues, guiding root-cause analysis, and driving timely resolution.
• Communicate architectural vision and trade-offs clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Benefits

• retirement plans
• paid time off
• medical
• dental
• vision
• life insurance
• short-term disability
• long-term disability
• flexible spending accounts
• education assistance
• training and development
• robust education assistance program
• unparalleled retirement contributions
• healthy work/life balance
• sign-on bonus
• relocation benefits
• locality allowance
• discretionary payments for exceptional performance

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior