Staff Architect

Robots and Pencils•Houston, TX

7h•Hybrid

About The Position

We’re looking for a Staff Architect to lead the design and delivery of complex, multi-domain systems spanning cloud, data, and AI. This role is ideal for an experienced engineer who can define technical strategy, own end-to-end architecture for major engagements, and provide technical leadership across teams. In this role, you will work as a delivery-embedded technical leader on cross-functional teams, defining architecture across cloud infrastructure, data platforms, and AI/ML workloads. You’ll act as a technical escalation point on complex challenges, mentor mid-level engineers, partner with leadership on technical direction, and ensure systems are scalable, secure, and built to last.

Requirements

7+ years of experience in software engineering, with at least 3 years in architecture or technical leadership roles
Deep expertise in cloud platforms and cloud-native architectures (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP)
Strong background in microservices, serverless, containers, and event-driven systems (e.g., Kubernetes, Docker, Lambda, EventBridge)
Proficiency with infrastructure as code and CI/CD (e.g., Terraform, CloudFormation, Pulumi, GitHub Actions)
Strong data architecture expertise across relational, NoSQL, and big data systems (e.g., PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Snowflake, BigQuery, Spark, Kafka)
Hands-on experience with data modeling, ETL/ELT pipelines, and orchestration (e.g., Airflow, Prefect, dbt)
Strong experience designing AI/ML systems for production, including LLMs, MLOps, and model serving (e.g., SageMaker, Vertex AI, MLflow, Hugging Face, PyTorch, TensorFlow)
Solid understanding of networking, security, identity, and access management in cloud environments
Experience with governance, compliance, and observability frameworks
Strong software engineering skills (Python, APIs, containerization)
Demonstrated leadership and technical mentoring experience
Strong stakeholder communication skills, with the ability to translate technical depth across audiences
Demonstrable usage of AI-forward tools such as Claude and Cursor

Nice To Haves

Multi-cloud architecture experience
AI ethics or responsible AI experience
Enterprise architecture certifications (e.g., TOGAF, AWS/Azure/GCP)

Responsibilities

Define technical strategy and lead architectural design across cloud, data, and AI/ML systems for end-to-end engagements
Architect scalable cloud-native solutions, including multi-cloud and hybrid strategies (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes)
Design data architectures including warehouses, data lakes, and pipelines for batch and streaming workloads (e.g., Snowflake, Redshift, BigQuery, Spark, Kafka)
Design AI/ML systems including model serving, MLOps pipelines, feature stores, and LLM-based applications (e.g., SageMaker, Vertex AI, MLflow, Hugging Face)
Define infrastructure as code, CI/CD, and DevOps standards across engagements (e.g., Terraform, CloudFormation, GitHub Actions)
Drive performance, scalability, cost, and reliability optimization across deployed systems
Ensure architecture meets security, governance, and compliance requirements (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, SOC2)
Lead cloud migrations and platform modernization initiatives
Bring an AI-forward mindset to your daily work, using tools like Claude, Cursor, and other modern AI assistants to ship higher-quality work at pace
Partner with leadership and clients on technical direction, translating business goals into architectural decisions
Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to engineering and non-engineering stakeholders alike
Engage closely with engineering, data, AI, and product teams to align architecture with broader business priorities
Develop and maintain architecture documentation, standards, and guidelines
Establish architectural standards and best practices that lift quality and consistency across the team
Mentor junior and mid-level engineers, helping them grow their architectural thinking and craft
Act as a technical escalation point on complex architectural and integration challenges
Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend tools, frameworks, and patterns that improve architecture over time