Lead Solution Architect (all genders)

We are looking for a full-time, permanent Lead Solution Architect (all genders) in Germany to start as soon as possible. We live remote-first, but you have the freedom to choose whether you want to work hybrid or completely on-site due to your proximity to one of our locations.

Your mission with us is to establish Architecture Governance for our products, shape a robust and future-proof software architecture, and introduce effective engineering practices that enable our teams to deliver faster, safer, and more reliably.

You lead primarily through influence rather than hierarchy: by creating clarity, defining standards, facilitating alignment, and enabling teams to succeed. In this role, you work closely with our COO and act as a key sparring partner for Product and Engineering Leads.

Three major areas will define your impact: Architecture Governance (Product & Software Architecture)

• Design and operate a pragmatic governance model (e.g., Architecture Council, Design/Architecture Reviews, ADR/RFC processes)
• Define and maintain architecture principles, standards, and guardrails (patterns, integration standards, NFRs)
• Establish clear boundaries within which teams can make autonomous decisions (decision rights), while ensuring structured escalation and resolution of cross-cutting topics
• Guide target architectures and modernization paths (legacy/monolith to modular or service-based architectures, strangler pattern, stabilization and decoupling)
• Create architectural transparency through clear communication and visualization, enabling Product, Engineering, and Operations to speak the same language (C4 models and ADRs instead of "PowerPoint archaeology")

Practice Management (Engineering Effectiveness)

• Establish and evolve shared engineering practices (Definition of Done, QA gates, release and rollback standards, observability basics, incident and post-mortem standards)
• Focus on enablement rather than control: introduce templates, "golden paths," practical guidelines, mentoring, and communities of practice
• Build a repeatable improvement cycle based on measurement, feedback loops, and continuous adaptation

Security & Compliance by Design

• Embed security and compliance considerations directly into architecture and delivery standards (e.g., OSS/license hygiene, SBOM approaches, audit requirements in software delivery)
• Collaborate closely with Security, Legal, and Compliance teams without becoming the formal audit owner

How will we measure the success of your role?

• Architectural decisions are transparent and traceable (e.g., through ADRs), conflicts are resolved more quickly, and defined standards are actively applied across teams
• Teams deliver with less rework and fewer production incidents
• Clear release and rollback processes are established and consistently followed
• Modernization and product development follow defined architectural paths, with technical debt actively managed rather than merely documented
• Practice Management is perceived as enablement and support - not as gatekeeping

Do you have experience in Risk management?, * Several years of experience (5+ years) in Software or Solution Architecture within complex, distributed systems (experience in cloud, hosting, internet-scale or IoT environments is a plus)

• Proven ability to drive impact without formal authority - leading laterally, moderating trade-offs, preparing decisions, and managing stakeholders effectively
• Experience in establishing and operating architecture governance frameworks (reviews, ADRs, standards, decision processes) - pragmatic and outcome-focused rather than bureaucratic
• Strong communication skills: you can explain architecture in a way that enables teams to implement it and allows Product and Business stakeholders to understand it
• Deep understanding of non-functional requirements (reliability, security, performance, cost) and the ability to operationalize them through standards, reviews, and measurable criteria
• Experience with AI-supported development (guidelines, secure usage, quality standards, rollout strategies)
• Excellent English skills and professional fluency in German

Should-Haves

• Experience in modernization and decoupling of legacy systems (monolith to modular services), including migration strategies and risk management
• Experience in Developer Experience and enablement initiatives (tooling, templates, standards, platform "golden paths")
• Solid understanding of common cloud and container ecosystems, Infrastructure-as-Code, and automation (at least at a contextual level)