About this opportunity
SES Corporation lists this Solutions Architect opportunity in suitland, Maryland. Review the employer’s description below for duties, qualifications and application requirements.
Job description
The Solution Architect is responsible for evaluating stakeholder requirements, business objectives, operational needs, enterprise capabilities, architectural constraints, and technical dependencies to formulate practical, scalable, secure, and supportable solution recommendations. The role serves as the primary bridge among requirements analysis, enterprise architecture, platform architecture, engineering organizations, and business stakeholders by transforming mission and business needs into actionable solution approaches.
The Solution Architect assesses current-state capabilities, identifies functional and technical gaps, evaluates alternatives, and develops recommendations that balance business value, implementation complexity, operational impacts, organizational readiness, risk, cost, and long-term sustainability. The role helps organizations determine not only what is being requested, but whether existing enterprise capabilities can satisfy the need, what gaps must be addressed, and what solution approach provides the most effective path forward.
Working closely with Enterprise Architects, Platform Architects, Platform SMEs, engineering teams, cybersecurity organizations, operations personnel, service owners, and business stakeholders, the Solution Architect supports working groups, governance bodies, architectural reviews, and investment discussions by providing objective analysis and solution recommendations grounded in both business priorities and technical realities.
Success is measured by the organization's ability to make informed decisions, address capability gaps, leverage existing investments, and implement solutions that deliver measurable business outcomes while minimizing unnecessary complexity, duplication, risk, and technical debt.
Requirements
Responsibilities
Analyze business, mission, operational, technical, security, compliance, and stakeholder requirements
Facilitate discussions with stakeholders to clarify objectives, constraints, assumptions, priorities, and expected outcomes
Evaluate completeness, feasibility, and implementation implications of proposed requirements
Translate business needs into actionable solution requirements and architectural considerations
Capability Assessment and Gap Analysis
Assess current-state business, application, data, platform, infrastructure, and operational capabilities
Identify capability gaps, process deficiencies, technology limitations, organizational constraints, and modernization opportunities
Determine whether existing enterprise capabilities can satisfy stakeholder requirements
Document findings and develop recommendations for addressing identified gaps and deficiencies
Solution Formulation and Alternative Analysis
Develop solution concepts and candidate approaches that address identified business needs and capability gaps
Evaluate multiple alternatives and analyze associated benefits, risks, dependencies, implementation complexity, operational impacts, and costs
Facilitate analysis of alternatives, trade studies, and decision-support activities
Recommend solution approaches that balance mission value, technical feasibility, organizational readiness, and long-term sustainability
Recommendation Development and Decision Support
Develop decision-ready recommendations supported by objective analysis and documented rationale
Clearly communicate benefits, tradeoffs, constraints, risks, assumptions, and implementation considerations
Support working groups, review boards, architecture governance processes, and executive decision forums
Assist leadership in understanding the implications of competing solution approaches before committing resources
Architecture and Platform Collaboration
Collaborate with Enterprise Architects to validate enterprise alignment and capability impacts
Work with Platform Architects and Platform SMEs to evaluate technical feasibility, platform alignment, scalability, security, integration, and operational considerations
Coordinate with engineering, operations, cybersecurity, and service management teams to validate recommendations and implementation assumptions
Promote reuse of approved enterprise capabilities, services, platforms, and architectural patterns whenever practical
Implementation Planning Support
Assist project and program teams in translating approved solutions into implementation plans
Identify dependencies, sequencing considerations, resource requirements, organizational impacts, and transition needs
Support planning activities associated with deployment, adoption, operations, sustainment, and continuous improvement
Help reduce implementation risk through early identification of technical, organizational, and operational challenges
Required Skills
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Systems Engineering, Engineering, Business Information Systems, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience
At least 10 years of experience supporting solution architecture, systems engineering, enterprise architecture, business analysis, service design, technology modernization, or related technology transformation initiatives
Experience analyzing business, mission, operational, technical, security, compliance, and organizational requirements and translating those requirements into actionable solution approaches
Demonstrated experience assessing current-state capabilities, identifying capability gaps, evaluating constraints, and developing recommendations that align business needs with technical realities
Experience developing conceptual, logical, and physical solution architectures spanning applications, data, infrastructure, platforms, cybersecurity, integration services, and operational capabilities
Experience conducting gap assessments, root cause analysis, business process analysis, capability assessments, and solution evaluations within complex enterprise environments
Experience evaluating solution alternatives and performing trade studies that consider business value, implementation complexity, organizational readiness, supportability, risk, lifecycle costs, and long-term sustainability
Experience identifying opportunities to leverage existing enterprise capabilities, shared services, platforms, and reusable architectural patterns to satisfy stakeholder requirements
