AVP, Solution Architect

About the role

The AVP, Solution Architect is responsible for leading solution design and applying core architecture principles to deliver scalable, secure, and maintainable systems. This role owns the architecture and technical direction for one or more applications or services and provides day-to-day leadership for one to two Agile teams.

This role brings a balanced blend of technical depth and business acumen, partnering with business stakeholders to shape the product vision, prioritize initiatives, and ensure outcomes align to business value. The role collaborates closely with Enterprise Architects to develop end-to-end solution approaches, ensure alignment with enterprise standards, and contribute to strategic technology direction.

This leader owns key technical decisions, evaluates impacts across systems and teams, and drives delivery of high-quality solutions through effective governance, coaching, and hands-on engagement. The role promotes an inclusive, high-performing team culture and ensures consistent execution of Agile practices.

Essential Responsibilities

• Design and integrate solutions: Architect, build, and integrate information systems that meet defined business needs, including the selection and integration of appropriate software, hardware, and services for internal and/or external clients.
• Lead delivery through the SDLC: Organize and guide the overall development effort across the SDLC. Translate product and architecture vision into actionable technical direction, providing hands-on guidance to designers and developers to build the prescribed solution.
• Make technology and architecture decisions: Evaluate and select the most suitable technologies for each problem, balancing architectural standards, delivery timelines, cost, risk, and business outcomes.
• Drive solution architecture focus areas:
• Apply technology to solve business problems and deliver measurable value.
• Define the target framework, platform, and technology stack for the solution.
• Design the application’s structure and user experience, including components, interfaces, and interaction patterns.
• Ensure scalability, reliability, maintainability, and supportability for future growth.
• Assess third-party frameworks/platforms, documenting benefits, limitations, risks, and mitigation strategies.
• Ensure engineering quality and integration: Oversee programming, integration, and testing across software systems and associated devices/services, ensuring end-to-end quality, security, and performance.
• Perform other duties and/or special projects as assigned

Qualifications/Requirements

• Education & Experience: Bachelor’s degree with 7+ years of experience in one or more IT disciplines, or in lieu of a degree, High School Diploma/GED with 9+ years of professional application development experience.
• Full-Stack Engineering: 7+ years of full-stack development experience using Spring and other Java/JEE technologies, including APIs, microservices, micro frontends, and modern UI frameworks/technologies.
• Architecture & Design: 5+ years of experience in application architecture and design, with strong command of relevant design patterns, processes, and tools.
• Ability and flexibility to travel for business as required

Desired Characteristics

• Strong working knowledge of the fintech landscape, with a focus on consumer financing products and processes.
• Proven, hands-on experience designing and delivering service-oriented architectures (SOA) and distributed systems.
• Demonstrated expertise working in Agile delivery models (e.g., Scrum/Kanban) and leading teams through iterative delivery.
• Strong critical thinking, problem-solving, and creative solutioning skills, with the ability to navigate ambiguity and trade-offs.
• Experience with dependency/build management tools such as Maven or Gradle.
• Experience working with CI/CD and continuous integration environments such as Jenkins.
• Hands-on experience building, deploying, and operating applications in the cloud (e.g., AWS/Azure/GCP), including automation and monitoring considerations. Experience creating and maintaining API contracts using OpenAPI/Swagger specifications.
• Expertise in mobile solution architecture, including native mobile and mobile web experiences, with an understanding of performance, security, and UX considerations.