Aiven is a trusted open source data platform for everyone. We are a cast of over 400 ‘Crabs’ with a passion for open-source and a cutting edge tech stack. We take ownership of the problems we solve and act with courage. Openness is our beating heart.

It takes an uncommon person to contribute to the common good. Would you like to join our Cast where everyone at every level works side-by-side on making developers’ lives better, and letting them build what matters most?

Aiven in a crabshell:

• Our platform delivers reliable and secure data ops
• Global service footprint & support organization
• Security is central to us
• 500+ customers in 60+ countries
• $420M in VC funding
• Our Burrow is in Helsinki and hubs in Berlin, Boston, Paris, Singapore, Sydney, Toronto and Tokyo and remote team members from all over the world.

We value and celebrate the diversity of our people. We strive every day to build an inclusive workplace where all of us can thrive. We have a journey ahead of us, and we are committed to taking that journey towards being a more diverse and inclusive company.

Come and read more about us at https://aiven.io/blog/what-is-aiven.

The Role:

We are looking for a Director of Solution Architecture that can be a trusted advisor to both Aiven customers and Aiven employees as we look to expand our business to meet our customers demands. You will drive new processes, analytics, initiatives, and tooling for the EMEA SA organization at Aiven and engage with our customers on a day to day basis.

The SA Director will work closely with the Sales department heads across Technical Sales, Customer and Partner Success, and Sales Engineering. This also includes other Aiven’s internal teams (e.g. Analytics, CRM, RevOps, Finance, and Product) to identify, scope and deliver improvement projects that can help the team be more productive and allow them to focus on what matters: improving value and impact to Aiven customers!

What You'll Do:

• Collaborate with leadership, project management, department heads, and other leaders to own initiatives
• Contribute to regional and global initiatives as Aiven scales the SA organization to meet customer demand
• Own analytics, reporting, and tooling to measure SA effectiveness
• Responsibility for territory of opportunities and existing customer base
• Identify and implement process improvements for efficiency and accuracy
• Hire, build, lead and evaluate multiple teams consisting of 4-7 Solution Architects.
• Help customers succeed, building successful relationships from pre-sales stage to roll out and beyond
• Be an active contributor during the sales process
• Be an ambassador for Aiven
• Travel up to 10% of the time

What We're Looking For:

• Fluency in one or more programming languages such as Java, Python, Go or Ruby
• Hands on experience and knowledge of public clouds (AWS, Google or Azure) and in the areas of compute, storage - block and object, networking, and security groups including scaled multi-region deployments.
• Linux operating system, demonstrable experience using various Linux utilities and tools (installation, securing system, storage, etc.) and a good grasp of networking basics like DNS
• A fairly deep conceptual and hands on understanding of Kafka and at least one of Cassandra or Opensearch (Elasticsearch)
• Demonstrable use of a relational databases preferably PostgreSQL and/or MySQL
• (migration experience from Oracle to PostgreSQL is an asset)
• Act as a domain expert on Aiven service offerings
• Attention to detail and good problem solving and project management skills
• Outstanding verbal and written communication skills with the ability to work well with cross-functional teams
• Flexible to recognize and fill gaps in organizational structure as we scale
• Understanding of cloud finance models and FinOps fundamentals

Required qualifications:

• A Computer Science degree or equivalent or, an equivalent amount of professional experience in software engineering

The following are nice to have:

• Writing technical blogs and conducting webinars
• Giving talks at conferences and meetups
• Customer relationship management

Don’t worry if your experience doesn’t line up perfectly – we still encourage you to apply! We believe in investing in our crabs’ professional growth.

Our Offer

If you ask us what’s the best thing about working for Aiven, many will probably say it’s the high concentration of talent from around the world that we have here. Enjoy the agile environment of a hyperscale scale-up where you can truly make an impact and have fun while at it.

We invest in you

• Participate in Aiven’s equity plan.
• Dreaming of flexible work arrangements? Look no further. Work in one of our hubs, fully remote, or anything in between.
• Get the equipment you need to set yourself up for success.
• Step up your career game with real employer support (use one of our learning platforms, annual learning budget, and more).
• Get holistic wellbeing support through our global Employee Assistance Program.

Make a difference at Aiven

• Contribute to open source projects that you find meaningful outside of work - and get paid for it! Our Plankton program recognizes extra work to the open source ecosystem for developers and non-developers alike.
• Use up to 5 days per year to volunteer for a good cause of your choice.
• Join one of our team member resource groups - empower yourself and others in missions that resonate with you.

What else?

• Your wellbeing matters: we’ve got your wellbeing covered with private medical & dental health insurance, as well as a childbirth cash benefit.
• Need insurance? We’ve got you covered - benefit from our: Employer's liability insurance, Personal Accident, Illness & Travel Insurance, Group Life Assurance, Office Insurance, Group Income Protection and Business & Leisure Travel Accident Insurance.
• Looking after your future: benefit from our provided Pension Plan.

Amazing! What’s next?

If you think Aiven is the place for you, send us your CV and we’ll get in touch.

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Equal Opportunities

Aiven provides equal employment opportunities to all qualified employees and applicants for employment without regard to age, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation, physical and mental ability, marital and family status or without regard to any other similar personal attributes. Aiven complies with applicable local laws governing non-discrimination in employment in every location in which the company operates. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, training and any other terms and conditions related to employment.

At Aiven we are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities or special needs in our working environment and job application procedures. We make all reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities or who otherwise need support to thrive in the workplace. We are committed to continuously improving workplace accessibility. There is an option to request a discussion in the application process but if you have any questions before applying please write to us at recruitment@aiven.io.