About the role
The Architecture group designs systems that clients can run for a decade. A solutions architect works out how a new platform fits into an organisation's existing data, identity and operational estates, then sets the boundaries between services, the data ownership rules and the failure modes that matter most.
Architecture decisions are where Consulting's first-principles work pays off, and they are also where expensive mistakes start. The group reviews designs with the Forward Deployed and Staff engineers, and it draws on the Sync and agent runtime work from Clexerl Go, so that clients get proven patterns rather than fashionable ones. Every design is written down with the trade-offs it accepts.
What you’ll do
- Produce architecture decision records that set out the options, the constraints and the trade-offs each option accepts.
- Design service boundaries, data models and integration patterns for platforms that must run for ten years or more.
- Model failure modes, including partial outages, data corruption and dependency loss, and specify how each is detected.
- Present designs to client boards and technical leads, and answer hard questions about cost, risk and exit options.
- Review client designs and code for scalability limits, such as hot partitions, unbounded queues and chatty interfaces.
- Set security and compliance controls with the client's team, covering identity, encryption and audit logging.
What you’ll bring
- Experience designing and operating distributed systems, with at least one platform carried through production.
- Working knowledge of cloud architecture on at least one major provider, including networking, identity and storage choices.
- Experience with data modelling, event streams or messaging systems, and the consistency trade-offs they bring.
- Clear written communication, with a habit of drawing diagrams that a board member can follow.
- Comfort with ambiguity in client environments, and a willingness to state uncomfortable constraints early.
Nice to have
- Experience designing for regulated sectors such as finance, health or public services, with audit and residency rules.
- Background in migration planning, including strangler patterns, dual-running and data backfill.
- Familiarity with cost modelling for cloud platforms, including reserved capacity and egress.
- Experience with threat modelling or formal architecture reviews for security-sensitive systems.
Work you might take on
- 01
Write an architecture decision record comparing event streaming and request-response for a client's order pipeline, with cost estimates.
- 02
Draw a target architecture for a client's identity and access model, and show the migration steps from their current setup.
- 03
Produce a failure-mode analysis for a shared scheduling service, covering detection, degradation and recovery for each dependency.
- 04
Build a reference data-ownership map for a multi-team platform, and use it to resolve two disputed service boundaries.
Compensation
$200K – $310K
The US base salary range for this role. Every offer also includes equity in Clexerl and, when it spins out, in the venture you help build. We tell you the reasoning behind your number.
Benefits
Health, fully covered
Medical, dental and vision for you and your dependants, premiums paid in full.
Two kinds of equity
Equity in Clexerl, plus a stake in the venture you help build when it spins out.
22 weeks parental leave
Fully paid, for every parent, however your family arrives.
Rest that sticks
Flexible time off with a four-week minimum we actually check on, plus a company-wide week in December.
Learning and compute
A yearly budget for courses, conferences and books, and compute credits for side projects.
401(k) with a 4% match
Matched from your first paycheque and vested immediately.
How we hire
Apply 5 minutes
Send links to what you have built and a few lines on why this role. No cover letter needed.
Intro call 30 minutes
A conversation with the hiring manager about the work, the team and what you want next.
Work sample 2–4 hours
A paid take-home or a pairing session on a real-shaped problem. You pick the format.
Studio day One day
Meet the team, go deep on your work and ours. Remote or in person.
Offer Within 5 days
A written offer with the full range, the equity and the reasoning behind both.
Opens an email with a short template. Links beat résumés.