Solutions Architect

Please note: This role is contingent upon a contract award. While it is not an immediate opening, we are actively conducting interviews and extending offers in anticipation of the award.

The Work

At ICF our Digital Modernization Division is an information technology and management consulting organization that delivers integrated, strategic solutions to federal clients. We bring expertise in cloud, cybersecurity, enterprise architecture, data modernization, and digital transformation to support mission-critical government programs.

Join a team accelerating the modernization of a large federal agency's enterprise data and analytics ecosystem. This cloud-based platform provides data storage, analytics, governance, and AI/ML capabilities that enable thousands of users to transform data into actionable insights. As demand continues to grow, the team is focused on migrating legacy workloads, streamlining onboarding and support, expanding platform capabilities, and helping organizations across the enterprise adopt modern data and AI solutions at scale.

The Solutions Architect serves as a senior technical leader responsible for translating enterprise architecture strategies and standards into scalable, secure, and reusable solution designs. Partnering with stakeholders across engineering, security, data, and delivery teams, the role develops architecture artifacts, guides technical decision-making, resolves design challenges, and ensures solutions align with enterprise standards while reducing risk and accelerating modernization efforts.

Job Location: Remote, with the ability to support client meetings and collaboration activities as required.

If you accept this position, you should note that ICF monitors employee work locations, blocks access from foreign locations/foreign IP addresses, and prohibits personal VPN connections.

What You Will Do:

• Translate enterprise architecture principles, standards, and guardrails into reusable solution architectures and implementation patterns.

• Develop and maintain architecture artifacts including solution designs, architecture decision records (ADRs), reference architectures, and interoperability guidance.

• Collaborate with customer-facing teams to evaluate business and technical use cases prior to implementation.

• Identify integration constraints, dependencies, and risks across applications, platforms, and data environments.

• Ensure proposed solutions align with approved data, identity, networking, security, hosting, and compliance patterns.

• Prepare and present Architecture Review Board (ARB) packages and technical recommendations.

• Support modernization roadmaps, migration readiness assessments, and technology adoption planning.

• Partner with Platform Engineering, Security, Compliance, and Data teams to ensure technical alignment and successful delivery.

• Facilitate technical decision-making and resolve architectural conflicts before they become delivery blockers.

• Provide guidance on cloud architecture, API strategies, integration patterns, and enterprise solution design.

• Contribute to continuous improvement of architecture standards, governance processes, and best practices.

Basic Requirements

• U.S. Citizenship is required due to federal contract requirements.

• Candidate must reside in the U.S., be authorized to work in the U.S., and all work must be performed in the U.S.

• Candidate must have lived in the U.S. for three (3) full years out of the last five (5) years.

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Enterprise Architecture, Software Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related field; or equivalent additional experience in lieu of a degree

• Minimum 8 years of experience designing and implementing enterprise-scale solution architectures.

Preferred Requirements

• Relevant certifications such as AWS Solutions Architect, Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert, TOGAF, or comparable architecture credentials.

• Demonstrated experience architecting cloud-native data, analytics, and AI platforms within Microsoft Azure and hybrid/multi-cloud environments.

• Experience designing and implementing modern Lakehouse architectures leveraging Databricks, Delta Lake, SQL, Python, and cloud-native data services. Experience with Unity Catalog, data governance frameworks, metadata management, and data sharing patterns is highly desired.

• Experience supporting enterprise data warehouse modernization, cloud migration, and large-scale data platform transformation initiatives.

• Experience designing secure data ingestion, integration, and interoperability solutions using APIs, batch processing, event-driven architectures, real-time streaming, and data virtualization patterns.

• Experience with Azure Data Factory, Databricks Workspaces, Azure Synapse, Power BI, enterprise reporting platforms, and large-scale analytics ecosystems.

• Experience supporting AI/ML platforms and MLOps capabilities utilizing Azure Machine Learning, Databricks ML, MLflow, NLP frameworks, and related machine learning technologies.

• Experience developing enterprise architecture artifacts including solution blueprints, reference architectures, architecture review packages, Architecture Decision Records (ADRs), and Architecture Review Board (ARB) governance materials.

• Experience with DevSecOps practices and Infrastructure as Code (IaC), including Terraform, GitHub, Azure DevOps, CI/CD automation, and deployment pipeline design.

• Experience implementing enterprise data governance, cataloging, lineage, and access control solutions using technologies such as Immuta, Collibra, Unity Catalog, Purview, or comparable platforms.

• Familiarity with domain-driven data architecture concepts including data domains, data products, medallion architecture (raw, refined, published layers), shared platform services, and self-service analytics platforms.

• Experience supporting secure architectures aligned to Zero Trust principles, Single Sign-On (SSO), NIST 800-53 controls, FIPS-compliant security requirements, and Federal cloud security standards.

• Experience with multi-cloud architectures spanning Azure Commercial, Azure Government, AWS GovCloud, and hybrid on-premises environments.

• Demonstrated ability to evaluate architectural tradeoffs across scalability, interoperability, governance, security, performance, cost optimization (FinOps), and operational support considerations.

• Strong communication skills with the ability to present architecture recommendations and technical strategies to executives, governance boards, engineering teams, and customer stakeholders.

• Experience supporting Federal government programs, enterprise shared-services environments, and large-scale modernization initiatives is highly preferred.

Professional Skills:

• Strong analytical, strategic thinking, and problem-solving abilities.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• Proven ability to influence technical decisions across diverse stakeholder groups.

• Ability to balance business objectives, technical constraints, cost, and security requirements.

• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.

• Ability to manage competing priorities in complex delivery environments.

• Collaborative mindset with a focus on customer success and mission outcomes.

Bot and Third-Party Applications

Please note that this application must be submitted directly by the applicant for consideration. Failure to do so may result in the application being excluded for consideration. Applicants needing an accommodation for disability or religious purposes in connection with the application process should contact [email protected] for assistance.

Working at ICF

We can only solve the world's toughest challenges by building a workplace that allows everyone to thrive. We are an equal opportunity employer.Together, our employees are empowered to share theirexpertiseand collaborate with others to achieve personal and professional goals. For more information, please read our EEO policy.

We will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Reasonable Accommodations are available, including, but not limited to, for disabled veterans, individuals with disabilities, and individuals withsincerely heldreligious beliefs, in all phases of the application and employment process. To requestan accommodation,please email [email protected] and we will be happy toassist. All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extentrequiredto provide needed reasonable accommodations.

Read more about workplace discrimination rights or our benefit offerings which are included in the Transparency in (Benefits) CoverageAct.

Candidate AI Usage Policy

At ICF, we are committed to ensuring a fair interview process for all candidates based on their own skills and knowledge. As part of this commitment, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools to generate orassistwith responses during interviews (whether in-person or virtual) is notpermitted. This policy is in place tomaintainthe integrity and authenticity of the interview process.

However, we understand that some candidates may require accommodationthat involves the use of AI. Ifsuch anaccommodation is needed, candidates are instructed to contact us in advance at [email protected]. Weare dedicated to providingthe necessary support to ensure that all candidates have an equal opportunity to succeed.

Pay Range - There are multiple factors that are considered in determining final payfor a position, including, but not limited to, relevant work experience, skills, certifications and competencies that align to the specified role, geographic location, education and certifications as well as contract provisions regarding labor categories that are specific to the position.

The pay range for this position based on full-time employment is: