Solution Architect Leader

We are the leading provider of professional services to the middle market globally, our purpose is to instill confidence in a world of change, empowering our clients and people to realize their full potential. Our exceptional people are the key to our unrivaled, culture and talent experience and our ability to be compelling to our clients. You’ll find an environment that inspires and empowers you to thrive both personally and professionally. There’s no one like you and that’s why there’s nowhere like RSM.

Solution Architect Leader

The Solution Architect Leader is a strategic and operational leader responsible for architecting and driving the technical eco-system and solutions of the firm.   This leader drives the architectural vision, design governance, and technology strategy for digital solutions that power the firm’s operations.   This role leads a team of solution architects within an Agile SAFe delivery environment, ensuring that architecture supports continuous delivery, scalability, and business agility.  The leader partners closely with Digital Leaders and other business executives, along with digital solutions team members including Portfolio Delivery Leaders to ensure the solutions architects are designing solutions that are strategic, sustainable, and value driven.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES:

Leadership Responsibilities

• Provide visionary leadership to a team of solution architects, cultivating a culture of excellence, innovation, and accountability.
• Establish and champion a robust community of practice, facilitating the exchange of architectural patterns, best practices, and emerging innovations across cross-functional teams.
• Collaborate proactively with delivery and resource management leaders to optimize team capacity, capability planning, and resource allocation.
• Exemplify lean-agile leadership, fostering an environment that values experimentation, transparency, and continuous improvement

Strategic & Agile Leadership

• Align solution architecture strategies with the organization’s long-term business objectives, ensuring that technical roadmaps are synchronized with evolving business priorities
• Lead and govern architectural decision-making processes, ensuring consistency, scalability, and alignment with enterprise standards.
• Facilitate and lead architecture governance forums, balancing intentional design with emergent innovation to drive sustainable business value.
• Develop and maintain a robust architectural runway, enabling the rapid deployment of future features and capabilities while minimizing technical debt.
• Architecture & Design Excellence
• Direct and oversee comprehensive solution design initiatives, ensuring seamless alignment with enterprise architecture principles and standards.
• Ensure the creation, maintenance, and accessibility of high-quality architecture artifacts, including solution intents, non-functional requirements, enablers, and reusable design patterns.
• Drive the adoption of DevOps practices and continuous delivery pipelines, leveraging modular, API-first, and cloud-native architectures to enhance scalability and agility.
• Champion enterprise-wide integration and data-driven design, utilizing APIs, microservices, and event-driven architectures to enable robust, scalable, and secure solutions.

Operational & Delivery Alignment

• Foster seamless collaboration between solution architects, product management, release train engineers, and delivery teams to ensure architectural alignment with program increments and business objectives.
• Lead and actively participate in PI Planning sessions, articulating architectural vision, identifying critical enablers, and supporting effective backlog prioritization.
• Ensure architectural practices are fully aligned with SAFe principles, promoting flow, cadence, synchronization, and continuous feedback for optimal delivery efficiency.
• Establish and monitor key architectural performance indicators (KPIs), including runway health, solution alignment, delivery velocity, and technical debt reduction, to drive continuous improvement and value realization.

Other Duties as Assigned

QUALIFICATIONS:

EDUCATION 

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Engineering, or related discipline. 

TECHNICAL SKILLS 

• Demonstrated mastery of cloud platforms (e.g., Azure), API management frameworks, and advanced data architecture principles.
• In-depth understanding of Agile and SAFe methodologies, including solution intent, architectural enablers, system architect roles, and the development of architectural runway.
• Proficiency in leading architecture within recognized frameworks (TOGAF, SAFe, Zachman) and applying Agile delivery best practices
• Comprehensive knowledge of cybersecurity, regulatory compliance, and governance requirements for enterprise-scale digital solutions. 
• SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS SPECIFIC TO JOB 
• Strategic thinker able to align technology and architecture with measurable business outcomes
• Skilled communicator and influencer, capable of bridging business, product, and technology perspectives.
• Collaborative mindset with a commitment to continuous learning, lean thinking and incremental improvement
• Proven success aligning architecture runway with product, program and portfolio objectives
• Proven success in reducing architecture bottlenecks
• Demonstrated maturity of architecture through measurable SAFe adoption metrics and architectural governance outcomes

EXPERIENCE 

• Minimum of 12 years of progressive architecture experience, including 5+ years in architecture leadership roles.
• Proven success implementing or operating within a Scaled Agile or lean portfolio management environment
• Experience leading architecture for complex, enterprise-scale digital transformations in professional services or similar industries
• Expert at stakeholder management

MANAGEMENT 

• Strong people leader – able to coach, inspire and develop technical talent in an agile environment

At RSM, we offer a competitive benefits and compensation package for all our people. We offer flexibility in your schedule, empowering you to balance life’s demands, while also maintaining your ability to serve clients. Learn more about our total rewards at https://rsmus.com/careers/working-at-rsm/benefits.

All applicants will receive consideration for employment as RSM does not tolerate discrimination and/or harassment based on race; color; creed; sincerely held religious beliefs, practices or observances; sex (including pregnancy or disabilities related to nursing); gender; sexual orientation; HIV Status; national origin; ancestry; familial or marital status; age; physical or mental disability; citizenship; political affiliation; medical condition (including family and medical leave); domestic violence victim status; past, current or prospective service in the US uniformed service; US Military/Veteran status; pre-disposing genetic characteristics or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state or local law. 

Accommodation for applicants with disabilities is available upon request in connection with the recruitment process and/or employment/partnership. RSM is committed to providing equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for people with disabilities. If you require a reasonable accommodation to complete an application, interview, or otherwise participate in the recruiting process, please call us at 800-274-3978 or send us an email at [email protected].

RSM does not intend to hire entry level candidates who will require sponsorship now OR in the future (i.e. F-1 visa holders). If you are a recent U.S. college / university graduate possessing 1-2 years of progressive and relevant work experience in a same or similar role to the one for which you are applying, excluding internships, you may be eligible for hire as an experienced associate.

RSM will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records in accordance with the requirements of applicable law, including but not limited to, the California Fair Chance Act, the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. For additional information regarding RSM’s background check process, including information about job duties that necessitate the use of one or more types of background checks, click here.

At RSM, an employee’s pay at any point in their career is intended to reflect their experiences, performance, and skills for their current role. The salary range (or starting rate for interns and associates) for this role represents numerous factors considered in the hiring decisions including, but not limited to, education, skills, work experience, certifications, location, etc. As such, pay for the successful candidate(s) could fall anywhere within the stated range.