Salesforce Solution Architect

Title: Salesforce Solution Architect

Location: Remote (USA)

Overview

The Salesforce Solution Architect supports projects that define requirements and technical solutions for standing up and enhancing Salesforce environments in support of coordinated, multi-product release and regression testing. This role owns the Salesforce side of the solution design - solution architecture, metadata configuration, sandbox strategy, and integration design - spanning both declarative and programmatic (Apex and Lightning Components) Salesforce customization.

The Salesforce Solution Architect works as part of a team to define requirements, produce solution designs, and establish the operating model needed to bring new or updated environments online. Typical activities include determining sandbox type and sizing; defining metadata configuration and environment refresh approaches; sequencing onboarding of in-scope product groups; evaluating and recommending Salesforce integration approaches; and applying Salesforce data sharing and visibility models to the solution design.

The Salesforce Solution Architect will participate in technical discovery sessions with product, testing, and infrastructure stakeholders. Success in this role requires strong, hands-on Salesforce expertise - the ability to work across both flows/configuration and code - along with the ability to take a holistic view of a project's full scope and translate requirements into a solution design that aligns with VA governance, security, and federal compliance standards.

Key Functions

• Produce the solution design for the Salesforce (and, in coordination with the team, AWS) components of the environment.
• Determine sandbox type and sizing needed to support regression testing and performance testing requirements.
• Define the metadata configuration approach for the environment.
• Define the Salesforce refresh approach through the VA Salesforce governance group (DTC), including how refresh requests against production are structured and executed.
• Define the onboarding sequence for product groups being brought into a shared environment.
• Serve as the technical interface with DTC on sandbox provisioning and sandbox control.
• Support determination of the environment's designation and naming, and how it fits within the broader Salesforce Org.
• Support determination of the sandbox control model, including whether the environment operates under program control or DTC control.
• Confirm the test data approach for the environment and the restrictions that apply, including data representativeness, use of production data, and PII handling.
• Design Salesforce integration approaches for the environment, evaluating the available integration patterns and recommending the appropriate approach for each interface.
• Apply Salesforce data sharing and visibility models appropriately within the environment design.
• Troubleshoot Salesforce performance issues and metadata conflicts, and resolve them as part of the solution design.
• Support development of Salesforce test data factories and updates to automated test cases needed to support the environment.
• Take a holistic view of the full scope of the effort, including downstream and cross-product impacts, when designing new sandbox functionality.
• Maintain compliance with VA security standards and federal requirements, including differences between commercial and GovCloud/FedRAMP configurations.
• Maintain positive working relationships with federal clients, delivery teams, and technical stakeholders while supporting mission-critical systems.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 6 years of relevant experience.
• An additional 2 years of experience (8 years total) with an Associate's Degree in lieu of a Bachelor's Degree.
• An additional 4 years of experience (10 years total) with a High School Diploma in lieu of a Bachelor's Degree.
• Hands-on Salesforce development experience, including Apex and other programmatic customizations, in addition to declarative (flows, configuration) experience.
• Experience producing Salesforce solution designs, including metadata configuration and sandbox strategy.
• Experience evaluating and recommending Salesforce integration approaches from among multiple available patterns.
• Experience with Salesforce data sharing and visibility models.
• Experience troubleshooting Salesforce performance issues and resolving metadata conflicts.
• Experience building or maintaining Salesforce test data factories and updating automated test cases to support environment or release changes.
• Understanding of federal compliance considerations affecting Salesforce solutions, including differences between commercial and GovCloud/FedRAMP environments.
• Ability to take a holistic view of a project's full scope, including downstream and cross-product impacts, when designing solutions.
• Strong, hands-on orientation - able to directly configure, build, and troubleshoot rather than operate in a purely advisory capacity.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong attention to detail and organizational skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively across technical and operational teams.
• Ability to shift focus between competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.

Preferred Qualifications or Skills

• Salesforce certification(s) such as Application Architect, System Architect, or Platform Developer II.
• Experience supporting multi-product Salesforce Orgs where multiple teams release independently.
• Experience supporting federal government Salesforce implementations, including FedRAMP or GovCloud environments.
• Experience supporting regression testing or performance testing environment design.
• Experience using Jira and Confluence.
• Familiarity with Agile delivery methodologies.
• Experience coordinating sandbox refresh processes through a third-party governance or release management function.