The Solution Architect will partner closely with Product Managers, Engineering Managers, Technical Leads, and Data/Software Engineers to design and enable Data Platform capabilities that advance Kroger's Data and AI strategy.
Reporting to the Sr. Director of Data Platforms, this role is responsible for ensuring the successful delivery of platform capabilities through the effective application of Kroger Architecture Principles, standards, and shared engineering practices. The architect will evaluate the fitness and strategic alignment of existing platform capabilities, collaborate with engineering teams to identify required enhancements, and drive solution optimization efforts that improve scalability, reliability, security, performance, and operational efficiency.
This role requires a balance of strategic thinking, technical depth, and practical execution, with a focus on enabling modern, AI-ready platform capabilities across the enterprise.
Partner closely with development, senior product management, architecture, information security & infrastructure teams within a large organization to deliver software & technology products that meet functional & non-functional requirements & produce desired business outcomes. Curate & adhere to architectural principles & associated processes for adopting new technology or integrating with a new third-party solution. Advise senior product management on technology specific aspects of product strategy development & adopt emerging technology appropriate to stated goals. Mentors junior solutions architecture staff on architectural principles & methods. Demonstrate the company's core values of respect, honesty, integrity, diversity, inclusion and safety.
Responsibilities- Develop the overall software & deployment architecture of application solutions across several teams within a large organization
- Partner with 3rd party vendors to integrate capabilities as required by the solution under development
- Present opportunities with cost/benefit analysis to leadership in order to shape sound architectural decisions
- Lead the discovery phase of large projects to develop high level architecture & design
- Draft, review & maintain architectural diagrams, interface specifications & other architectural artifacts as required by the delivery teams to clearly communicate the needs of the solution under development
- Interact with & present to senior engineering & product management with the presence to influence & drive the decision makers to a solution
- Identify key technology overlaps & gaps; formulate strategies to optimize technology spend
- Provide technical leadership to ensure clarity between ongoing projects & the strategic objectives of the company
- Assess emerging technologies & make appropriate recommendations based on business needs
- Mentor team members & Solutions Architects in software development principles, patterns, processes & practices
- Promote the capture & reuse of intellectual capital, including code objects & components
- Must be able to perform the essential job functions of this position with or without reasonable accommodation
- Applying strong critical thinking and sound technical judgment to complex business and technology decisions.
- Maintaining awareness of emerging technologies, industry trends, and evolving software engineering practices.
- Identifying and applying AI, generative AI, and agentic capabilities to solve business and platform challenges.
- Designing interface-first solutions and modern microservices architectures utilizing both synchronous and asynchronous communication patterns.
- Applying data modeling, master data management, and information architecture best practices.
- Selecting and implementing appropriate relational (SQL) and non-relational (NoSQL) data technologies based on business and technical requirements.
- Balancing long-term architectural strategy with pragmatic delivery needs.
- Leading architecture design reviews and technical discussions that are efficient, collaborative, and outcome-focused.
- Communicating complex technical concepts effectively to both technical and non-technical audiences, including executive leadership.
- Building alignment and consensus among diverse stakeholders to solve challenging architectural and organizational problems.
- Creating clear architecture artifacts, including C4 models, sequence diagrams, system context diagrams, and solution blueprints.
- Developing high-level estimates for implementation effort, infrastructure investment, operational expenditures, cloud consumption, and AI-related costs.
- Driving alignment with enterprise architecture standards, security requirements, operational excellence practices, and platform engineering principles.
- Deep knowledge of modern data technologies such as Kafka, IBM MQ, and Databricks.
