Principal Solutions Architect

Overview

Thank you for considering IT Concepts dba Kentro, where innovation drives opportunity and collaboration leads to success. Our dynamic community of experts is fully committed to advancing our customers' missions, fostering professional growth, and making a positive impact on our communities.

By joining our supportive community, you will find that Kentro is dedicated to your personal and professional development. Together, we can drive meaningful change, spark innovation, and achieve extraordinary milestones.

Kentro is hiring for a Principal Solutions Architect who bridges strategy and execution, an enterprise leader capable of designing, governing, and modernizing complex technology ecosystems that support mission-critical outcomes. This role demands a blend of architectural depth and operational insight: someone who can translate business intent into secure, scalable, and compliant solutions while installing the structures that make innovation repeatable. The ideal candidate combines enterprise and infrastructure architecture expertise with the judgment to balance modernization, cost, and compliance. 

Kentro’s core capabilities include Infrastructure Modernization, Data and AI, Human Capital Management (HCM), Cybersecurity, and Healthcare. Our technology partnerships, with AWS, Microsoft, Google, UiPath, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Tableau, and Databricks, provide a platform for shaping forward-leaning architectures that drive measurable impact across government and commercial portfolios.

Location: This position can be performed remotely within the United States and will support Eastern Time working hours.

Salary Range: The salary for this position is between $170,000 – $200,000 annually. Factors affecting pay within this range may include geography/market, skills, education, experience, and other qualifications of the successful candidate.

Responsibilities

Solution Strategy & Design:

• Develop cohesive end-to-end architecture blueprints that translate business strategy into actionable, scalable, and future-ready technology roadmaps. 

• Architect and deliver scalable, secure, and high-performance solutions spanning on-premises, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP). 

• Evaluate solution viability through feasibility studies, proofs of concept, and structured technical risk assessments to inform architecture decisions. 

• Establish and maintain architecture guardrails that ensure design decisions across platforms and teams remain consistent with enterprise principles, security posture, and mission objectives. 

• Technical Leadership & Mentorship: 

• Lead cross-functional engineering teams through design, build, test, and delivery phases to ensure solutions meet performance, security, and compliance standards. 

• Coach and empower solution architects, senior engineers, developers, and consultants on architecture patterns, engineering discipline, best practices, and emerging technologies. 

• Foster a culture of continuous learning, technical excellence, and shared accountability. 

• Champion architectural quality and delivery standards by establishing review processes, design authorities, and communities of practice that promote consistency and innovation across teams. 

Customer Engagement: 

• Act as a strategic and trusted technical partner to corporate services and service delivery, aligning technology direction with organizational goals and operational excellence. 

• Translate complex technical requirements into clear, actionable solutions aligned with mission priorities. 

• Present architecture decisions, road maps, and ROI analyses to both technical and non-technical audiences to drive informed decision-making. 

• Partner with customer and program leadership to shape technology vision, align investments with strategic outcomes, and ensure sustained value realization.

Service Catalog Strategy & Management:

• Define, evolve, and govern a modular service catalog that standardizes delivery of integration, automation, and cloud capabilities, enabling scalability, transparency, and operational consistency across engagements. 

• Define and implement service level objectives, cost models, and transition frameworks that ensure operational readiness, financial transparency, and measurable performance accountability. 

• Continuously assess and refine catalog offerings based on adoption metrics, customer feedback, and evolving enterprise priorities to ensure sustained relevance and value. 

• Business Development 

• Partner with sales and capture teams to develop solution strategies, craft compelling RFP/RFI responses, and shape competitive bid approaches for federal and commercial pursuits. 

• Identify and advance growth opportunities within existing accounts by demonstrating how architectural innovation and modernization deliver measurable business value. 

• Contribute to go-to-market planning and thought leadership by translating emerging technologies and delivery capabilities into differentiators that strengthen Kentro’s market position. 

Knowledge Management:

• Curate and institutionalize architectural knowledge by capturing patterns, decision rationales, and implementation lessons that inform future designs and reduce rework. 

• Maintain authoritative, version-controlled architecture documentation, reference models, and solution guides that enable consistency across teams and programs. 

• Champion a knowledge-sharing culture by operationalizing documentation standards, peer reviews, and learning exchanges that strengthen organizational maturity. 

• Develop and maintain an accessible, searchable knowledge base that centralizes architectural assets, accelerates onboarding, and promotes reuse across programs. 

• Innovation & Governance 

• Drive enterprise innovation by identifying, piloting, and operationalizing emerging technologies (e.g., AI/ML, automation, serverless, edge computing), converting proven capabilities into scalable standards and reusable frameworks. 
• Establish and lead governance practices that balance innovation velocity with architectural integrity, ensuring solutions remain compliant, secure, and maintainable across the enterprise. 
• Establish and enforce enterprise governance models that integrate architecture, security, and compliance frameworks (TOGAF, ITIL, NIST, FedRAMP, and related standards) to ensure design coherence, audit readiness, and sustained operational excellence across programs. 

