Happiest Minds Technologies
Website:
happiestminds.com
Job details:
JOB DESCRIPTION
Senior Architect
Centre of Excellence - AI Productivity
Job Title
Senior Architect
Competency Level
Team
CoE - AI Productivity
Min. Experience
15 Years
About the Role
We are looking for an exceptional Senior Architect to take a defining role within the Centre of Excellence ? AI Productivity team. At C6, you are a principal-level engineering leader whose influence extends well beyond a single programme or team. You drive the organisation?s technical strategy, shape the CoE?s architecture practice, and act as the highest level of technical authority ? whether that is in an internal architecture review board or at an executive boardroom in a client organisation.
You bring 15+ years of deep, cross-domain engineering experience spanning enterprise architecture, cloud-native systems, full-stack development, and AI-integrated product engineering. You are a thought leader internally and externally ? someone who elevates the technical credibility of the entire organisation through the depth of your thinking, the quality of your decisions, and the strength of your communication.
This role requires not only exceptional technical judgement but also strong executive presence. You will engage with CXO-level stakeholders, lead complex solution design engagements, and define the long-term architectural roadmap for the CoE.
Key ResponsibilitiesEnterprise Architecture & Strategic Direction
- Define and govern the enterprise-wide architecture vision for the CoE - AI Productivity portfolio
- Establish cross-cutting architectural frameworks, reference architectures, and technology standards
- Own the long-term technical roadmap for the CoE, including cloud strategy, AI adoption, and platform evolution
- Lead architecture review boards (ARBs) and provide final-level technical approval on major design decisions
- Evaluate and manage architectural risk at the programme and portfolio level
Organisational Leadership & Capability Building
- Mentor and develop Architects (C5) and Senior Technical Leads across the CoE
- Drive engineering culture, architecture discipline, and technical excellence across all teams
- Define hiring benchmarks, competency frameworks, and growth paths for engineering roles in the CoE
- Partner with delivery, practice, and business leaders to align technical investments with strategic goals
Client Engagement & Executive Communication
- Lead solution architecture engagements at the CTO, CIO, and VP Engineering level at client organisations
- Represent the organisation?s engineering and AI capability in pre-sales, RFP responses, and strategic partnerships
- Present complex technical strategies, transformation roadmaps, and AI adoption plans to executive audiences
- Build long-term trusted advisor relationships with key client stakeholders
GenAI Strategy & Thought Leadership
- Own the CoE?s GenAI architecture strategy ? including LLM integration patterns, AI agent frameworks, and responsible AI governance
- Define organisational standards for prompt engineering, AI tool adoption, and AI-assisted software delivery
- Evaluate frontier AI models, platforms, and tooling for strategic fit ? AWS Bedrock, Azure OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, and others
- Represent the organisation externally as a GenAI thought leader ? conference presentations, white papers, client workshops
Mandatory Skills
All items below are non-negotiable requirements for this role.Enterprise Architecture Expertise
- 15+ years of software engineering experience with at least 8 years in senior architecture or principal engineering roles
- Deep engineering background in .NET (C#, ASP.NET Core) or Java (Spring ecosystem) ? sufficient to review and challenge implementation decisions at any level
- Comprehensive full-stack understanding ? frontend architecture, API design, data platforms, event-driven systems, and integration architecture
- Proven track record designing and governing large-scale, distributed, cloud-native platforms in production
- Mastery of enterprise architecture frameworks ? TOGAF, Zachman, or equivalent ? with practical delivery track record
Hands-On GenAI Tool Usage (CRITICAL)
- Deep hands-on experience with AI-powered development tools ? Claude Code, Cursor AI, GitHub Copilot, and equivalent ? integrated as a standard part of architecture, design, and engineering workflows. Expected to define organisation-wide standards for AI tool adoption, evaluate new GenAI tooling for strategic fit, and lead by example in responsible, high-quality use of AI-assisted output across all levels of engineering.
Cloud Architecture ? Multi-Platform (Deep Expertise)
- Deep expertise in AWS and / or Azure ? architecture at the Well-Architected Framework or Azure Architecture Centre standard
- Experience with multi-cloud, hybrid cloud, and cloud migration strategies
- Strong command of cloud security architecture ? zero-trust, IAM, encryption, compliance, and governance
- Hands-on experience with platform engineering, Kubernetes at scale, and cloud-native observability
Communication & Executive Presence (CRITICAL)
- Exceptional written and verbal communication ? able to produce and present architecture white papers, transformation strategies, and technology assessments
- Proven executive presence ? experienced presenting technology strategy and investment cases to CXO-level audiences
- Demonstrated ability to lead large-scale architecture workshops, design sprints, and technology council sessions
- Able to navigate commercially sensitive conversations, scope negotiations, and strategic advisory engagements with clients
Required Technical SkillsPlatform Engineering & DevOps
- Experience with infrastructure-as-code at scale ? Terraform, CloudFormation, or Bicep
- Deep understanding of CI/CD pipeline design, release governance, and platform observability
- Kubernetes at scale, container orchestration strategy, and service mesh concepts
GenAI & AI Architecture
- Deep understanding of Large Language Models ? architecture, fine-tuning, RAG patterns, agentic workflows, and enterprise-scale integration
- Hands-on experience designing systems that incorporate LLM APIs, vector databases, and AI orchestration frameworks
- Experience defining AI governance, responsible AI policies, and cost optimisation strategies for LLM-based products
Agile & Delivery at Scale
- Experience governing delivery at the portfolio or programme level across Agile teams
- Ability to influence and align delivery practices, tooling standards, and engineering governance across the CoE
Preferred Qualifications
- AWS Solutions Architect Professional and / or Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification
- TOGAF 9 or 10 certified, or equivalent enterprise architecture qualification
- Published thought leadership ? conference keynotes, technical white papers, or widely recognised open source contributions
- Experience as a Principal Engineer or Fellow-level role in a technology organisation
- Background in digital transformation, modernisation advisory, or technology consulting
- Exposure to board-level technology governance, IT strategy, or enterprise portfolio management
Technology Landscape
AreaTechnologiesBackend.NET Core / ASP.NET | Java / Spring Boot | Node.js / NestJS
FrontendReact | Angular | TypeScript | Micro-frontend architecture
CloudAWS (Well-Architected, EKS, Bedrock, CloudFormation) | Azure (AKS, OpenAI, Bicep, Defender)
AI & GenAILLMs | RAG | AI Agents | Claude Code | Cursor AI | GitHub Copilot | Azure OpenAI | AWS Bedrock | LangChain | Semantic Kernel
DevOpsKubernetes | Terraform | Docker | GitHub Actions | Azure DevOps | Observability (Datadog, Grafana)
DataSQL Server | PostgreSQL | MongoDB | Redis | Vector DBs (Pinecone, Weaviate, pgvector)
ToolsArchitecture tools | Jira | Confluence | Postman | VS Code | IntelliJC6 Competency Expectations
At C6, you are a principal-level technical authority whose decisions, thinking, and standards set the bar for the entire organisation. Your impact is measured not just in delivery but in the technical legacy you create.
DimensionExpected BehaviourPortfolio ArchitectureOwns and governs architecture across the full CoE portfolio; sets standards that persist beyond individual programmes
Org-Level InfluenceShapes engineering culture, hiring standards, and capability roadmaps across the entire practice
Executive AdvisoryOperates as a trusted advisor at CXO level; influences client technology strategy and investment decisions
AI Strategy OwnershipDefines and evangelises the organisation?s GenAI architecture and adoption strategy internally and externally
Talent MultiplierActively grows Architects and Senior Leads into stronger, more independent technical leaders
Thought LeadershipRepresents the organisation at industry forums, in publications, and in strategic partnership discussions
Happiest Minds Technologies | CoE - AI Productivity
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