Job Title: Lead Solutions Architect
Job Code: AZ 14298
Client: State of Arizona - Arizona Department of Economic Security (AZDES)
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Work Arrangement: Hybrid - 4 days per week working from home; local candidates only
Contract Duration: Through June 30, 2027
Working Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00 AM-5:00 PM (40 hours/week; overtime available)
Work Location Address: 1400 W. Washington St., Phoenix, AZ 85007
Position OverviewThe State of Arizona is seeking a Lead Solutions Architect to lead enterprise application architecture and development, with a strong focus on AI-enabled solutions. This role combines technical leadership, employee management, cloud architecture, and AI strategy to deliver scalable, secure, and cost-effective enterprise systems.
The ideal candidate will have at least three years of experience leading and managing employees, hands-on knowledge of AI/ML and Generative AI, enterprise and cloud architecture expertise, and experience with Agile methodologies and Jira or Azure DevOps.
Required Skills- At least 3+ years of experience in a lead role managing employees.
- Experience with AI/ML, Generative AI, LLMs, NLP, vector databases, and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG).
- Strong understanding of enterprise and cloud architecture, distributed systems, microservices, and API-first design.
- Experience with cloud platforms such as Salesforce, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud Platform (GCP), including AI/ML services.
- Experience with Jira or Azure DevOps.
- Knowledge of Agile/Scrum methodologies.
- Strong technical leadership, team mentoring, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Computer Engineering.
- Ability to translate business requirements into scalable technical solutions and communicate architecture decisions to executive stakeholders.
Preferred Skills- TOGAF or other enterprise architecture frameworks, such as Zachman.
- Product management experience.
- Experience with Azure AI Studio, MLOps, data engineering, CI/CD, and AI model deployment and monitoring.
- Knowledge of AI security, privacy, responsible AI practices, and compliance frameworks such as NIST AI RMF and the EU AI Act.
- Experience with cloud cost optimization, AI computing costs, and token-based pricing models.
- Programming knowledge in Python, SQL, Java, or Go.
- Experience with technical roadmapping, budgeting, vendor management, and build-versus-buy evaluations.
Key Responsibilities- Lead the design and implementation of scalable, secure, AI-enabled enterprise applications.
- Develop enterprise architecture strategies and multi-year technical roadmaps.
- Evaluate AI models, third-party APIs, and cloud services to identify suitable solutions.
- Guide development teams, cloud architects, data scientists, and machine learning engineers.
- Ensure AI solutions meet security, privacy, compliance, and performance requirements.
- Collaborate with business stakeholders, product managers, legal teams, and security leaders.
- Manage technical vendors, budgets, and cloud cost optimization.
- Communicate technical strategies, architecture decisions, risks, and business value to executive leadership.
Primary SkillsSolutions Architecture, Application Development Management, AI/ML, Generative AI, RAG, LLMs, Salesforce, Azure, GCP, Azure AI Studio, MLOps, Data Engineering, Microservices, Agile/Scrum, Jira, Azure DevOps, TOGAF, Product Management.
Flexible work from home options available.
