Chief Solution Architect – Federal Enterprise Modernization

Chief Solution Architect – Federal Enterprise Modernization

ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES

This role serves as the principal technical authority for a large-scale application maintenance and modernization program within the federal government. The Chief Solution Architect provides enterprise-wide architectural governance, guiding the strategic transition from legacy on-premise systems to modern AWS cloud services. In this capacity, you will establish and uphold architecture standards that align immediate operational needs with long-term program objectives. You will serve as a trusted technical partner to government leads — reviewing and approving major architectural decisions, managing technical risk, and ensuring all solutions meet federal security requirements while optimizing for performance, scalability, and cost-effectiveness.

• Serve as the primary technical authority across all project teams, providing architectural leadership and oversight throughout the program lifecycle.
• Establish and maintain enterprise architecture standards, frameworks, and governance processes to guide consistent, compliant technical decision-making.
• Lead the modernization strategy for transitioning legacy on-premise systems to AWS cloud services, ensuring continuity of operations throughout the migration.
• Collaborate directly with government technical leads to review, advise on, and approve major architectural decisions and design proposals.
• Oversee technical risk management activities, identifying emerging risks and developing mitigation strategies to safeguard program delivery.
• Ensure all solutions comply with federal security requirements and enterprise architecture standards, incorporating security-by-design principles from the ground up.
• Optimize architectural solutions for performance, scalability, and cost-effectiveness across the full application portfolio.
• Guide and align cross-functional technical teams, promoting consistency and knowledge-sharing across all project workstreams.

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE

• Minimum 8 years of experience in one or more architecture domains, including business architecture, solutions architecture, or application architecture.
• Demonstrated experience establishing and managing enterprise architecture standards and governance frameworks in complex program environments.
• Proven ability to lead technical strategy and modernization initiatives across multi-team, large-scale engagements.
• Experience collaborating with and advising senior government or enterprise stakeholders on architectural direction and major technical decisions.
• Working knowledge of federal IT security requirements and compliance frameworks applicable to government programs.

PREFERRED EXPERIENCE

• Advanced knowledge and hands-on experience with one or more programming languages, such as Java, JavaScript (including AngularJS), Python, Rust, Go, or PHP.
• Experience defining and implementing the architecture of cloud-deployed applications, with a preference for AWS environments.
• Expertise in service-oriented architecture (SOA), web services, and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).

EDUCATION & CERTIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related technical field (required).
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional certification (required).