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree (BA/BS) in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field.
• Experience: 10+ years of progressive IT experience and at least 5 years in senior technical leadership roles such as Solution Architect, Chief Engineer, or Systems Engineer.
• Technical Skills:
  • Enterprise Implementation Success – Proven track record delivering largescale, complex system integrations and operational optimizations across multivendor environments. 
  • Technical Expertise – Deep knowledge of systems engineering principles, cloud platforms (AWS, Azure – Azure preferred, Google Cloud), and designing architectures that guarantee scalability, security, and performance. 
  • Communication – Exceptional written and oral presentation skills; ability to articulate technical concepts to both technical and nontechnical stakeholders at all organizational levels. 
  • Strategic Thinking – Strong ability to convert business requirements into cohesive, actionable technical solutions that drive measurable value. 
  • Project Management – Hands on experience managing the full engineering project lifecycle (planning, execution, monitoring, optimization) and delivering on tight deadlines in high stakes environments. 
  • Security & Compliance – Expertise in security best practices and compliance frameworks (NIST, FedRAMP) and ability to embed these controls into solution designs. 

  Preferred Qualifications: 

• Certifications: ITIL, TOGAF, CISSP, or cloud specific credentials (e.g., AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional, Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Google Professional Cloud Architect). 
• Demonstrated success leading to the development and implementation of enterprise architecture frameworks, business process automation, and dataflow automation initiatives. 
• Federal Contracting Knowledge – Familiarity with federal acquisition processes, proposal development, contingent and new award requirements, and the integration of IT solutions within federal environments. 
• Experience with service catalog tooling (e.g., ServiceNow, BMC) and automation platforms (Ansible, Terraform, Azure DevOps, AWS CloudFormation). 

Clearance Requirement:

• US Citizen 
• Active Secret Security Clearance or above preferred.

Benefits

The Company

We believe in generating success collaboratively, enabling long-term mission success, and building trust for the next challenge. With you as our partner, let’s solve challenges, think innovatively, and maximize impact. As a valued member of our team, you have the unique opportunity to work in a diverse range of technology and business career paths, all while supporting our nation and delivering innovative technology solutions. We are a close community of experts that pride ourselves on creating an environment defined by teamwork, dedication, and excellence.

We hold three ISO certifications (27001:2013, 20000-1:2011, 9001:2015), two CMMI ML 3 ratings (DEV and SVC) and CMMC Level 2 Certification.

Industry Recognition

Growth | Inc 5000’s Fastest Growing Private Companies, DC Metro List Fastest Growing; Washington Business Journal: Fastest Growing Companies, Top Performing Small Technology Companies in Greater D.C.

Culture | Northern Virginia Technology Council Tech 100 Honoree; Virginia Best Place to Work; Washington Business Journal: Best Places to Work, Corporate Diversity Index Winner – Mid-Size Companies, Companies Owned by People of Color; Department of Labor’s HireVets for our work helping veterans transition; SECAF Award of Excellence finalist; Victory Military Friendly Brand; Virginia Values Veterans (V3); Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Corporate Breath Award

Benefits

We offer competitive benefits package including paid time off, healthcare benefits, supplemental benefits, 401k including an employer match, discount perks, rewards, and more. We invest in our employees – Every employee is eligible for education reimbursement for certifications, degrees, or professional development. Reimbursement amounts may fluctuate due to IRS limitations. We want you to grow as an expert and a leader and offer flexibility for you to take a course, complete a certification, or other professional growth and networking. We are committed to supporting your curiosity and sustaining a culture that prioritizes commitment to continuous professional development.

We work hard; we play hard. Kentro is committed to incorporating fun into every day. We dedicate funds for activities – virtual and in-person – e.g., we host happy hours, holiday events, fitness & wellness events, and annual celebrations. In alignment with our commitment to our communities, we also host and attend charity galas/events. We believe in appreciating your commitment and building a positive workspace for you to be creative, innovative, and happy.

Commitment Equal Opportunity Employment & VEVRAA

Kentro is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, status as a protected veteran or any other status protected by applicable federal, state or local law.

Kentro is strongly committed to compliance with VEVRAA and other applicable federal, state, and local laws governing equal employment opportunity. We have developed comprehensive policies and procedures to ensure our hiring practices align with these requirements.

As part of our VEVRAA compliance efforts, Kentro has established an equal opportunity plan outlining our commitment to recruiting, hiring, and advancing protected veterans. This plan is regularly reviewed and updated to ensure its effectiveness.

We encourage protected veterans to self-identify during the application process. This information is strictly confidential and will only be used for reporting and compliance purposes as required by law. Providing this information is voluntary and will not impact your employment eligibility.

Our commitment to equal employment opportunity extends beyond legal compliance. We are dedicated to fostering an inclusive workplace where all employees, including protected veterans, are treated with dignity, respect, and fairness.

How to Apply

To apply to Kentro Positions- Please click on the job link and then click the blue “Apply” button at the top right of Job Description. Please upload your resume and complete all the application steps. You must fully submit the application for Kentro to consider you for a position. If you need alternative application methods, please email View email address on click.appcast.io and request assistance.

Accommodations

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Reasonable Accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. If you need to discuss reasonable accommodations, please email View email address on click.appcast.io.

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