AI and Software Solutions Architect (Remote, Contract)

Role overview

A senior individual contributor is needed to serve as the sole Solutions Architect within a software development organisation, owning architectural decisions across a large polyglot codebase. The role combines classic system design with hands-on AI platform work, guiding modernisation of a legacy PHP platform while shaping how large language model and agentic systems run in production. It is a contract, fully remote position with no direct people management, but significant technical influence across engineering teams and external vendor deliverables.

Responsibilities

- Translate business needs into technical designs, articulate trade-offs, costs and risks, and review architecture for new services and migrations. - Audit code, architecture and vendor deliverables, produce clear written findings, and verify that recommended improvements are implemented. - Define guardrails for production LLM and agentic systems, covering model routing, multi-provider access, observability, security and cost control. - Drive legacy modernisation: evolve the existing PHP platform, replace custom authorisation with SSO, and migrate automation workflows into production-grade code. - Build prototypes and reference implementations in Node.js and Python to validate architectural decisions before engineering teams commit to them. - Run technical interviews for engineering candidates and contribute to maintaining the department's engineering standards.

Requirements

- At least five years in software engineering, including three or more years owning architectural decisions for production systems as an architect, principal engineer or technical lead. - Strong system design fundamentals for scalable, high-load distributed systems, including reliability, failure handling, observability and architectural trade-off analysis. - Hands-on AWS experience designing and operating production services. - Hands-on experience shipping at least one LLM-based solution from business need through production, including retrieval-augmented generation, tool calling, multi-provider setups, observability and cost optimisation. - Familiarity with evaluation and monitoring tooling for LLM systems such as Langfuse or comparable platforms. - Working experience with Python and/or Node.js backends, PostgreSQL and NoSQL data modelling, and event-driven systems using Kafka, RabbitMQ or similar brokers. - Practical experience using agentic coding tools and sound judgement about validating their output. - B2 or higher English for collaboration with distributed teams.

Nice to have

- Experience with Keycloak or Azure AD SSO migrations. - Experience with Backstage or similar internal developer portals. - Experience conducting vendor delivery audits. - AWS Solutions Architect – Professional or equivalent cloud/AI certifications.

Benefits and work setup

- Fully remote, long-term B2B contract with monthly payments in USD and a salary tailored to experience. - Schedule: Monday to Friday, 13:00–21:00 EEST, including a 60-minute break. - Paid sick leave, vacation and public holidays, plus reduced Fridays during summer. - Access to current AI tools and premium subscriptions.