Experience supporting intake, discovery, requirements elicitation, stakeholder engagement, solution assessments, and decision-support activities across multiple business and technology domains
Experience formulating recommendations supported by technical analysis, business considerations, operational impacts, implementation constraints, and strategic objectives
Experience working closely with enterprise architects, platform architects, engineers, cybersecurity teams, operations organizations, service owners, program managers, and business stakeholders
Experience developing architecture artifacts, capability assessments, gap analyses, solution recommendations, decision papers, implementation roadmaps, and executive-level briefings
Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to explain complex concepts, alternatives, risks, dependencies, and recommendations to both technical and non-technical audiences
Preferred Skills
Experience supporting engineering and operations, working groups, platform teams, Architecture Review Boards (ARBs), Technology Review Boards (TRBs), governance forums, investment reviews, or comparable decision-making bodies
Experience conducting capability assessments, gap analyses, Analysis of Alternatives (AoA), trade studies, modernization assessments, technology evaluations, and business case development
Experience supporting enterprise modernization, digital transformation, cloud migration, service delivery improvement, platform rationalization, or technology lifecycle management initiatives
Experience facilitating stakeholder workshops, requirements sessions, architecture reviews, operational assessments, and executive decision-support activities
Experience developing business capability models, process flows, service blueprints, solution roadmaps, transition plans, implementation strategies, or modernization plans
Experience supporting large-scale, geographically distributed, mission-critical, highly available, or regulated enterprise environments
Experience identifying opportunities to improve interoperability, reduce redundancy, strengthen service delivery, and optimize technology investments
Professional certifications in enterprise architecture, solution architecture, business analysis, systems engineering, project management, IT service management, cloud architecture, or related disciplines
Methods, Frameworks, and Tooling
The Solution Architect is expected to operate across organizational, business, service, operational, application, data, infrastructure, and platform domains. Successful candidates should demonstrate broad familiarity with enterprise technologies, architecture methods, service management practices, and solution delivery approaches.
Experience working across multiple technology domains including infrastructure, networking, cloud platforms, enterprise applications, software development, data and analytics, cybersecurity, service management, and systems integration
Agile delivery methodologies, requirements management, backlog prioritization, roadmap development, and iterative solution delivery
ITIL practices including service portfolio management, demand management, service design, service lifecycle management, governance, and continual improvement
Two or more major cloud service providers and associated enterprise services, including commercial and government cloud environments
CI/CD, version control, automation, configuration management, and release management practices
Enterprise architecture, modeling, and visualization tools such as Sparx Enterprise Architect, Visio, ArchiMate, or comparable platforms
Performance analysis, capacity planning, monitoring, observability, reporting, and operational analytics capabilities
Architecture frameworks, capability modeling, business architecture, service architecture, systems engineering, and decision-support methodologies
Soft Skills
Analytical thinking: Breaks down complex business and technical problems into understandable components and identifies practical paths forward
Requirements discipline: Distinguishes between true business requirements, stakeholder preferences, assumptions, and implementation constraints
Problem solving: Identifies capability gaps, operational challenges, architectural deficiencies, and organizational barriers and develops actionable recommendations
Solution formulation: Develops practical solution alternatives that balance mission needs, technical feasibility, operational realities, risk, cost, and sustainability
Critical thinking: Challenges assumptions, validates information, evaluates alternatives objectively, and identifies unintended consequences before decisions are made
Business alignment: Understands organizational objectives and ensures recommendations deliver measurable mission and business value
Systems thinking: Understands how decisions affect business processes, applications, platforms, infrastructure, security, operations, governance, funding, and customer outcomes
Consensus building: Brings together stakeholders with competing priorities and helps organizations reach informed, balanced decisions
Decision-support mindset: Develops objective, evidence-based recommendations and clearly communicates trade-offs, risks, dependencies, and impacts
Pragmatism: Focuses on implementable solutions rather than theoretical architectures or technology preferences
Influence: Gains credibility through analysis, reasoning, communication, and demonstrated understanding of organizational challenges
Accountability: Takes ownership of recommendations and remains focused on successful implementation, adoption, and business outcomes
Clear communication: Explains complex issues, alternatives, impacts, and recommendations in language appropriate to technical and business audiences
Documentation discipline: Produces accurate, decision-ready assessments, recommendations, architecture artifacts, and supporting analysis that can be leveraged throughout implementation and operations
Benefits
SES provides a competitive salary and the following benefits:
Medical
Dental
Vision
AD&D
STD
LTD
Company paid Life Insurance
401k with employer contribution
Paid Time Off
Pet Insurance
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Worksite address
suitland, MD, 20746, US
Who can apply
Review the original listing for work authorization, qualifications and employer requirements.