Robots & Pencils is an applied AI engineering firm building the next frontier of business architecture. We design and ship AI co-workers that integrate into enterprise operations and deliver measurable results for our clients. We're all in on AWS, combining deep UX capability with senior engineering talent to get AI into production fast and keep it there. 
We’ve earned the trust of leaders across Consumer Products and Retail, Education, Energy, Financial Services, Healthcare, and Manufacturing and more, and earned a reputation as the nimble alternative to traditional global systems integrators. Founded in 2009, with delivery centers in Canada, the United States, Eastern Europe, and Latin America, we are smaller, faster, and more senior by design. Our teams average 15+ years of experience. We move fast, sweat the details, and build things that actually ship. 

Position Overview 

We’re looking for a Vice President of Solutions Architecture to lead the technical strategy behind R&P’s pre-sales motion. You’ll be the trusted technical advisor to customer executives shaping their AI transformation and technology roadmaps, and the person who turns a qualified opportunity into a complete, well-architected solution the whole firm has confidence to build. That means owning the handoff to delivery too,  translating what we sold into a statement of work, work breakdown structure, and staffing plan that our engineering team can actually execute against. You’ll partner closely with Client Partners and with our practices to make sure every proposal we bring to a client is technically sound, feasible, and ready to hand off. 

In this role, you’ll build the culture and mechanics of solution architecture at R&P, the frameworks, reference architectures, and reusable assets that let solutioning scale as we grow to $100M in revenue. You’re all in on AWS, comfortable prototyping alongside our engineering teams when a deal needs something tangible to show, and just as comfortable in front of a client’s CTO as you are in front of a room of engineers. You’ll also represent R&P in the AWS ecosystem, building the firm’s reputation as a credible, senior partner in enterprise AI. 

What You’ll Do 

Craft & Delivery 

• Lead technical solutioning across the sales pipeline, turning qualified opportunities into complete, well-architected proposals that give the firm confidence to bid on increasingly complex enterprise deals  

• Architect AWS-native generative and agentic AI solutions using Amazon Bedrock, Bedrock AgentCore, AWS Strands Agents, and AgentCore Gateway, aligned to the AWS Well-Architected Framework, including the ML Lens  

• Design RAG, agentic RAG, and multi-agent orchestration architectures using AWS-native services such as Lambda, Step Functions, API Gateway, DynamoDB, Aurora (pgvector), and OpenSearch  

• Build simple proof-of-concepts and prototypes on AWS AI products, partnering with our engineering teams whenever a deal needs something tangible to show  

• Translate winning proposals into statements of work, work breakdown structures, and staffing plans that follow our AI SDLC, so what gets sold can be delivered and handed off cleanly to the engineering team picking up the engagement  

• Produce reference architectures, architecture decision records, and implementation roadmaps that our delivery teams can pick up and run with  

• Bring an AI-forward mindset to your own work, using tools like Claude and Claude Code to move faster through discovery, proposal writing, and architecture documentation 

Collaboration & Communication 

• Serve as the primary technical partner to Client Partners, bringing the executive presence to sell R&P’s service lines and earn trust with customer C-level stakeholders  

• Act as a trusted advisor to customer executives shaping their long-term AI and technology roadmaps, translating ambiguity into a structured, credible path forward  

• Partner across R&P’s practices to make sure every proposal is well-rounded: technically sound, feasible to deliver, and backed by the right people  

• Lead architecture workshops, technical deep-dives, and discovery sessions that move a deal from opportunity to a scoped, confident solution  

• Communicate architecture, tradeoffs, and risk clearly to both engineering teams and executive audiences 

Leadership & Influence 

• Build the culture and mechanics of solution architecture at R&P: the playbooks, frameworks, and reusable assets that let the practice scale as we grow to $100M in revenue  

• Own architectural integrity from the first proposal through the handoff to delivery, so what we sold is what gets built  

• Mentor engineers and future solutions architects, raising the technical bar across pre-sales and delivery  

• Represent R&P in the AWS ecosystem and broader market through conferences, forums, and thought leadership that build the firm’s reputation as an all-in-AWS partner  

What You’ll Bring 

• 8+ years of experience in software engineering or architecture, with deep ownership of AWS environments  

• Deep expertise in Amazon Bedrock, Bedrock AgentCore, AWS Strands Agents, AgentCore Gateway, and the broader AWS AI/ML portfolio  

• Experience architecting RAG, multi-agent, and orchestration systems using AWS-native services  

• Proficiency with Infrastructure as Code (AWS CDK, CloudFormation, or Terraform) and hands-on development in Python  

• Proven success leading pre-sales or solution architecture for complex, enterprise-scale AWS engagements  

• Exceptional communication skills  

• Experience in a consulting, systems integrator, or professional services environment  

• Demonstrable use of AI tools like Claude and Claude Code to move faster through discovery, prototyping, and documentation  

Helpful Extras and Unique Skills 

• AWS Professional certifications preferred (AWS Solutions Architect – Professional) 

• Exposure to data engineering services such as Glue, Redshift, and Lake Formation  

You’ll Do Well Here if You Are 

• A doer. You see something broken and fix it. You'd rather move on clarity than wait for certainty. 

• A fast learner who knows you don't know everything. The AI landscape changes weekly. You're senior enough to know better and curious enough to keep learning anyway. 

• Direct in a way that makes the work better. You give honest feedback. You'd rather have the hard conversation than blow smoke. 

• Obsessed with craft. You know genius is in the details. You ship exceptional, not perfect, and you don't put your name on work you wouldn't stand behind. 

• Built for ownership. You honor commitments, admit mistakes fast, and back your teammates when a decision costs something. No handoffs, no finger-pointing. 

• All in. You treat clients' businesses like your own. You take the work seriously without taking yourself seriously. 

• Resourceful when the budget, timeline, or team is tight. Constraints don't slow you down. They sharpen you. 

• Glad to be in the room with people who care as much as you do. Our teams average fifteen-plus years of experience. We hire people who push each other to do better work. 

The below range reflects the range of possible compensation for this role at the time of this posting. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range. This range may be modified in the future. An employee's position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, seniority, geographic location, performance, shift, travel requirements, sales or revenue-based metrics, any collective bargaining agreements, and business or organizational needs. The salary range for this role is $200.000 USD - $245.000 USD.  We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including paid time off, medical/dental/vision insurance and 401(k) to eligible employees. 
 
An offer of employment may be conditional upon successful completion of a background check in accordance with local legislation and our candidate privacy notice. Your current employer will not be contacted without your permission.  We are committed to ensuring equal employment opportunities for all job applicants and employees. Employment decisions are based upon job-related reasons regardless of an applicant's race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, marital status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other status protected by law.