Minimum
- Bachelor's Degree Computer science or another related technical field
- Any expertise/experience in business case development, product scoping & project planning with development teams
- Any strong performance management experience of large work groups
- Any delivered innovative results in previous roles demonstrating strong knowledge of industry trends & industry competition
- Any experience integrating open source technologies in high volume production environments with strong knowledge of agile methodology
- 7+ years experience taking a lead role in the successful delivery of complex software & automation systems
- 12+ years experience in software/infrastructure development domain with emphasis on utilizing design patterns & architectural principles to ensure timely delivery of quality solutions
Desired
- Master's Degree Computer science, information systems, or related technical field
- Any experience developing/architecting public cloud-hosted backend services with Azure/GCP
- 5+ years experience in designing eCommerce applications & working on high volume internet scale solutions
- Any experience developing React, Swift (iOS), Kotlin (Android)
- Any experience developing/designing a scalable microservices architecture in Go, Java and Node.js
What you’ll receive from us:
The Kroger Family of Companies offers comprehensive benefits to support your Associate Well-Being, including Physical, Emotional, Financial and more. We'll help you thrive, with access to:
- A wide range of healthcare coverage, including affordable, comprehensive medical, dental, vision and prescription coverage, through company plans or collective bargaining agreement plans.
- Flexible scheduling in full- and part-time roles with paid time off, including holiday and sick pay based on eligibility and length of service.
- Emotional and financial support with free counseling through our Employee Assistance Program and free, confidential financial tools and coaching with Goldman Sachs Ayco.
- Valuable associate discounts on purchases, including food, travel, technology and so much more.
- Up to $21,000 in tuition reimbursement over your career, through our industry-leading Continuing Education program.
- Vast potential for growth, through an abundance of industry-leading training programs and diverse career pathways.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related technical field
- Experience in business case development, product scoping, and project planning with development teams
- Performance management experience of large work groups
- Proven record of delivering innovative results and knowledge of industry trends
- Experience integrating open source technologies in high-volume production environments and knowledge of agile methodology
- 7+ years leading successful delivery of complex software and automation systems
- 12+ years in software/infrastructure development emphasizing design patterns and architectural principles
- Deep knowledge of modern data technologies such as Kafka, IBM MQ, and Databricks
- Master's Degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related technical field
- Experience developing/architecting public cloud-hosted backend services with Azure or GCP
- 5+ years designing eCommerce applications and high-volume internet-scale solutions
- Experience developing with React, Swift (iOS), or Kotlin (Android)
- Experience designing scalable microservices architectures in Go, Java, and Node.js
Kroger Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Kroger and has not been reviewed or approved by Kroger.
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Healthcare Strength — Healthcare coverage in many union divisions has been protected or improved in recent contracts, with some regions avoiding proposed cuts and others expanding spousal coverage and strengthening short‑term disability. Mental‑health resources and 24/7 access are also emphasized, supported by third‑party recognition in recent years.
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Retirement Support — Retirement options include a company 401(k) with a match and, in many union roles, access to pension or variable annuity plans that have been stabilized through recent agreements. Match levels and pension participation vary by division and role, so specifics require local confirmation.
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Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Education assistance through “Feed Your Future” offers substantial tuition support for both part‑ and full‑time associates, alongside free financial coaching. Perks such as associate discounts and periodic Boost membership offers add incremental value to total rewards.
Kroger Insights
What We Do
At Kroger, we believe no matter who you are or how you like to shop, everyone deserves affordable, easy-to-enjoy, fresh food. This idea is embodied in our simple tagline—Fresh for Everyone™. Kroger ranks as one of the world’s largest retailers. We are nearly half a million associates across 2,800 stores in 35 states operating two dozen grocery retail brands and 34 manufacturing and 44 distribution locations, all dedicated to living our Purpose: to Feed the Human Spirit™. Together, we serve more than 11 million customers daily in our stores and online through convenient e-commerce options like pickup, ship and delivery, serving America through food inspiration and uplift. Customers love Our Brands, including the popular Kroger®, Private Selection® and Simple Truth® brands. Our own manufacturing plants produce many of Our Brands products, including breads, dairy products, meat and thousands of grocery items. We also believe in and are committed to doing our part to create #ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities by 2025.
