Solution Architect

Codal • Chicago, IL

4d • Hybrid

About The Position

Codal is seeking a Solution Architect to analyze client technology landscapes, identify areas for improvement, and design comprehensive digital solutions. This role involves translating business needs into practical, scalable architectures across software, systems, data, AI, and DevOps. It is a client-facing position requiring collaboration with executives, technical teams, and hands-on prototyping. The Solution Architect will balance cost, timeline, risk, and maintainability in their recommendations and embody Codal’s core principles.

Requirements

• 9+ years of hands-on software or systems engineering experience, including experience designing and owning architecture for complex, client-facing solutions.
• Understanding and ability to solve complex client problems that will impact client business.
• Proven ability to evaluate an existing technology landscape and make a clear, defensible recommendation, including build-vs-buy and platform trade-offs.
• Strong grounding across at least two of the following: application architecture, systems/infrastructure design, data architecture, AI/ML solutioning, and DevOps.
• Comfort learning a new domain or stack quickly (just-in-time), with enough hands-on ability to validate an approach yourself rather than only directing others.
• Experience presenting technical recommendations directly to clients, including non-technical and executive stakeholders.
• Hands-on experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure), containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), and modern CI/CD practices.
• Solid understanding of databases and data platforms (SQL, NoSQL, and analytics platforms such as BigQuery).
• Clear, confident communication skills, and the judgment to know when to hold a position and when to adapt it.
• The drive to learn, adapt, and apply to the ever changing technology landscape.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in a consulting or professional services environment, including supporting pre-sales, proposals, or client discovery.
• Experience architecting solutions that incorporate AI/ML capabilities into existing products or platforms.
• Experience leading architecture review boards or similar governance processes.
• A track record of guiding teams through complex technical challenges and ambiguous requirements to a shipped outcome.
• Certifications in a cloud platform or AI such as AWS Solution Architect or Claude Certified Architect

Responsibilities

• Assess a client's existing technology landscape (software, systems, data, and infrastructure) and rationalize the pros, cons, and risks of what's in place versus what's proposed.
• Design end-to-end solution architectures spanning application, data, AI/ML, and DevOps concerns, and document them clearly enough for both engineers and executives to act on.
• Present and defend architecture recommendations to client stakeholders, including technical leads and executive sponsors, with support from Codal's delivery and account teams.
• Support discovery, technical planning, and pre-sales conversations, translating client goals and constraints into a scoped, deliverable technical approach.
• Create and maintain architecture decision records that capture the trade-offs considered and the reasoning behind each major decision.
• Guide engineering teams through implementation, staying hands-on where needed (prototyping, code review, unblocking hard technical problems) without holding up delivery.
• Evaluate emerging tools, platforms, and AI capabilities, and bring forward recommendations that would meaningfully improve a client's solution or delivery speed.
• Partner with DevOps, data, and engineering leads to align architecture with CI/CD, cloud infrastructure, and data platform realities on the ground.
• Mentor engineers and technical leads on architectural thinking, not just implementation, helping the broader team reason about systems, not just code.
• Support planning, estimation, and risk management across the project lifecycle, flagging architectural risk early.

Benefits

• Health Insurance: Comprehensive medical coverage for employees and their dependents.
• Maternity/Paternity Leave: Additional time off and support for new parents.
• Employer 401k match - 4%
• Professional Development: Opportunities for training, workshops, and conferences to enhance employees' skills and knowledge.
• A hybrid work environment for in-person collaboration and sprint-planning days

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed