THE ROLE Scale builds enterprise AI systems deployed into production. As a Staff Solutions Architect, you lead technical execution on the most complex and highest-value enterprise opportunities in your vertical, and you set the technical standard the rest of the team works to. You own an assigned set of strategic accounts and remain the senior technical relationship owner across them. You are also accountable for leverage beyond your own deals: the reference architectures, evaluation methodologies, and technical processes you build are adopted by other Solutions Architects, and the patterns you surface shape Scale's product direction. You work alongside the Account Executive (commercial owner), the Project Manager (delivery owner), and the Tech Lead (engineering lead for implementation). This is an individual contributor role with mentorship responsibility, not a people-management role.   WHAT YOU WILL OWN Most complex opportunities. Lead technical strategy and execution on the largest and most complex deals in your vertical, measured by revenue, product scope, or data volume. Act as the final technical authority on whether Scale can deliver what is being proposed. Technical discovery and qualification at scale. Own qualification on ambiguous, multi-stakeholder opportunities where requirements are unresolved. Make and defend go/no-go and disqualification recommendations on deals with significant revenue attached. Evaluation methodology for the vertical. Define how Scale measures quality for the use-case classes in your vertical, including evaluation datasets, baselines, quality dimensions, and acceptance criteria that hold up under customer and regulatory scrutiny. Establish approaches other Solutions Architects reuse rather than rebuild. Executive technical relationships. Own long-term technical relationships with C-level and senior technical stakeholders across multiple accounts, including CTOs, Heads of AI, and engineering leadership. Convert those relationships into sustained technical partnership and expansion. Executive workshops and high-stakes engagements. Lead workshops, technical deep dives, and executive presentations on strategic opportunities. Build or direct the prototypes that make complex solutions tangible. Technical standards and reusable solution patterns. Build reference architectures, demo environments, discovery patterns, and solution blueprints that become standard practice across the team. Where appropriate, drive solutions that graduate into Scale's product and solution stack. Technical sales process. Create or change the technical processes the team runs on, including qualification standards, workshop practice, and scoping approach. Drive initiatives that improve win rates, shorten cycles, or increase the scalability of the Solutions Architecture function. Product roadmap influence. Synthesize patterns across accounts into prioritized, evidence-backed input to Product and Engineering. Contribute to strategic roadmap decisions rather than submitting individual feature requests. Mentorship and technical bar-raising. Mentor other Solutions Architects, raise the technical standard across the team, and serve on hiring panels. Document and distribute what you learn so it does not have to be relearned.   WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR * Deep engineering background with substantial experience in customer-facing technical roles at enterprise scale: solutions architecture, sales engineering, forward-deployed engineering, or technical consulting. Hands-on proficiency in Python or equivalent language. * Track record owning the technical outcome on complex, multi-stakeholder deals with Fortune 500 or equivalent enterprises. * Strong systems thinking across cloud, data, and AI/ML architecture, with production experience in Generative AI and LLM systems, including agentic systems and their reliability characteristics. * Demonstrated ability to define evaluation methodology for problems without established metrics, and to negotiate quality bars that survive customer validation and regulatory review. * Experience operating as a senior technical advisor to executive stakeholders, with the presence to disagree with an executive and retain credibility. * Evidence of technical work adopted beyond your own engagements: reference architectures, methodologies, processes, or tooling used by others. * Experience mentoring technical individual contributors and raising the standard of a team. * Clear technical communication and problem-solving when requirements are unknown, including stating what is not yet known and how it would be determined. * Deep domain expertise in financial services, healthcare/life sciences, or consumer verticals.   NICE TO HAVE * Recognized externally in your domain: conference speaking, published technical writing, industry forums, or customer advisory participation. * Experience with domain compliance requirements: model risk management and fair lending (FSI), HIPAA, clinical safety and validated systems (HCLS), or high-volume quality and unit-economics measurement (Consumer). * Background in forward-deployed engineering or shipping production ML systems. * Experience creating large-scale evaluation datasets alongside domain experts. * Experience building or scaling a solutions architecture practice, playbook, or vertical from an early stage. Compensation packages at Scale for eligible roles include base salary, equity, and benefits. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position and may be inclusive of several career levels at Scale; it will be determined during the interview process based on work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, qualifications, interview performance, and relevant education or training. Scale employees in eligible roles are also granted equity based compensation, subject to Board of Director approval. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process, and confirm whether the hired role will be eligible for equity grant. You'll also receive benefits including, but not limited to: comprehensive health, dental and vision coverage, retirement benefits, a learning and development stipend, and generous PTO. Additionally, this role may be eligible for additional benefits such as a commuter stipend. Please reference the job posting's subtitle for where this position will be located. For pay transparency purposes, the base salary range for this full-time position in the locations of San Francisco, New York, Seattle is: $212,000—$265,000 USD PLEASE NOTE: Our policy requires a 90-day waiting period before reconsidering candidates for the same role. This allows us to ensure a fair and thorough evaluation of all applicants. About Us: At Scale, our mission is to develop reliable AI systems for the world's most important decisions. Our products provide the high-quality data and full-stack technologies that power the world's leading models, and help enterprises and governments build, deploy, and oversee AI applications that deliver real impact. We work closely with industry leaders like Meta, Ernst & Young, Mayo Clinic, Time Inc., the Government of Qatar, and U.S. government agencies including the Army and Air Force. We are expanding our team to accelerate the development of AI applications. We believe that everyone should be able to bring their whole selves to work, which is why we are proud to be an inclusive and equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability status, gender identity or Veteran status.  We are committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with physical and mental disabilities. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation in the application or recruiting process due to a disability, please contact us at accommodations@scale.com. Please see the United States Department of Labor's Know Your Rights poster for additional information. We comply with the United States Department of Labor's Pay Transparency provision.  PLEASE NOTE: We collect, retain and use personal data for our professional business purposes, including notifying you of job opportunities that may be of interest and sharing with our affiliates. We limit the personal data we collect to that which we believe is appropriate and necessary to manage applicants’ needs, provide our services, and comply with applicable laws. Any information we collect in connection with your application will be treated in accordance with our internal policies and programs designed to protect personal data. Please see our privacy policy for additional information.