Solution Architect

Role Description

Build products from scratch into production. Stay close enough to the codebase to understand what's actually happening. Make architecture decisions that actually ship. We're looking for someone who can take technical ownership from the very first conversation with a client through to a working product and what comes after. This role combines architecture, product thinking, and client collaboration.

The accounts you work on are not typical staff augmentation setups. S&F operates as an embedded strategic partner. The work is technically non-trivial, the stakeholders are engaged, and the room you have to create impact is real.

What you'll actually do

• Early stage (pre-sale and discovery)
  • Joining initial conversations with prospects to understand what they're trying to build
  • Contributing to early-stage solution discovery and technical planning by helping frame problems, evaluating possible approaches and trade-offs, and shaping initial architectural direction and system boundaries
  • Selecting technologies based on the problem and constraints
• From idea to build
  • Working with a Project Manager or Product Manager to shape the roadmap and initial backlog, or shaping the backlog and making product decisions yourself if there's no dedicated Product Manager on the project
  • Bringing structure to early-stage products where not everything is defined yet
  • Defining the initial architecture and validating the technical feasibility of backlog items
• During execution
  • Guiding the engineering team through key technical and architectural decisions
  • Maintaining consistency of the architecture as the system evolves
  • Staying close enough to the codebase to understand what's actually happening
  • Helping the team with hands-on work whenever needed, not afraid to take on the execution for the part of the system if the team needs additional hands on keyboard
  • Participating in client conversations: demos, discussions, and decision-making
• After release / ongoing work
  • Helping define how the product is supported and evolves over time
  • Contributing to discussions around further improvements or new initiatives
  • Supporting conversations about scope, priorities, and next steps
• Architecture focus
  • Defining system boundaries and core components
  • Making trade-offs between performance, scalability, and complexity
  • Adapting architecture when initial assumptions don't hold
  • Working with existing systems by understanding current architecture and constraints, identifying improvement opportunities, and evolving them incrementally while ensuring compatibility and stability

Qualifications

• Several years of hands-on engineering experience, including time spent making or supporting architectural decisions in real projects
• Experience building products from scratch and bringing them into production
• Solid understanding of backend architectures (APIs, distributed systems, data flows)
• Experience with all of the following:
  • At least one of the popular cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure)
  • Backend frameworks (Node.js, Python, Java, or similar)
  • Front end frameworks (Vue, React, etc.)
  • Relational and non-relational databases
• Ability to work across different stacks and learn new ones when needed
• Habit of exploring unfamiliar technologies and approaches before committing to a solution
• Familiarity with machine learning and AI concepts is important — including a general understanding of how these systems work and where they are applicable.

Requirements

• Ability to choose and combine technologies based on context
• Understanding of how technical decisions connect to product and business outcomes
• Clear communication with both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Curiosity about how things work beyond the immediate technical scope
• Openness to learning and rethinking earlier decisions as new information appears
• Comfort working without relying on a single preferred stack or set of tools

What success often looks like

• Clients rely on this role when making important technical decisions
• Systems hold up in practice and evolve without constant rework
• Teams have clarity on direction, even in ambiguous situations
• Clients continue to involve this role as the product evolves and return to work with the same person again

Why this role is interesting

It offers a full view of how products come together — from early ideas to real systems in use. There's room to influence decisions at different levels and to stay connected to both technical depth and product direction. Projects vary a lot — different domains, different levels of structure, different constraints. Some parts of the work are well-defined, others require figuring things out along the way.

Hiring process

• Recruiting interview — initial conversation about background, motivation, fit
• Live coding session — 45–60 min, hands-on engineering exercise
• System design interview — 45–60 min, architectural reasoning and trade-offs
• Interview with Head of the Department — 60 min