Sr. Startup Solutions Architect, Solutions Architect, Early Stage Startups

Amazon • Santa Monica, CA

1d • $153,600 - $207,800 • Remote

About The Position

This role is for a Solutions Architect passionate about startups and helping founders solve complex technical challenges at the early stages of company building. The position involves being deeply embedded in the Southern California startup ecosystem, working directly with early-stage founders across various industries. The goal is to help them make pragmatic architectural decisions that enable rapid growth without creating future bottlenecks. The role requires building strong relationships with founders and becoming a trusted technical advisor. Responsibilities include advising on architecture before code is written, assisting with scaling after unexpected growth, and navigating compliance challenges. The role also involves dedicated time for technical skill development, advocating for startup needs internally, and sharing expertise through content creation and event presentations.

Requirements

• 8+ years of specific technology domain areas (e.g. software development, cloud computing, systems engineering, infrastructure, security, networking, data & analytics) experience
• 3+ years of design, implementation, or consulting in applications and infrastructures experience
• 10+ years of IT development or implementation/consulting in the software or Internet industries experience

Nice To Haves

• 10+ years of infrastructure architecture, database architecture and networking experience
• Experience working with end user or developer communities

Responsibilities

• Work hands-on with early-stage founders to design and iterate on architectures that are practical for where they are today but built to scale as they grow
• Help startups navigate the fast-moving GenAI landscape, from selecting the right foundation models and AI services to building production-ready AI-powered products and services
• Guide founders through the real challenges of building GenAI applications, including managing model costs, latency, accuracy, safety, and AI best practices
• Support startups in building the right data foundations to power their AI products, whether that's vector databases, data pipelines, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), or fine-tuning workflows
• Build and deepen relationships within Southern California's startup ecosystem, including top accelerators, incubators, and leading VC firms
• Be a voice for your founders, connecting their feedback and needs directly to product and engineering teams to help shape the tools and services being built for them
• Create technical content tailored to early-stage startups, such as blog posts, reference architectures, and sample code, that helps founders move faster and spend less time reinventing the wheel
• Share your expertise at startup events, demo days, and developer meetups across the Southern California ecosystem to build trust and visibility in the community

Benefits

• health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage)
• 401(k) matching
• paid time off
• parental leave
• sign-on payments
• restricted stock units (RSUs)

What This Job Offers

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