Systems Architecture — P3
INFRAS.SYSTEMSAD28B.P3
Systems Architecture focuses on defining the technical blueprint for infrastructure, CI/CD, deployment strategies, and observability across the enterprise — establishing reference architectures, standardization patterns, and long-term technical direction. Distinct from sibling SRE/reliability-engineering focuses (which own measurable reliability targets such as SLOs/SLIs/error budgets and on-call operations) and platform-build/automation focuses (which implement pipelines and IaC day-to-day), this focus emphasizes architectural decision-making, cross-team reuse, and aligning infrastructure design with enterprise architecture principles. This focus consumes reliability constructs as architectural inputs but does not own the operational reliability budget.
Systems Architecture focuses on defining the technical blueprint for infrastructure, CI/CD, deployment strategies, and observability across the enterprise — establishing reference architectures, standardization patterns, and long-term technical direction. Distinct from sibling SRE/reliability-engineering focuses (which own measurable reliability targets such as SLOs/SLIs/error budgets and on-call operations) and platform-build/automation focuses (which implement pipelines and IaC day-to-day), this focus emphasizes architectural decision-making, cross-team reuse, and aligning infrastructure design with enterprise architecture principles. This focus consumes reliability constructs as architectural inputs but does not own the operational reliability budget.
Focus — Systems Architecture
Systems Architecture focuses on defining the technical blueprint for infrastructure, CI/CD, deployment strategies, and observability across the enterprise — establishing reference architectures, standardization patterns, and long-term technical direction. Distinct from sibling SRE/reliability-engineering focuses (which own measurable reliability targets such as SLOs/SLIs/error budgets and on-call operations) and platform-build/automation focuses (which implement pipelines and IaC day-to-day), this focus emphasizes architectural decision-making, cross-team reuse, and aligning infrastructure design with enterprise architecture principles. This focus consumes reliability constructs as architectural inputs but does not own the operational reliability budget.
Material PAY and SKILL differential vs the function baseline.
Responsibilities by level
What this person actually does at each level on the professional track — escalating scope, not one generic blob. Your level is highlighted.
- Designs and manages CI/CD pipelines and release automation, applying deployment-safety patterns such as blue-green and canary deployments, working independently to milestone review
- Contributes to system and infrastructure design, managing infrastructure through code using Terraform, Ansible, or CloudFormation on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and UNIX/Bash shell environments
- Monitors and optimizes system performance, implementing observability stacks with Prometheus, Grafana, ELK, or Jaeger to instrument architectures against reliability targets defined by the SRE function
- Resolves moderately complex technical issues across cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and their native services by evaluating identifiable factors
- Explores and evaluates new DevOps tools and Kubernetes ecosystem components, facilitating training sessions for development and operations teams
- Leads tool implementations and conducts in-depth system analyses to drive scalability improvements across a functional area
- Designs scalable systems and implements comprehensive monitoring and alerting solutions, selecting appropriate methods and weighing architectural tradeoffs
- Takes ownership of complex projects spanning multiple components, integrating security practices seamlessly into the delivery pipeline (DevSecOps)
- Defines container orchestration patterns on Kubernetes, including networking models and service mesh implementations (Istio, Linkerd)
- May lead a project team, coordinating across development and operations groups to influence design decisions
- Coordinates architecture for cross-cutting concerns across 2–4 teams, leading design that influences the infrastructure roadmap beyond a single team's scope
- Implements cutting-edge solutions and optimizes system performance and architecture for major subsystems spanning multiple teams
- Researches and adopts emerging technologies, advising senior management on industry trends and their impact on company objectives
- Mentors senior engineers and builds relationships with external vendors and technical communities
- Troubleshoots complex infrastructure challenges and oversees advanced software deployments across team boundaries
- Defines reference architecture across CI/CD, infrastructure provisioning, deployment strategies, and observability aligned with enterprise architecture principles
- Drives standardization and reuse through templates, pipeline libraries, IaC modules, baseline helm charts, and observability packs to reduce duplication across teams
- Designs organization-wide strategies such as multi-region data replication, evaluating active-active vs active-passive, consistency, and conflict resolution
- Acts as a technical authority within and beyond the team, leading high-level architectural decisions and setting long-term technical direction; solves ambiguous high-impact problems and aligns DevOps initiatives with business goals
- Creates RFCs and builds consensus across infrastructure and product teams, coordinating implementation across 5+ teams over multiple quarters, and shapes engineering culture through high-level mentorship of peer principal engineers
- Anticipates emerging infrastructure challenges and defines long-term architecture roadmaps that impact company-wide strategy and influence industry practices
- Develops new models and approaches for systems architecture, solving precedent-free problems with broad business consequences (e.g., novel multi-region consistency or platform abstraction models)
- Sets direction for cross-organizational infrastructure initiatives with complete independence, influencing non-technical functions including product, finance, legal, security, sales, support, and executives
- Networks with executives, regulators, and industry leaders, persuading and educating senior stakeholders on strategic infrastructure priorities
- Provides high-level mentorship to senior and principal professionals, shaping company-wide architectural capability without requiring direct reports
Level guidelines
The universal leveling rubric applied to this function — how scope, complexity, collaboration, and experience step up across levels.
