Solution Architect - AI

Appian Corporation • McLean, VA

9h

About The Position

Appian's Customer Success organization is seeking an AI Solution Architect to support its federal customers. This role involves advising clients on architecting and delivering Appian-based solutions, growing the federal business, and designing integrated solutions. The Solution Architect will be a key technical leader, acting as a trusted advisor to clients, defining innovative solutions using Appian's platform technology, and staying aware of market trends. The ideal candidate will possess strong technical, product, and business skills, with experience in BPM and/or business systems. The role requires advising customers on technical design, architecture, and implementation of Appian solutions on private cloud or on-premise hosting, and integrating Appian government cloud offerings. It also involves supporting the sales cycle with differentiated solutions, presenting complex technical concepts, and guiding customers on configuration, testing, deployment, and operations using agile methodologies. The role includes advising on development practices, program management, governance, and DevSecOps. Additionally, the Solution Architect will lead the definition and development of Appian Customer Success innovations, collect and distill technical challenges into best practices, and support whitepaper and proposal development. A key aspect of this role is advising federal customers on the design and integration of AI and generative AI capabilities, including LLMs, intelligent automation, and machine learning, ensuring alignment with mission objectives and responsible AI principles. The role also involves leading the definition of enterprise data strategies and architectures, establishing and operationalizing data governance frameworks, and supporting the development of AI governance structures aligned with the NIST AI Risk Management Framework.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering or a related field
• At least 5 years of experience advising customers on design and implementation of government cloud computing platforms, and at least 10 years of multi-tier application design and architecture
• Experience with architecting secure cloud based hosting solutions for federal customers using Amazon AWS, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and/or Microsoft Azure.
• Leadership experience designing, architecting or delivering one or more enterprise-level cloud environments (e.g. C2S, JWICS, GovCloud, etc.)
• Experience authoring federal proposals and whitepaper is required
• In depth experience, managing federal programs and projects and leading IT delivery using agile frameworks, tooling and methodologies, including Scrum and SAFe
• Strong communication and presentation skills
• Guiding client enterprise architecture teams as needed during the design and implementation of scalable solutions
• Excellent problem solving skills and talent for identifying creative solutions
• Ability to identify and lead the creation of market offerings, and lead the formulation of corporate capabilities and intellectual property
• Possession of or ability to obtain a US government public trust and/or DoD clearance. TS/SCI with CI Poly strongly preferred

Nice To Haves

• Experience accelerating IT solution under the federal government’s Risk Management Framework is preferred
• Experience with designing and implementing DevSecOps pipelines and Infrastructure Automation frameworks, using toolsets like Jenkins, Puppet, Ansible, SaltStack, Cucumber, JMeter, and Fitnesse, preferred
• AWS, Google, or Azure Certifications is a plus
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, preferred
• Certified Scrum Master or other agile certifications, required

Responsibilities

• Advise customers on the technical design, architecture and implementation of Appian solutions on a customer’s private cloud or on-premise hosting solution, and/or integrating Appian government cloud offerings with the customer’s infrastructure
• Support the sales cycle through the creation of high-value, differentiated solutions, based on Appian’s technology, that integrates and defines program and project management disciplines with a compelling technical solution and delivery roadmap
• Present and vet integrated solutions and complex technical concepts and designs to our customers and other audiences
• Support customers on the configuration, testing, deployment and operations of Appian applications, following agile delivery methodologies and Appian best practices
• Work with clients on all aspects of their program to drive technical success and efficiency, including advising of development practice, program management and governance and delivery automation (version control, configuration management, and other DevSecOps and Infrastructure Automation practices)
• Lead the definition and development of Appian Customer Success innovations and offerings in order to support leading Appian delivery capabilities, and bring together emerging requirements and practices from our customers and industry
• Collect and review technical challenges with a team of architects and distill into common best practices and common solutions
• Support the development and review of whitepapers and pre-sales solutioning and proposals
• Advise federal customers on the design and integration of AI and generative AI capabilities, including large language models (LLMs), intelligent automation, and machine learning, into Appian-based solutions, ensuring alignment with mission objectives, responsible AI principles.
• Lead the definition of enterprise data strategies and architectures for federal customers, including data ingestion, storage, integration, and analytics frameworks that enable scalable, mission-driven data platforms on cloud environments.
• Establish and operationalize data governance frameworks for federal programs, including data quality standards, lineage, metadata management, access controls, and stewardship models that ensure data is accurate, compliant, and audit-ready in support of agency oversight requirements
• Support the development of AI governance structures for federal customers, including model risk management, explainability standards, bias mitigation protocols, and continuous monitoring practices aligned with the NIST AI Risk Management Framework and agency-specific AI use case inventory requirements

Benefits

• Training and Development: During onboarding, we focus on equipping new hires with the skills and knowledge for success through department-specific training. Continuous learning is a central focus at Appian, with dedicated mentorship and the First-Friend program being widely utilized resources for new hires.
• Growth Opportunities: Appian provides a diverse array of growth and development opportunities, including our leadership program tailored for new and aspiring managers, a comprehensive library of specialized department training through Appian University, skills based training, and tuition reimbursement for those aiming to advance their education. This commitment ensures that employees have access to a holistic range of development opportunities.
• Community: We’ll immerse you into our community rooted in respect starting on day one. Appian fosters inclusivity through our 8 employee-led affinity groups. These groups help employees build stronger internal and external networks by planning social, educational, and outreach activities to connect with Appianites and larger initiatives throughout the company.
• Comprehensive benefits package designed to support your health, wellbeing, and financial future. Benefits may include health coverage, Employee Assistance Program (EAP) with free mental health support, life and disability insurance, an Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP), a retirement/pension plan, wellness dollars, tuition reimbursement, family-forming benefits and more.

What This Job Offers

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