Lead Solution Architect

Lead Solution Architect - Technical Lead

Location: Brussels
Work model: 2 days/week onsite
Contract: Long-term freelance assignment
Language: French + English OR Dutch + English

I'm currently looking for a Lead Solution Architect to join the architecture team of a large organisation in the public sector.

This is not a standard Solution Architect position.

You will become the technical reference for a team of 8-9 experienced Solution Architects, taking the lead on architectural decisions while remaining close enough to the technology and development teams to challenge technical choices, review solutions and provide hands-on architectural guidance.

The organisation is looking for someone who can combine deep technical expertise with strong leadership and communication skills - someone who can challenge experienced architects and developers, but also confidently defend architectural decisions at Board and business level.

Your role

As Lead Solution Architect, you will:

• Act as the technical reference point for the architecture team.
• Take the lead on complex architectural decisions and defend them towards the Architecture Board and business stakeholders.
• Define, evolve and enforce architectural principles, standards and best practices.
• Challenge architectural choices made across multiple projects and Scrum teams.
• Support Solution Architects in solving complex technical and architectural problems.
• Participate in architecture reviews and contribute to the organisation's technology roadmap.
• Work closely with development teams and remain technically credible with senior developers and technical leads.
• Review technical designs and, where relevant, participate in code reviews.
• Guide teams through technology choices, integration patterns, security considerations and architectural trade-offs.
• Provide architectural leadership across a combination of legacy modernisation and new technology initiatives.
• Act as a natural leader within the architecture community, without direct people-management responsibility.

Your background

We're looking for a very senior Solution Architect with a strong technical foundation and the maturity to operate at both technical and strategic level.

You ideally bring:

• Significant experience in Solution Architecture / Software Architecture.
• A strong technical background in Java, ideally within large and complex environments.
• Good understanding of Angular / modern application architectures.
• Strong knowledge of application integration and security.
• Experience working with both legacy environments and modern architectures.
• Experience in large-scale, multi-project organisations.
• The ability to challenge technical decisions and communicate complex subjects clearly.
• Experience interacting with senior management, architecture boards or business stakeholders.
• The credibility to work directly with experienced developers, technical leads and other architects.
• Strong leadership and influencing skills, without necessarily having formal management responsibility.
• Excellent English communication skills. French or Dutch is a plus.

The person

The ideal candidate is someone who is already considered a technical reference by the people around them.

You don't necessarily need to be the person with the biggest title in the room. You need to be the person others turn to when an architectural problem becomes difficult.

You are comfortable moving between:

Developer → Architect → Architecture Board → Business

without losing credibility at any level.

This is a long-term freelance opportunity for an architect looking to take on a high-impact technical leadership role within a complex organisation.