Principal Forward Deployed Architect (San Francisco)

OverviewWorking at AtlassianAtlassians can choose where they work – whether in an office, from home, or a combination of the two. That way, Atlassians have more control over supporting their family, personal goals, and other priorities. We can hire people in any country where we have a legal entity.About the RoleThe Forward Deployed Architect (FDA) is a trusted transformation architect who combines enterprise-grade technical design with consulting-grade business acumen to shape how strategic customers adopt Atlassian as their operating system for work.This is not a traditional Solutions Engineer role, nor a hands-on-keyboard engineering role. The FDA is the architect in the room — the person who turns a CIO's ambiguous “modernize how we work” into a credible, phased, AI-native architecture and the business transformation plan that makes it stick across HR, Finance, Marketing, PMO, Operations, and Engineering.You will be embedded with 1–3 strategic accounts at a time, typically for 3–9 months each, owning both the technical truth and the business transformation narrative end-to-end. This role will report into the Head of Solution Architects and will require up to 50% travel.ResponsibilitiesBusiness Transformation & ExpansionDesign the customer's System of Work across functions using Jira, Confluence, Rovo, and the broader Atlassian platform.Lead process and workflow transformation from current state to future state, including operating model design, Center of Excellence structures, RACI, governance, and platform team design.Expand Atlassian beyond the development buyer into HR, Finance, Marketing, PMO, Operations, and other business teams through cross-functional workflow design.Drive AI adoption for knowledge workers through practical, workflow-based use cases embedded into daily work.Support adoption through change management, enablement, and success metrics.Own and evolve the System of Work blueprint based on outcomes, feedback, and usage data.Architecture & Technical DesignOwn the target-state architecture for strategic enterprise customers across the Atlassian System of Work — Plans, Goals, Work, Knowledge, Code, and AI (Rovo, Teamwork Graph, Atlassian Intelligence).Design across the full stack: multi-tenant SaaS, identity & SSO (SAML/OIDC/SCIM), data residency, integration patterns (REST/GraphQL/event-driven), Forge & Connect app strategy, Marketplace ecosystem, and migration paths (Server/DC Cloud, Cloud-to-Cloud).Co-design AI-native workflows — Rovo agents, knowledge grounding, Teamwork Graph enrichment, AI governance, and human-in-the-loop patterns.Ship durable artifacts — reference architectures, ADRs, Forge prototypes, Terraform/IaC modules, Compass scorecards, automation rule libraries — that survive past the engagement.Orchestration & InfluenceLead executive discovery with CIOs, CTOs, VPs of Engineering, and Heads of Platform — translating business outcomes into capability roadmaps and phased delivery plans.Orchestrate execution across SE, SA, TAS/FDE, Professional Services, Partners, and customer stakeholders.Close the loop with Product — capture patterns from the field and convert them into prioritized, well-articulated product and platform requirements.Mentor and uplevel Senior Solutions Engineers, Professional Services Architects, and Partner architects.Represent Atlassian externally through conference talks, reference architecture publications, and Developer Community contributions.QualificationsRequired8–12+ years in customer-facing technical, advisory, consulting, or transformation roles.A track record of owning and delivering end-to-end transformations at Fortune 1000, large regulated, or public sector customers — not only scoping them.Executive presence and exceptional written communication; able to produce a memo, ADR, or design doc that stands up to executive review.Strong workflow and systems thinking, including the ability to map complex processes and design scalable ways of working across business functions.Comfort with enterprise architecture concepts: cloud-native design, integration patterns, identity, security, and data.Ability to prototype, debug, and read code in at least one of: Java/Kotlin, TypeScript/Node, Python.Cross-functional credibility with IT, PMO, HR, Finance, and senior business stakeholders.Willingness to travel up to 50% and operate across customer time zones.Strongly PreferredDeep cloud-native architecture experience on AWS or equivalent hyperscaler, including multi-region, multi-tenant SaaS, identity, security, and data.Prior experience at a SaaS vendor's Forward Deployed, Customer Engineering, or Professional Services team.Or senior architect / Principal Consultant experience at a major SI or Atlassian Solution Partner with a track record of leading platform transformations.Management or technology consulting background, including Big 4, boutique, or internal strategy.Domain depth in one or more of: DevOps / Platform Engineering, ITSM/ESM, Agile-at-Scale, FSI, Public Sector, Healthcare.Experience designing on Forge, the Atlassian Marketplace ecosystem, or large Atlassian Cloud migrations.AI/LLM architecture experience including RAG, knowledge graphs, agent design, and AI governance.Relevant certifications such as ACP, AWS Solutions Architect Professional, TOGAF, or CISSP.Public artifacts including conference talks, open source contributions, published reference architectures, or blogs.CompensationAt Atlassian, we strive to design equitable, explainable, and competitive compensation programs. To support this goal, the baseline of our range is higher than that of the typical market range, but in turn we expect to hire most candidates near this baseline. Base pay within the range is ultimately determined by a candidate's skills, expertise, or experience.In the United States, we have three geographic pay zones. For this role, our current base pay ranges for new hires in each zone are:Zone A: $207,000 - $270,250Zone B: $186,300 - $243,225Zone C: $171,800 - $224,308This role may also be eligible for benefits, bonuses, commissions, and equity.Please visit go.atlassian.com/payzones for more information on which locations are included in each of our geographic pay zones. However, please confirm the zone for your specific location with your recruiter.Benefits & PerksAtlassian offers a wide range of perks and benefits designed to support you, your family and to help you engage with your local community. Our offerings include health and wellbeing resources, paid volunteer days, and so much more. To learn more, visit go.atlassian.com/perksandbenefits.About AtlassianAt Atlassian, we're motivated by a common goal: to unleash the potential of every team. Our software products help teams all over the planet and our solutions are designed for all types of work. Team collaboration through our tools makes what may be impossible alone, possible together.We believe that the unique contributions of all Atlassians create our success. To ensure that our products and culture continue to incorporate everyone's perspectives and experience, we never discriminate based on race, religion, national origin, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, or marital, veteran, or disability status. All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.To provide you the best experience, we can support with accommodations or adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process. Simply inform our Recruitment team during your conversation with them.To learn more about our culture and hiring process, visit go.atlassian.com/crh.In line with local law, identity verification (which may include use of biometric data) is a condition of employment with Atlassian for employment fraud purposes.Job SummaryCategory: Sales