Solution Architect

"The person who makes our technical direction credible to clients, to teams, and to the work itself."

Most agencies have someone who calls themselves a solution architect but spends their time in Confluence. This role is different. You own architectural direction end-to-end from the first client conversation through to decisions that teams actually build against.

You are the bridge between what clients need and what our teams can deliver well. The role is defined by bridging, not by being the strongest coder in the room.

About Povio

Born at Y Combinator, Povio has grown from a small startup into an international product and engineering agency. We build digital products with clients ranging from early-stage founders to global names like Volkswagen, the founder of Reddit, Serena Williams, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Our DNA is startups and scale-ups we take bold ideas and turn them into polished, high-impact solutions.

What makes this role challenging

You will regularly hold tension between what a client wants, what is technically sound, and what a team can realistically ship. You will need to push back on clients with clear reasoning, make final calls when engineers disagree, and write direction that survives after you leave the room.

Recent architectural challenges at Povio:

• Designing a real-time messaging platform handling millions of messages per day — scoped, proposed, and handed to a team to build.
• Architecting a serverless Node.js and AWS Lambda system for a high-traffic platform with unpredictable load spikes.
• Integrating LLM-based workflows into a large client's content generation platform — balancing AI capability with operational reliability.
• Building AI-powered reporting pipelines that automatically generate tailored outputs from complex user-submitted data.

What you will own

• End-to-end technical direction on engagements from pre-sales proposal through to delivery. The architectural call stays with you even when you work through or alongside Tech Leads.
• Final decisions when there is ambiguity or disagreement among engineers. You unblock teams — you do not leave direction open-ended.
• Client-facing presence at the moments that matter: kickoffs, major pivots, escalations. You translate what clients need into realistic solutions and push back clearly when scope, cost, or timeline require it.
• Risk visibility, you surface issues before they become incidents or rework, not after.
• Written direction that teams can act on independently: specs, architecture diagrams, decision records. Not just knowledge that lives in your head or in meeting notes.
• Alignment across concurrent engagements where patterns and standards overlap.
• Pre-sales technical support, collaborate on client pitches and proposals so potential clients understand exactly what we can build and how.

p.s. You are not expected to implement everything, attend every meeting, or micromanage engineers.

What we look for

• Communication first; Comfortable across engineers, PMs, designers, sales, and clients. Translates complex topics into plain language so less technical people can decide and align — not just understand.
• Pragmatic judgment; Knows when to step back and think before offering a path forward. Moves fast when the situation allows, pauses when stakes or alignment require it. Not the loudest opinion, the most considered one.
• Technical breadth; Broad understanding across backend, frontend, mobile, DevOps, and QA enough to judge feasibility, risk, and direction without needing to be the deepest specialist in every stack.
• Written clarity; Leaves specs, diagrams, and decision records teams can act on — not just talking points from the last meeting. Direction should survive your absence.

Experience we look for

• 5+ years owning technical direction on client or product engagements end-to-end, not contributing to it, owning it.
• Genuine depth in at least one major stack (we work heavily in React, Node.js, and AWS) alongside enough breadth to evaluate others credibly.
• Strong grasp of cloud architecture, microservices, and serverless patterns, at decision-making depth, not just familiarity.
• Experience working closely with sales or business teams: scoping work, writing proposals, presenting to clients.
• Fluent English, you will communicate daily with international clients and stakeholders across time zones.
• Bonus: hands-on experience with AI-powered developer tools (Cursor, Claude Code, Copilot) and architecting or integrating LLM-based solutions.

What good looks like here

• Clients describe Povio as technically solid and consistent, they trust the direction we give them.
• Teams feel guided, not blocked. Your decisions age well and require little revisiting.
• Less firefighting, foundations and direction are clear enough upfront that issues surface early, not late.
• Engineers around you grow into more architectural responsibility over time, which is a sign you are doing the role well.

What we offer

• Global clients, EU hours, Top U.S. and European companies without the timezone grind of fully async work.
• Real architectural ownership. Not advisory work that ends in a slide deck. You set direction, make calls, and see the outcomes on projects that are technically interesting and organizationally complex.
• A team worth working with. Engineers, designers, and PMs who are direct, skilled, and genuinely collaborative. High engineering culture with independence at work.
• AI at the frontier. We build AI-powered products and use AI-powered tools internally. You will shape how both evolve.
• Working setup: Hybrid, flexible hours. Ljubljana, Maribor, or Celje office.

If you are already good and not actively looking, this is worth five minutes.

Questions before applying? Reach out directly: [email protected]