| Level | Knowledge & Application | Complexity & Problem Solving | Collaboration & Interaction | Typical Degree & Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P3 | Applies a working knowledge of cloud platforms, IaC, CI/CD, and observability tooling to diverse infrastructure problems; understands core systems engineering including operating systems, networking, and cloud infrastructure. | Evaluates identifiable technical factors to resolve moderately complex pipeline and infrastructure issues; selects among established patterns. | Networks with senior professionals; facilitates training for development and operations teams; may coordinate activities within a project. | 5+ yrs (BA), 3 yrs (MA), or PhD without experience. |
| P4 | Applies in-depth expertise across Kubernetes orchestration, service mesh, DevSecOps, and scalable systems design to deliver functional-impact outcomes within owned subsystems. | Performs in-depth analysis of complex variables to design scalable systems and monitoring; selects methods and weighs architectural tradeoffs. | Coordinates across development and operations groups; may influence design decisions and lead a project team. | 8+ yrs, often with graduate education. |
| P5 | Applies deep, cross-cutting architecture knowledge to lead design for concerns spanning 2–4 teams; mentors senior engineers and drives technical quality beyond a single team. | Solves complex cross-team architecture problems with high independence; troubleshoots challenges that cross subsystem boundaries and adopts emerging technologies. | Coordinates across multiple teams; advises senior management on trends; builds relationships with external vendors and technical communities. | 12+ yrs, extensive infrastructure architecture expertise. |
| P6 | Applies visionary, field-shaping knowledge to define reference architectures and organization-wide infrastructure strategies such as multi-region replication and platform standardization. | Solves ambiguous, high-impact problems with full independence; designs across consistency, conflict resolution, and cross-team architecture. | Influences industry and company as a recognized thought leader; builds consensus via RFCs across 5+ teams; mentors peer principals. | 15+ yrs, principal-level expert; often PhD plus industry leadership. |
| P7 | Develops new models and theories for systems architecture; anticipates emerging challenges and defines long-term roadmaps influencing industry practice. | Solves precedent-free, ambiguous problems with broad business and industry consequences; defines direction for company-wide initiatives. | Networks with executives, boards, regulators, and industry leaders; persuades senior stakeholders and influences non-technical functions. | 20+ yrs, or equivalent recognition (often PhD plus significant industry contributions, patents, or publications). |
Skills
Focus-specific skills the role applies — the relevance layer beyond the occupational base.
- Cloud platforms
- Applies experience with cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud and their native services to design and operate infrastructure architectures.
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
- Manages infrastructure through code using tools like Terraform, Ansible, and CloudFormation for repeatable, version-controlled provisioning.
- Containers and orchestration
- Applies container orchestration expertise with Kubernetes as the de facto standard, including its ecosystem of components, networking models, and operational patterns; senior practice extends to service mesh implementations.
- Programming/scripting
- Applies strong programming skills in Python, Go, Ruby, Bash or similar languages for automation and repeatable processes.
- Observability/monitoring
- Builds observability stacks using Prometheus, Grafana, ELK, Jaeger or similar tools to instrument and analyze system behavior.
- CI/CD and release engineering
- Designs and operates CI/CD pipelines and release automation, including deployment-safety patterns like blue-green and canary deployments.
- Reliability constructs (SRE)
- Consumes measurable reliability targets like SLOs, SLIs, and error budgets as architectural inputs to instrument and design systems, partnering with the SRE function that owns those targets.
- Security integration (DevSecOps)
- Applies deep understanding of security practices to integrate security seamlessly into the development pipeline.
- Core systems foundation
- Applies deep understanding of systems engineering, including operating systems, networking, and cloud infrastructure, across Red Hat Enterprise Linux and UNIX shell environments.
Provenance
The evidence base behind this profile — every layer is sourced; quality is scored by an adversarial review panel (1–5; passes at ≥4 on the minimum dimension).
7 sources
- O*NET-SOC Computer Network Architects (15-1241.00)
- O*NET-SOC Computer Systems Engineers/Architects (15-1299.08)
- BLS occupational wage and employment data
- SRE/DevOps practitioner blogs and professional sources
- IC career-ladder literature and career-guidance sites
- Vendor job-description templates
- LinkedIn skills research
Level — P3 — Mid-Level Professional
Fully competent professional; works independently on standard projects
- Scope
- Features or a sub-system end-to-end
- Autonomy
- Works independently on standard work; reviewed on the non-standard
- Complexity
- Diverse problems; adapts existing approaches
- Impact
- Project / team outcomes
- Decision rights
- Owns implementation decisions for own scope
- Leadership
- Mentors juniors informally
- Typical experience
- 3–5 yrs
Adjacent roles
Nearest roles by structural coordinates (level + taxonomy). Distance 0 → 1; each carries its 3-state match band. How coordinates work → · Compare side-by-side →
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O*NET / SOC
- code=15-1241source=jfm-factory.resolve