Solutions Architect

Xpect Solutions • Crystal City, VA

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

XPECT Solutions is seeking a Solutions Architect to support our Federal Government Customer with delivering secure, cloud-based mission systems. The Architect will lead the design of scalable data platforms and processing pipelines, translating mission requirements into reference architectures that balance performance, cost, and security. This role spans the full solution lifecycle — from whiteboard design through implementation guidance — and partners closely with data engineering, DevSecOps, and security teams to ensure solutions meet federal compliance requirements (NIST 800-53, FedRAMP, DHS 4300A). The ideal candidate is technically hands-on across Python, Spark/PySpark, and SQL, fluent in storage and compute optimization trade-offs, and able to communicate architectural decisions clearly to both engineers and government stakeholders. As a Hybrid position, there is an onsite requirement of one day per week.

Requirements

• Must Be Able to Obtain Public Trust Level 6C
• Six (6) years of Information Assurance experience
• Experience with the following technologies: Python
• Spark
• PySpark
• SQL and Database Implementation
• Data Engineering and Data Pipelines
• Storage and Compute Optimization
• GitHub
• Jenkins/Cloudbees
• Ansible
• Terraform
• Vault

Nice To Haves

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or related field.

Responsibilities

• Design end-to-end solution architectures for secure, cloud-based data platforms supporting federal mission workloads, including data ingestion, processing, storage, and analytics layers.
• Develop reference architectures, design patterns, and architectural decision records (ADRs) that guide engineering teams and ensure consistency across the program.
• Architect distributed data processing pipelines using Spark and PySpark, defining partitioning, caching, and resource strategies to optimize throughput and cost.
• Lead database design and data modeling efforts for relational and analytical workloads, including schema design, indexing strategy, and SQL performance tuning.
• Define storage and compute optimization strategies — tiering, right-sizing, autoscaling, and workload placement — to balance performance against budget constraints.
• Collaborate with DevSecOps to embed security and compliance controls (NIST 800-53, FedRAMP, DHS 4300A) into architectural designs and CI/CD workflows using GitHub, Jenkins/CloudBees, Ansible, Terraform, and Vault.
• Conduct architectural reviews, design trade-off analyses, and proof-of-concept evaluations to validate solutions before full implementation.
• Produce architecture documentation, diagrams, and technical briefings tailored to engineering, security, and government stakeholder audiences.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to engineering teams, guiding implementation decisions and resolving complex design issues.
• Partner with program leadership to assess emerging technologies, evaluate vendor offerings, and recommend roadmap investments aligned to mission needs.

Benefits

• A competitive Medical, Dental, and Vision plan
• Retirement Savings Plan
• Life Insurance
• AD&D Insurance
• Short Term and Long Term Disability Insurance
• 3 weeks of annual PTO
• 11 days of Holiday PTO
• Performance Awards
• Referral Bonus Plan (of up to $5,000/year)
• Education Reimbursement/Training (of up to $2,500/year)

What This Job Offers

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