Solution Architect - Applications & Cloud

The Solution Architect designs, builds, and maintains complex .NET-based applications, systems integrations, and interoperability solutions, and administers LSB's Microsoft Azure cloud environment. This role works across systems and projects to deliver scalable, secure, and maintainable solutions that connect internal systems, ERP platforms, third-party services, and cloud applications - ensuring reliable data exchange and interoperability across the enterprise application landscape. In addition to application architecture, the Solution Architect serves as the technical administrator of the Azure tenant - accountable for the design, governance, security, and day-to-day administration of cloud-hosted servers, databases, and supporting services. The ideal candidate combines deep technical expertise with hands-on engineering, architectural depth, and cloud operations discipline., Technical Leadership & Architecture

• Define architecture and integration patterns for complex enterprise applications spanning on-premises and Azure cloud environments.
• Influence technology decisions across multiple teams and projects.
• Guide the design of APIs, messaging, and event-driven integration workflows.
• Evaluate and recommend frameworks, tools, and best practices for scalable solutions.

Hands-On Development

• Develop and maintain critical .NET services, backend systems, and APIs.
• Adept at legacy system analysis and deconstruction.
• Ensure high-quality code through design reviews, mentoring, and automated testing.
• Implement robust error handling, logging, security, and performance optimizations.

Azure Cloud Operations

• Administer LSB's Azure environment, serving as the primary technical authority for the tenant's design, governance, and ongoing operation.
• Architect, provision, and manage Azure resources including virtual machines, App Services, and Azure SQL databases.
• Administer Azure-hosted servers, including patching strategy, sizing and right-sizing, backup, disaster recovery, and lifecycle management.
• Administer Azure databases, including Azure SQL configuration, performance tuning, indexing, backup and restore, geo-replication, and capacity planning.
• Define and enforce cloud governance: subscription and resource group structure, naming conventions, tagging standards, role-based access control (RBAC), and Azure Policy.
• Implement and monitor cloud security controls in coordination with IT and security stakeholders - Azure role-based access control (RBAC), key and secret management (Azure Key Vault), and compliance with internal and regulatory standards.
• Manage Azure cost optimization - monitor consumption, evaluate reserved instances and savings plans, and report on cloud spend.
• Implement Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, and Application Insights to ensure observability across cloud workloads.
• Lead cloud migration and modernization efforts, moving appropriate on-premises workloads to Azure.
• Serve as the escalation point for Azure-related incidents and engage Microsoft and third-party vendor support as needed.

Systems Integration & Interoperability

• Design and implement integrations across ERP systems, internal applications, plant and operational systems, and third-party platforms.
• Establish and maintain interoperability standards across systems, including data models, schemas, message formats, and communication protocols.
• Define standards for API usage, data transformation, validation, and error management.
• Ensure data consistency and integrity across integrated systems, including alignment of master data and reference data.
• Evaluate and recommend integration technologies and patterns (REST APIs, messaging, event-driven architectures, file-based exchange, and B2B integration where applicable).
• Coordinate with multiple teams to deliver end-to-end integration workflows.

Collaboration & Mentorship

• Mentor developers and foster technical excellence across teams.
• Collaborate closely with product owners, business analysts, ERP administrators, and infrastructure teams to ensure solutions meet business needs.
• Act as a technical escalation point for complex issues.

Operational Excellence

• Contribute to CI/CD pipelines, DevOps practices, and automated deployment strategies, including Azure DevOps and/or GitHub Actions pipelines targeting Azure resources.
• Promote observability, monitoring, and reliability across integrated systems and cloud workloads.
• Support production systems and provide guidance on incident resolution and root cause analysis.

Do you have experience in System tuning?, * 8+ years of professional software development experience in lead or architect roles, with strong expertise in .NET and C#.

• Extensive experience designing, building, and maintaining systems integrations and interoperability solutions (APIs, web services, messaging, event-driven architectures, and data exchange formats).
• Deep understanding of software architecture principles, scalable system design, and enterprise integration patterns.
• 3+ years of hands-on Microsoft Azure experience, including administration of Azure virtual machines and Azure SQL databases.
• Working knowledge of Azure security, RBAC, Key Vault, and cloud governance best practices.
• Experience with relational databases and data access patterns, including performance tuning and query optimization.
• Strong problem-solving, debugging, and performance-tuning skills across both application and infrastructure layers.

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with ERP systems and integration with ERP platforms (e.g., JDE, SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, Infor).
• Experience with .NET Core / .NET 6+ and modern frameworks.
• Experience with messaging platforms (Azure Service Bus, RabbitMQ, Kafka).
• Experience with enterprise integration platforms or iPaaS tools (e.g., Azure Logic Apps, Azure API Management, MuleSoft, Boomi).
• Experience with B2B integration standards (EDI, AS2) for supplier and customer interoperability.
• Experience with Azure DevOps pipelines and/or GitHub Actions for cloud deployments.
• Experience leading cloud migration of applications and server workloads.
• Experience guiding multiple teams and mentoring developers.
• Knowledge of CI/CD tools, DevOps practices, and infrastructure-as-code concepts.

Key Competencies

• Strategic technical thinker with broad enterprise impact across applications and cloud infrastructure.
• Strong communication skills; able to bridge technical and business stakeholders.
• Operational mindset - takes responsibility for cloud environment health, security, and cost.
• Mentorship and team development mindset.
• Ownership of complex problems and drive for long-term solutions.

LSB is committed to playing a leadership role in the production of low and no carbon products that build, feed and power the world. The LSB team is dedicated to building a culture of excellence in customer experiences as we deliver essential products across the agricultural and industrial end markets and, in the future, the energy markets. Join our team and help us develop innovative solutions that will improve the quality of life for current and future generations. Learn more about LSB at www.lsbindustries.com.