Principal Solutions Architect
Here at Appian, our values of Intensity and Excellence define who we are. We set high standards and live up to them, ensuring that everything we do is done with care and quality. We approach every challenge with ambition and commitment, holding ourselves and each other accountable to achieve the best results. When you join Appian, you’ll be part of a passionate team dedicated to accomplishing hard things, together.
Lead the technical strategy behind Appian’s largest and most mission-critical federal engagements, influencing acquisition strategy and serving as an elite thought leader across DoD, Intel, and Civilian agencies.
About the Team
The Public Sector Solutions Consulting team at Appian is an elite group of mission-driven strategists reshaping how the federal government approaches modernization. We partner with agency leadership to co-create secure architectures and clearly communicate how Appian delivers AI-Powered Process Automation. Our mission is to secure high-value technical wins that align Appian with national priorities across the United States public sector landscape. Driven by our core values of Intensity and Excellence, we prove the undeniable value of Appian’s platform within the pre-sales framework.
Under our SC 2.0 operating model, our team redefines pre-sales by combining creative persona-based storytelling with deep technical credibility and business insight. Our Solutions Architects don’t just demo features-they tell stories, co-create with customers, and help shape enterprise strategy.
The Opportunity
As a Principal Solution Architect, you will step into the pinnacle role for Solution Consultants at Appian, operating as an enterprise strategist, deal orchestrator, and platform evangelist. This is a premier opportunity to move beyond standard pre-sales support and drive the technical execution for multi-million-dollar federal growth plans. At Appian, you will gain a seat at the table with senior agency executives, utilizing your compliance and technical expertise to architect outcomes that directly impact national security and modernization priorities.
You will have a direct mandate to transcend basic feature evaluation, manage regional pipeline metrics, and establish Appian as the gold standard for Enterprise-Grade Orchestration.
What You’ll Do
- Orchestrate Technical Strategy: Own the technical execution for multi-million-dollar public sector agreements and complex federal acquisition cycles (RFIs, RFPs, OTAs), ensuring total mission and security alignment.
- Advise Executive Leadership: Serve as a trusted strategic advisor to senior agency executives and flag officers (SES, CISO, CIO), facilitating high-level architecture reviews and visioning workshops.
- Translate Mission Needs: Turn intricate federal requirements into Appian-powered roadmaps focused on deployment agility, organizational resilience, and rapid value delivery.
- Deliver Persona-Based Storytelling: Architect compelling technical narratives and advanced demonstrations utilizing AI, Appian Data Fabric, and secure deployment frameworks (IL4/5/6, GovCloud, and secure on-premise installations).
- Scale Knowledge Assets: Mentor junior Solutions Consultants on proposal strategy and contribute reusable architectural blueprints, frameworks, and demos to Appian's Federal Playbooks and DemoHub.
- Partner on Deal Strategy: Collaborate directly with Public Sector Account Executives to map territory whitespace, drive pipeline growth, and maintain a technical win rate greater than or equal to 70%.
- Influence the Product Ecosystem: Connect real-world field patterns and federal requirements back to Product Management, Marketing, and Customer Success to guide future platform innovation.
Required Qualifications
- Education: Minimum of a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Information Systems, Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical/analytical field.
- Experience: 8+ years of experience in pre-sales solutions consulting, software architecture, or strategic technology consulting, with a minimum of 3 years directly supporting federal government clients.
- Deal Blueprint & Compliance: Proven success closing high-stakes software deals requiring deep operational familiarity with federal compliance standards (FedRAMP, FISMA, DoD RMF, and Zero Trust architectures).
- Technical Fluency: High proficiency with modern programming, querying, or integration frameworks, including Java, Python, SQL, or JavaScript.
- Mobility: Reliability and willingness to travel 50%-70% for in-person briefings, workshops, and customer meetings across federal locations (DMV, CONUS).
Preferred Qualifications
- Domain expertise across multiple federal verticals including DoD, the Intelligence Community (IC), Civilian, or Federal Health agencies.
- Experience designing architectures that integrate Appian into enterprise architectures containing legacy ERP or CRM ecosystems to extend value and accelerate ROI.
- We value experience with enterprise platforms such as Salesforce or ServiceNow, as these skills translate well into our Enterprise-Grade Orchestration environment.
What We Equip You With
- High-Impact Autonomy: A supportive environment where you will be challenged, your ideas will be actively heard, and you will own increasingly sophisticated technical pursuits.
- Generous Benefits: Includes a 401(k) plan with company match, flexible time off, paid parental leave, medical/dental/vision plans, and wellness programs.
- Continuous Enablement: Access to premier learning resources and dedicated learning time to build your technical expertise, alongside full corporate sponsorship for professional technical certifications.
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The base salary provided represents a good faith and reasonable estimate of the range at the time of posting. Actual compensation will be dependent on a number of factors including, but not limited to, the candidate’s relevant work experience, qualifications, internal peer equity, and market and business conditions that exist when extending an offer. A discretionary bonus may be awarded in recognition of individual and company performance.
Appian offers a comprehensive benefits package, which may include health coverage, life and disability insurance, an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) with free mental health support, an Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP), lifestyle allowance, tuition reimbursement, and family-forming benefits. Benefits may vary by country. Please ask your Talent Acquisition Specialist for details on the benefits available in the location you are applying to.
Pay and benefits are subject to change at any time, consistent with the terms of any applicable compensation, commission, bonus, or benefit plans.
Base Salary Range
£125,000—£250,000 GBP
Tools and Resources
- Training and Development: During onboarding, we focus on equipping new hires with the skills and knowledge for success through department-specific training. Continuous learning is a central focus at Appian, with dedicated mentorship and the First-Friend program being widely utilized resources for new hires.
- Growth Opportunities: Appian provides a diverse array of growth and development opportunities, including our leadership program tailored for new and aspiring managers, a comprehensive library of specialized department training through Appian University, skills based training, and tuition reimbursement for those aiming to advance their education. This commitment ensures that employees have access to a holistic range of development opportunities.
- Community: We’ll immerse you into our community rooted in respect starting on day one. Appian fosters inclusivity through our 8 employee-led affinity groups. These groups help employees build stronger internal and external networks by planning social, educational, and outreach activities to connect with Appianites and larger initiatives throughout the company.
Benefits
Appian offers a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your health, wellbeing, and financial future. Benefits may include health coverage, Employee Assistance Program (EAP) with free mental health support, life and disability insurance, an Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP), a retirement/pension plan, wellness dollars, tuition reimbursement, family-forming benefits and more. Benefits vary by country-please ask your Talent Acquisition contact for details specific to the location you are applying to.
About Appian
Appian provides AI automation for the most important business processes at the world’s largest organizations. Our platform is known for its unique power, reliability, and scale. We’ve been automating processes for more than 25 years and understand enterprise operations like no one else. For more information, visit appian.com.
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Appian is an equal opportunity employer that strives to attract and retain the best talent. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.
Appian provides reasonable accommodations to applicants in accordance with all applicable laws. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please contact us by email at [email protected]. Please note that only inquiries concerning a request for reasonable accommodation will be responded to from this email address.