Microsoft

Senior Solution Architect

Microsoft • $172K — $334K *
Toronto, ON M3C 0E3In-Person
Information Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Today
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Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Master's or Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, IT, Engineering, or related field with extensive experience in technology solutions and architecture.
  • 10-12+ years of experience in technology consulting or domain.
  • 4+ years managing complex projects or portfolios.
  • 2+ years leading blended, multidisciplinary teams.
  • Strong AI literacy and experience integrating AI tools in architecture and delivery.

Responsibilities

  • Engage with customer executives to understand strategic priorities and design solutions.
  • Translate business requirements into architectural designs.
  • Present architecture proposals confidently to executive audiences.
  • Lead and mentor a team of architects and technical resources.
  • Integrate AI tools into the delivery model and advocate for AI-first practices.
  • Establish engineering standards for solution delivery and enforce quality assurance practices.
  • Design solutions across Microsoft platforms ensuring cohesion and collaboration.

Benefits

  • Opportunities for professional development and growth.
  • Access to cutting-edge AI tools and resources.
  • Work in a collaborative, multidisciplinary team environment.
  • Exposure to high-level strategic decision-making and executive engagement.
  • Participation in a culture of engineering excellence that values quality.
Full Job Description
Responsibilities

The Sr. Solution Architect role is organized around five key accountability areas:

1. Business Outcome-Led Architecture

  • Deeply engage with customer executives and business sponsors to understand strategic priorities, then design solutions that directly deliver against those outcomes.


  • Own the translation of business requirements into architecture - bridging the gap between what the business needs and what technology can deliver.


  • Challenge assumptions and guide customers toward solutions that are viable, scalable, and aligned with both their strategy and Microsoft's platform capabilities.


  • Present architecture proposals, solution visions, and delivery approaches to executive audiences with clarity and confidence.


2. Technical Team & AI Leadership

  • Act as the Lead Architect and single accountable technical authority on accounts or complex delivery engagements.


  • Lead, mentor, and orchestrate a team of architects and technical resources - setting direction, resolving blockers, and ensuring architectural coherence across workstreams.


  • Integrate AI agents and tools into the team's delivery model - treating AI as a first-class technical resource to be planned, directed, and governed alongside human contributors.


  • Drive technical governance and quality assurance across the full solution lifecycle, collaborating closely with Program Directors and Project Managers.


  • Build and influence a broader technical community within ISD Canada, sharing reusable patterns, IP, and best practices.


3. AI-Powered Delivery

  • Author an AI Usage Plan for every significant engagement - identifying where AI tooling (GitHub Copilot, Azure OpenAI, M365 Copilot, and others) can be applied to accelerate development, improve quality, or reduce cost.


  • Champion AI-first delivery practices across the team: use AI for code generation, documentation, testing, architecture analysis, and requirements synthesis.


  • Stay current on the evolving AI tooling landscape and continuously raise the bar on how ISD Canada uses AI to deliver faster, better, and more efficiently than the competition.


  • Measure and communicate the impact of AI usage in delivery - speed, quality, and cost metrics.


4. Engineering-Grade Rigor

  • Establish and enforce engineering standards for solution delivery: architecture documentation, code quality, peer review processes, automated testing, CI/CD practices, and operational readiness.


  • Lead architecture and solution reviews, identifying risks, resolving technical constraints, and ensuring delivery meets the highest quality bar.


  • Anticipate and proactively mitigate risks that could impede pre-sales or delivery success.


  • Drive a culture of engineering excellence - where quality is a shared responsibility, not an afterthought.


  • Contribute to and generate reusable intellectual property: reference architectures, accelerators, and delivery frameworks.


5. Full Stack Solution Capability

  • Design and architect solutions that span the Microsoft platform breadth: Data & Analytics, AI & Machine Learning, Application Development, and Cloud Infrastructure.


  • Ensure cohesion across the full technology stack - preventing siloed workstreams and architectural misalignment between platform layers.


  • Provide technical depth in at least two to three domains while maintaining the architectural breadth to guide the full solution.


  • Collaborate with domain specialists and Microsoft product teams to bring the best of the platform to bear for customers.


Additional Accountabilities

  • Make the Market: Identify, pursue, and help close strategic business development and add-on opportunities within existing projects.


  • Drive & Accelerate production-level cloud solutions in line with customer and Microsoft strategy.


  • Deliver Business and Operational Excellence across the full engagement lifecycle.


Qualifications

Required/Minimum Qualifications

  • Master's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or related field AND 10+ years experience in technology solutions, practice development, architecture, consulting, and/or technology domain (e.g., Security) OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or related field AND 12+ years experience in technology solutions, practice development, architecture, consulting, and/or technology domain (e.g., Security) OR equivalent experience.


  • 4+ years managing multiple, complex projects or portfolios.


  • 2+ years experience leading blended, multidisciplinary teams.


Additional or Preferred Qualifications

Technical Skills - Full Stack Coverage Across:

  • Data & AI: Data & AI


    • Azure Data Platform (Azure Synapse, Fabric, Data Factory, Databricks)


    • AI & Machine Learning (Azure OpenAI, Azure AI Studio, Cognitive Services, MLOps)


    • Big Data architectures (Lambda, Kappa), Enterprise Data Warehouse, Advanced Analytics


  • App Dev: Application Development


    • Modern application architecture, microservices, API-first design


    • DevOps, CI/CD pipelines, GitHub Advanced Security, container platforms


    • App modernization, .NET, Java, and open-source software stacks


  • Infrastructure: Cloud Infrastructure


    • Azure IaaS and PaaS services, subscription design, network architecture


    • Identity and Access Management (Azure AD, Entra), security architecture


    • Private/Hybrid/Public cloud configurations, migrations, and governance


  • Security: Security


    • Security reviews, threat modeling, Zero Trust architecture


    • Credential theft mitigation, compliance, and regulatory considerations in Canada


Leadership & Delivery Capabilities

  • Demonstrated ability to lead solution delivery as the Lead Architect on complex, multi-team engagements.


  • Strong AI literacy - actively using AI tooling in day-to-day architecture and delivery work.


  • Experience writing and executing AI usage plans or equivalent AI integration strategies for customer engagements.


  • Ability to execute recognized Software Architecture methods, processes, and tools.


  • Experience applying engineering-grade practices: architecture review boards, design patterns, quality gates, test automation.


  • Ability to give compelling presentations to executive audiences, linking technical decisions to business outcomes.


  • Proven ability to build and sustain trusted relationships at the executive level (C-suite, VP, and Board) - engaging as a peer, not just a vendor, and maintaining those relationships across the full engagement lifecycle.


Solution Architecture IC6 - The typical base pay range for this role across Canada is CAD $172,200.00 - CAD $334,000.00 per year.

Find additional pay information here:
https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/canada-pay-information.html

Solution Architecture IC6 - L'échelle salariale de base typique pour ce rôle dans l'ensemble du Canada est de 172,200.00 $ CAD à 334,000.00 $ CAD par année.

Pour plus d'information au sujet de la rémunération, veuillez cliquer ici:
https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/canada-pay-information.html

Ce poste sera ouvert pendant au moins cinq jours et les candidatures seront acceptées de façon continue jusqu'à ce que le poste soit pourvu.

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

About Microsoft

Microsoft is an American multinational corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports, and sells a range of software products and services. Microsoft’s devices and consumer (D&C) licensing segment licenses the Windows operating system and related software, Microsoft Office for consumers, and the Windows Phone operating system. The company’s computing and gaming hardware segment provides Xbox gaming and entertainment consoles and accessories, second-party and third-party video games, and Xbox Live subscriptions; surface devices and accessories; and Microsoft PC accessories. Its phone hardware segment offers Lumia smartphones and other non-Lumia phones. Its D&C segment provides Windows Store, Xbox Live transactions, and Windows phone store; search advertising; display advertising; Office 365 Home and Office 365 Personal; first-party video games; and other consumer products and services as well as operating retail stores. Microsoft’s commercial licensing segments license server products, including Windows Server, Microsoft SQL Server, Visual Studio, System Center, and related Client Access Licenses (CALs); Windows Embedded; Windows operating system; Microsoft Office for business, including Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Lync, and related CALs; Microsoft Dynamics business solutions; and Skype. Its commercial segment offers enterprise services, including premier support services and Microsoft consulting services; commercial cloud comprising Office 365 Commercial, other Microsoft Office online offerings, Dynamics CRM Online, and Microsoft Azure; and other commercial products and online services. The company markets and distributes its products through original equipment manufacturers, distributors, and resellers, as well as online.

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Learn more about Microsoft
Size
181,000 employees
Market Cap
$1,762.4 billion
Industry
Enterprise Technology
Net Income
$51.3 billion
Founded
1975
5 Year Trend
+15.5%
Revenue
$153.2 billion
NASDAQ
MSFT
* Ladders Estimates

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