Solution Architect (AI)

Job Description

Job Description

Here at Appian, our values of Intensity and Excellence define who we are. We set high standards and live up to them, ensuring that everything we do is done with care and quality. We approach every challenge with ambition and commitment, holding ourselves and each other accountable to achieve the best results. When you join Appian, you'll be part of a passionate team dedicated to accomplishing hard things, together.

At Appian, we support our federal customer's mission by delivering solutions using our cloud-based platform technology. Appian's Customer Success organization works closely with our federal customers, advising and supporting them on how to architect and deliver Appian based-solutions. To support this goal, Appian Customer Success, is looking for an Solution Architect to help us to grow our federal business and work closely with customers to design integrated solutions and make compelling offers.

As a Solution Architect, you will be a key technical leader within Appian's Customer Success team as well as a trusted technical advisor to Appian's clients. In this role, you will define leading, integrated solutions that use Appian's platform technology to support our customers unique mission areas. You will maintain an awareness of market forces and trends, lead the design and development of innovations and offerings that address customers demands and continue to position as a leader. You will consult and advise our customers on their programs and projects, driving quality and innovation. The ideal candidate will combine excellent technical, product and business skills to make our customers and partners successful. And have experience working with BPM and/or business systems.

To be successful in this role, you will:

• Advise customers on the technical design, architecture and implementation of Appian solutions on a customer's private cloud or on-premise hosting solution, and/or integrating Appian government cloud offerings with the customer's infrastructure
• Support the sales cycle through the creation of high-value, differentiated solutions, based on Appian's technology, that integrates and defines program and project management disciplines with a compelling technical solution and delivery roadmap
• Present and vet integrated solutions and complex technical concepts and designs to our customers and other audiences
• Support customers on the configuration, testing, deployment and operations of Appian applications, following agile delivery methodologies and Appian best practices
• Work with clients on all aspects of their program to drive technical success and efficiency, including advising of development practice, program management and governance and delivery automation (version control, configuration management, and other DevSecOps and Infrastructure Automation practices)
• Lead the definition and development of Appian Customer Success innovations and offerings in order to support leading Appian delivery capabilities, and bring together emerging requirements and practices from our customers and industry
• Collect and review technical challenges with a team of architects and distill into common best practices and common solutions
• Support the development and review of whitepapers and pre-sales solutioning and proposals
• Advise federal customers on the design and integration of AI and generative AI capabilities, including large language models (LLMs), intelligent automation, and machine learning, into Appian-based solutions, ensuring alignment with mission objectives, responsible AI principles.
• Lead the definition of enterprise data strategies and architectures for federal customers, including data ingestion, storage, integration, and analytics frameworks that enable scalable, mission-driven data platforms on cloud environments.
• Establish and operationalize data governance frameworks for federal programs, including data quality standards, lineage, metadata management, access controls, and stewardship models that ensure data is accurate, compliant, and audit-ready in support of agency oversight requirements
• Support the development of AI governance structures for federal customers, including model risk management, explainability standards, bias mitigation protocols, and continuous monitoring practices aligned with the NIST AI Risk Management Framework and agency-specific AI use case inventory requirements

Basic qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering or a related field
• At least 5 years of experience advising customers on design and implementation of government cloud computing platforms, and at least 10 years of multi-tier application design and architecture
• Experience with architecting secure cloud based hosting solutions for federal customers using Amazon AWS, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and/or Microsoft Azure. Leadership experience designing, architecting or delivering one or more enterprise-level cloud environments (e.g. C2S, JWICS, GovCloud, etc.)
• Experience authoring federal proposals and whitepaper is required
• In depth experience, managing federal programs and projects and leading IT delivery using agile frameworks, tooling and methodologies, including Scrum and SAFe
• Experience accelerating IT solution under the federal government's Risk Management Framework is preferred
• Experience with designing and implementing DevSecOps pipelines and Infrastructure Automation frameworks, using toolsets like Jenkins, Puppet, Ansible, SaltStack, Cucumber, JMeter, and Fitnesse, preferred 
• Willingness to travel; 10-15% to support customer engagements including SCIF's

Other Skills:

• Strong communication and presentation skills
• Guiding client enterprise architecture teams as needed during the design and implementation of scalable solutions
• Excellent problem solving skills and talent for identifying creative solutions
• Ability to identify and lead the creation of market offerings, and lead the formulation of corporate capabilities and intellectual property

Education and Certifications:

• AWS, Google, or Azure Certifications is a plus
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, preferred
• Certified Scrum Master or other agile certifications, required

Clearance: 

• Possession of or ability to obtain a US government public trust and/or DoD clearance. TS/SCI with CI Poly strongly preferred

The base salary range provided represents a good faith and reasonable estimate of the range at the time of posting. In addition to the base salary, this position is eligible for a government clearance differential. Actual compensation will be dependent on a number of factors including, but not limited to, the candidate's relevant work experience, qualifications, internal peer equity, and market and business conditions that exist when extending an offer. A discretionary bonus may be awarded in recognition of individual and company performance.

In addition, Appian provides generous benefits offerings that include a 401(k) plan with company match, flexible time off, paid parental leave, medical, dental, and vision plans, life insurance, disability insurance, wellness programs, flexible spending accounts, health savings account contributions, an employee referral bonus program, and learning and development resources. Certain positions may be eligible for equity awards. 

Pay and benefits are subject to change at any time, consistent with the terms of any applicable compensation, commission, bonus, or benefit plans.

Base Salary Range

$150,000—$275,000 USD

Tools and Resources 

• Training and Development: During onboarding, we focus on equipping new hires with the skills and knowledge for success through department-specific training. Continuous learning is a central focus at Appian, with dedicated mentorship and the First-Friend program being widely utilized resources for new hires. 
• Growth Opportunities: Appian provides a diverse array of growth and development opportunities, including our leadership program tailored for new and aspiring managers, a comprehensive library of specialized department training through Appian University, skills based training, and tuition reimbursement for those aiming to advance their education. This commitment ensures that employees have access to a holistic range of development opportunities.
• Community: We'll immerse you into our community rooted in respect starting on day one. Appian fosters inclusivity through our 8 employee-led affinity groups. These groups help employees build stronger internal and external networks by planning social, educational, and outreach activities to connect with Appianites and larger initiatives throughout the company.

Benefits

Appian offers a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your health, wellbeing, and financial future. Benefits may include health coverage, Employee Assistance Program (EAP) with free mental health support, life and disability insurance, an Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP), a retirement/pension plan, wellness dollars, tuition reimbursement, family-forming benefits and more. Benefits vary by country—please ask your Talent Acquisition contact for details specific to the location you are applying to.

About Appian

Appian provides AI automation for the most important business processes at the world's largest organizations. Our platform is known for its unique power, reliability, and scale. We've been automating processes for more than 25 years and have proven expertise in enterprise operations. For more information, visit appian.com. 

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Appian is an equal opportunity employer that strives to attract and retain the best talent. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. 

Appian provides reasonable accommodations to applicants in accordance with all applicable laws. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please contact us by email at View email address on us.fitly.work. Please note that only inquiries concerning a request for reasonable accommodation will be responded to from this email address.

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