Principal Solution Architect - Cloud-Native Platforms - IT/Consulting

Role Overview: We are looking for a hands-on Principal Solution Architect who combines strong software engineering expertise with client-facing consulting and architectural leadership. The role involves working with senior client stakeholders, designing scalable cloud-native platforms, guiding global engineering teams, driving GenAI adoption and modernizing complex legacy applications. Key Responsibilities: - Design and architect scalable, resilient cloud-native enterprise applications and platforms. - Stay hands-on with architecture, POCs, code reviews, microservices, APIs, databases and messaging systems. - Act as a trusted technical advisor to CTOs, CIOs, CPOs and senior technology/product leaders. - Understand business requirements and translate them into scalable technology solutions and long-term architecture roadmaps. - Lead build-vs-buy decisions and communicate architectural trade-offs to business and technical stakeholders. - Lead and mentor distributed engineering teams across global locations. - Drive adoption of Generative AI, LLMs and AI-assisted development across the software development lifecycle. - Lead modernization of legacy applications, including monolith-to-microservices transformations. - Troubleshoot complex production issues and conduct deep-dive root-cause analysis. - Establish best practices around cloud architecture, DevOps, CI/CD, security, scalability and reliability. - Collaborate with sales/pre-sales teams on technical proposals, solutioning and client presentations. Required Skills: - 15+ years of software engineering / technology experience. - Strong progression from Software Engineer - Architect - Solution/Enterprise/Principal Architect. - 8+ years of client-facing consulting/advisory experience. - Strong experience with Java/Spring Boot, .NET Core or Python. - Hands-on experience with Microservices and distributed systems. - Strong knowledge of Kafka/RabbitMQ and event-driven architecture. - Experience with SQL and NoSQL databases. - Strong exposure to AWS, Azure or GCP. - Experience with Docker and Kubernetes. - Knowledge of Terraform / CloudFormation or other Infrastructure-as-Code tools. - Strong API and cloud-native architecture experience. - Experience leading global/distributed engineering teams. - Practical knowledge of GenAI/LLM technologies such as OpenAI API, LangChain or LlamaIndex. - Excellent communication and executive stakeholder management skills. Education: - Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering or a related STEM discipline is required. - Master's degree in Computer Science/Engineering or MCA is preferred. - AWS/Azure Solutions Architect or TOGAF certification would be an advantage. Preferred: - Experience in EdTech / digital learning platforms. - Exposure to standards such as LTI, QTI, Ed-Fi or CEDS. - Experience working with large US-based enterprises, universities, publishers or technology companies.