We're redefining how TIAA builds its core lifetime income products, moving to a modern cloud-first architecture so our flagship products can reach new markets. The Insurance Solutions and New Markets team owns that work, and we need a Solution Architect to design it.
This is an individual contributor role, and it's hands-on. You'll design solutions on Java, Kafka, AWS, and EKS, and work with product partners to shape requirements while they're still forming, build your own prototypes, and stay with your design through delivery. Your influence comes from the quality of the design and how well you carry it.
Why This Role MattersLeading in lifetime income is a core strategic priority for TIAA, and the Insurance Solutions and New Markets platform is where that priority gets built. The design decisions made here determine how fast we can launch products for the next several years. TIAA exists to make a more secure financial future available to everyone we serve. This platform is how we extend that promise to people we haven't reached yet.
Key Responsibilities and Duties- Design and architect technology solutions for new product development in the Insurance Solutions and New Markets space.
- Lead design reviews and act as the technical voice while business requirements are still forming, working with product partners to shape what's feasible as the product itself takes shape.
- Own the architecture artifacts that carry a design forward: Well-Architected Framework Reviews, Impact Assessments, Solution Design Documents covering logical and physical design, and Architecture Decision Records, partnering with tech leads throughout.
- Participate actively in TIAA's Technology Architecture Governance process and community, bringing designs forward and contributing to enterprise architecture direction.
- Communicate the technical roadmap to stakeholders and senior leaders, translating architecture decisions into terms the business can act on.
- Partner regularly with business stakeholders to understand product and platform needs, and with adjacent technical domains such as Cloud Engineering and Cyber to make sure solutions are compatible, secure, and supportable across the broader ecosystem.
- Stay engaged through implementation and delivery, and get hands-on when a delivery team hits a wall, whether that means digging into an unfamiliar technology, breaking a stalled decision, or building a POC to prove out an approach. You unblock the team yourself rather than escalating it or handing it off.
- Use LLMs as a working partner in architecture decisions: pressure-testing design tradeoffs, drafting and refining design docs, and exploring options before committing to an approach.
Educational Requirements- University (Degree) Preferred
Work Experience- 8+ Years Required; 10+ Years Preferred
Career Level10IC
What Success Looks Like- Connects business strategy to technical execution, and can move fluently between both.
- Works comfortably at the level of code and configuration as well as architecture diagrams.
- Pushes back on a design directly and respectfully, and welcomes the same in return.
- Treats AI and LLMs as a genuine thinking partner, using them to raise the quality of the thinking and the output.
- Builds alignment across a large enterprise, from business partners to enterprise architecture, through influence and credibility.
Required Qualifications- 8+ years of experience in solution architecture or equivalent technical design roles
- Experience in financial services (retirement, insurance, or adjacent regulated environments).
- Experience with Java, Kafka, and/or containers (EKS or equivalent)
Preferred Qualifications- Comfort designing for products that are still being defined. You'll often be working from a business direction rather than a finished requirements document, and iterating as the product firms up.
- Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills. This role requires driving design consensus without formal authority.
- Experience and understanding of how regulatory and compliance constraints shape architecture decisions.
- Familiarity with cloud-native architecture patterns such as domain-driven design, event-driven architectures, and API-first design.
- Experience designing for non-functional requirements at scale: performance, resilience, observability, and cost optimization.
- Proven use of LLMs as part of the architecture decision process, applied to design tradeoffs and documentation.
Related Skills
Application Programming Interface (API) Development/Integration, Cloud Platforms, Data Management, Domain-Driven Design, Enterprise Application Integration, Enterprise Architecture, Influence, Innovation, Problem Solving, Scalability/Reliability, Software as a Service (SaaS), Software Development, Strategic Planning, Systems Design/Analysis
Anticipated Posting End Date:2026-09-18
Base Pay Range: $165,000/yr - $255,000/yr
Actual base salary may vary based upon, but not limited to, relevant experience, time in role, base salary of internal peers, prior performance, business sector, and geographic location. In addition to base salary, the competitive compensation package may include, depending on the role, participation in an incentive program linked to performance (for example, annual discretionary incentive programs, non-annual sales incentive plans, or other non-annual incentive plans).
Benefits and Total Rewards
The organization is committed to making financial well-being possible for its clients, and is equally committed to the well-being of our associates. That's why we offer a comprehensive Total Rewards package designed to make a positive difference in the lives of our associates and their loved ones. Our benefits include a superior retirement program and highly competitive health, wellness and work life offerings that can help you achieve and maintain your best possible physical, emotional and financial well-being. To learn more about your benefits, please review our Benefits Summary.
