ResponsibilitiesPeraton is seeking a Lead Solutions Architect (LSA) to support corporate priority and strategic growth opportunities in our Health, State, and Local Sector. LSAs are responsible for the development of compliant, differentiating, compelling, and executable solutions that meet or exceed customer requirements. This may include any combination of Mission Engineering, Digital Transformation, AI / Data, Cybersecurity, and Cloud / Enterprise IT solutions that address the operational and technology needs of our customers. The LSA leads solution teams, using Peraton’s Solution Development Methodology (SDM), in the development of solutions that include strengths and discriminators consistent with the win strategy and responsive to evaluation criteria.
Key Responsibilities:
- Works closely with business development, program teams, and corporate offering teams to determine the overall solution strategy and approach. Ensures the solution is aligned with customer’s objectives and requirements to include merging of industry viewpoints, broad technical knowledge, and mission understanding.
- Leads teams of solution professionals, technical subject matter experts, and partners in the development of integrated, cost-effective solutions for inclusion in proposal responses that meet or exceed customer requirements and maximize Peraton’s competitive advantage.
- Articulates the solution during reviews with senior Peraton management. Identifies and evaluates solution risks and creates strategies and plans to mitigate those risks.
- Ensures the solution is properly reflected in the written and oral proposal responses.
- Briefs and prepares the delivery team to ensure a successful program startup
Qualifications
Basic Qualifications
Education:
- Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related technical discipline. Equivalent combination of education and directly relevant experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
Experience:
- Minimum of ten (18) years of progressive IT experience, with at least five (5) years in a solutions architecture, enterprise architecture, or senior technical design role.
- Demonstrated experience leading the end-to-end design and implementation of enterprise-scale solutions, from requirements through deployment and operational hand-off.
- Experience developing architectural standards, reference architectures, and technology roadmaps for a large enterprise or government customer.
- Prior experience serving as the lead architect on programs with budgets of $5M or greater.
- Prior experience with State Government and/or Federal Health Agencies.
Technical Expertise:
- Hands-on architecture experience across two or more of the following domains:
- Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP), including migration strategy, cloud management, and automated provisioning.
- Data center virtualization (VMware ESXi or equivalent) and private/hybrid cloud infrastructure.
- Enterprise networking (Cisco routing/switching, firewalls, load balancers, VPN, SD-WAN).
- Server, storage, database (MS SQL or equivalent), and unified communications (SIP/VoIP) platforms.
- Experience designing solutions that integrate with IT Service Management platforms (ServiceNow preferred) and multi-vendor service delivery models (e.g., MSI).
- Demonstrated ability to balance cost, performance, security, and operational requirements to deliver best-value solutions.
Governance, Security & Standards:
- Working knowledge of security and compliance frameworks such as NIST 800-53, PCI-DSS, SOX, or state equivalents (e.g., Commonwealth of Virginia SEC 501/525).
- Familiarity with ITIL service management practices, including service catalog, capacity/availability, and disaster recovery/business continuity design.
Leadership & Communication:
- Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams of architects and engineers through design and implementation phases.
- Experience collaborating with executive leadership, customers, suppliers, and governance bodies; able to translate complex technical concepts for non-technical audiences.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, including preparation of technical proposals, design documents, and briefings.
Certifications (one or more required):
- Cloud certification such as AWS Certified Solutions Architect, AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect, or Google Cloud Professional equivalent.
- ITIL Foundation (v3 or v4) certification.
Clearance / Eligibility:
- Must be a U.S. Citizen.
- Must be able to obtain and maintain a Public Trust or higher clearance as required by the customer engagement.
Desired Requirements
Strategic Advisory:
- Experience serving as a trusted technical advisor to executives, conducting market/opportunity analysis, and evaluating technology investments or R&D proposals.
- Recognized thought leadership in internal or external technology forums.
Enterprise Transformation:
- Track record of leading large-scale legacy-to-modern migrations, including emergency or compressed-timeline deployments (e.g., 30-day surge deliveries).
- Experience architecting rapid capacity scale-up solutions for continuity of operations events.
- Success consolidating and virtualizing physical environments to achieve measurable cost and uptime improvements.
Financial & Vendor Governance:
- Familiarity with IT financial management concepts — chargeback/showback, invoicing transparency, real-time cost monitoring — and automated vendor/contract governance platforms.
- Ability to apply utility vs. warranty trade-off analysis to IT investment decisions.
Team Development:
- Demonstrated success building diverse, high-performing technical teams from the ground up.
- Experience mentoring mid- and junior-level engineers and architects as a player-coach.
Operational Excellence:
- Experience implementing ITIL-based incident/problem management processes with measurable service improvements (e.g., significant ticket volume reduction).
- Hands-on experience validating live-replication and real-time failover DR strategies.
Regulated & Mission-Critical Environments:
- Delivery experience in highly regulated environments (state government, financial services, payment processing, or similar) with a track record of clean external audit outcomes.
Cross-Industry Perspective:
- Career exposure across multiple sectors (public sector, banking/financial services, payment processing, commercial IT services) supporting large, geographically distributed environments.
- Comfort interfacing directly with Fortune 500 or senior government leadership.
Recognition & Innovation:
- Industry or organizational recognition for technical innovation (e.g., innovation awards, technical fellowship, or comparable distinction).
Preferred Credentials & Background:
- Master's degree in Information Technology, Cybersecurity, Computer Science, or a related field.
- Additional certifications such as CISSP, TOGAF, or advanced cloud architect credentials.
- Prior experience supporting state and local government customers (VITA or comparable).
- Prior U.S. military service or federal government experience.
Personal Attributes:
- Bias toward action under compressed timelines; systems thinker who balances architecture, security, cost, and user experience; adaptable communicator across technical and executive audiences.
Target Salary Range$176,000 - $282,000. This represents the typical salary range for this position. Salary is determined by various factors, including but not limited to, the scope and responsibilities of the position, the individual’s experience, education, knowledge, skills, and competencies, as well as geographic location and business and contract considerations. Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay.