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

This is not a purely advisory architecture role - this role is different. 

• You own architectural direction end-to-end, from discovery and client conversations to defining the technical approach and guiding the decisions that delivery teams build against.
• You bridge the gap between business goals and technical execution, helping clients understand what's possible while guiding teams toward the right solutions. 
• As AI’s becoming a bigger part of how we work and what we build, you're comfortable making it part of your technical direction - knowing where it fits in a product, and where a simpler path serves the client better.

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. Startups and scale-ups are in our DNA. We transform bold ideas into polished, high-impact solutions that help businesses grow and scale.

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 directions that survive after you leave the room. And with AI, that tension is sharper than ever. 

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 requires 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.

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 requires 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.
• AI-native mindset: AI is a natural part of how you work and how you think about products - you use AI tools daily, spot where AI can elevate a client’s product, and know how to make it work in production.

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.
• Hands-on experience with AI-powered developer tools (Cursor, Claude Code, Copilot…) and architecting or integrating LLM-based solutions.
• 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.

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 time-zone 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. Strong engineering culture with independence at work.
• AI at the frontier: work with the best modern AI tools, architect AI-powered products, and shape how Povio builds with them and beyond.
• Working setup: hybrid, flexible hours - Ljubljana, Maribor, Celje, or Prishtina office.

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

Questions before applying? Reach out to Agrina at agrina.sadiku@povio.com - she'll be happy to help.