Senior Solutions Architect, RangeOS

Company Overview

By Light Professional IT Services LLC readies warfighters and federal agencies with technology and systems engineered to connect, protect, and prepare individuals and teams for whatever comes next. Headquartered in McLean, VA, By Light supports defense, civilian, and commercial IT customers worldwide.

Position Overview

By Light is seeking an experienced Senior Solutions Architect to serve as the lead architect for RangeOS, our cyber range and training platform supporting Department of Defense cyberspace operations.

The architect is the strategic and technical bridge between business goals, user needs, and engineering execution. This individual owns the overall structure, components, and integration of RangeOS so the platform remains feasible, scalable, secure, and aligned with product and business objectives.

This is a technically grounded leadership role. The architect leads a team of engineers, works directly with product management, DevSecOps, and engineering leads, and guides architectural decisions from initial design through deployment and sustainment. Customer relationship ownership resides with program leadership; the architect supports those engagements as the senior technical authority on the platform.

Responsibilities

Product Architecture & Technical Framework

• Define and own the RangeOS technical architecture, including system components, interactions, data flows, and core technologies.
• Ensure the architecture meets both functional and non-functional requirements, including scalability, reliability, performance, and security.
• Make forward-looking design decisions so the platform can grow, handle increasing load, and remain maintainable over its lifecycle.
• Design backend services, microservices, RESTful APIs, and distributed application architectures.
• Provide technical direction across the full stack, including frontend frameworks, backend services, databases, and system integrations.
• Evaluate existing components and lead modernization of legacy capabilities into containerized, cloud-native architectures.
• Technology Selection & Roadmap
• Select and evaluate tools, frameworks, languages, and platforms based on performance, cost, scalability, security, and team expertise.
• Build and maintain the RangeOS technical roadmap in partnership with product management, aligned with the product roadmap.
• Maintain architecture documentation, standards, and decision records so the platform is clear and maintainable as it evolves.
• Translate business and user requirements into technical specifications, and translate technical constraints back into product terms.

Cloud-Native Architecture & DevSecOps

• Architect containerized applications using Kubernetes, Docker, and related orchestration technologies.
• Design solutions for cloud, hybrid cloud, and on-premises deployment environments.
• Partner with DevSecOps engineers on secure, automated build, test, integration, and deployment pipelines.
• Guide the use of CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code, configuration management, and automated deployment.
• Incorporate security, observability, fault tolerance, and performance into the architecture from the start.

Risk & Technical Debt Management

• Identify architectural risks early and drive mitigation before they affect delivery.
• Track and prioritize technical debt, balancing new capability against long-term maintainability.
• Lead design reviews and resolve complex integration challenges across teams.

Team Leadership

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of developers, engineers, and DevOps including hiring input, performance feedback, and career growth.
• Establish architecture standards, design patterns, and development best practices across the engineering organization.
• Facilitate technical discussions and engineering decisions across product, engineering, and DevSecOps teams.
• Serve as the senior technical authority on RangeOS to internal leadership and in support of program-led customer engagements.

RangeOS Technology Environment

RangeOS is deployed across cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments. The architect will design for and integrate with technologies including:

• Infrastructure: AWS Cloud, including AWS GovCloud, and Dell server and storage hardware for on-premises deployments
• Virtualization: VMware vSphere, Proxmox VE, LXD, and KVM/QEMU
• Containers and orchestration: Kubernetes, Docker, and Helm
• Network emulation: Open vSwitch and virtual routers and firewalls such as VyOS and pfSense
• Identity and access: Keycloak, SAML and OpenID Connect single sign-on, LDAP and Active Directory, and CAC/PKI authentication
• Infrastructure as Code and automation: Terraform, Ansible, and Packer
• CI/CD: GitLab CI/CD and container registries such as Harbor
• Observability: Prometheus, Grafana, and the Elastic Stack
• Security and compliance: DISA STIGs, the Risk Management Framework (RMF), and HashiCorp Vault for secrets management

Required Experience/Qualifications

• 10+ years of professional software engineering experience, including significant experience in application, solutions, or product architecture.
• DoD 8140 compliant certification at IAM Level II, or ability to obtain within 6 months of hire.
• Strong hands-on background in backend development with a comprehensive understanding of full-stack application architecture.
• Experience designing and building enterprise applications using Java, Python, C#, .NET, Spring Boot, or comparable technologies.
• Demonstrated experience architecting microservices, RESTful APIs, distributed systems, and complex integrations.
• Strong experience with Kubernetes, Docker, container orchestration, and cloud-native deployment.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines, DevSecOps practices, automated testing, and secure software delivery.
• Working knowledge of modern frontend frameworks such as React or Angular and their integration with backend services.
• Experience with relational databases, data modeling, application performance, and data integration.
• Understanding of AWS, Azure, or comparable cloud platforms and hybrid infrastructure.
• Experience owning a technical roadmap and architecture documentation for a product or platform.
• Experience leading or supervising engineers.
• Experience working in Agile development environments alongside product management.
• Strong analytical, communication, and technical leadership skills.

Preferred Experience/Qualifications

• Experience with cyber ranges, cyber training platforms, or distributed training environments.
• Familiarity with offensive and defensive cyberspace operations and associated mission software.
• Experience architecting software within DoD or Intelligence Community environments.
• Experience with AWS GovCloud, Azure Government, OpenShift, Helm, or Terraform.
• Understanding of virtualized infrastructure, network emulation, and enterprise systems integration.
• Hands-on experience with VMware, Proxmox, or LXD virtualization, and with identity platforms such as Keycloak.
• Prior experience as a Product Architect, Principal Engineer, Chief Engineer, or Technical Director.

Special Requirements/Security Clearance

• Active TS/SCI security clearance
• Up to 10% travel