Solutions Architect - Payward Services

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Proof of work The team Payward Services is Kraken's B2B infrastructure division.

We sell crypto trading, fiat rails, yield, tokenized equities, and compliance to fintechs, neobanks, and institutions — so they can offer crypto without building it themselves.

Bunq is already live on our stack with multiple other companies in implementation phase.

We're scaling the team to match.

This is a 0-to-1 role.

You'll be the first dedicated Solutions Architect and the founding hire for our Solutions Engineering function.

Your focus is squarely pre-sales — partnering with our sales team and Partner Solutions Lead to run discovery, design winning solutions, and build PoCs that close deals.

The processes you create will be the ones the Solutions Engineers we hire alongside you will use every day.

You'll partner directly with our Engineering Director, GM, Sales, and Implementation Manager.

This is not an execution-only seat.

We expect you to define the pre-sales process, set the bar, and lead a growing team of Solutions Engineers on best practices and approach.

The opportunity Run technical discovery with prospective customers alongside sales and our Partner Solutions Lead — map their architecture, constraints, and compliance needs to our product suite (Embed, Ramp, Earn, xStocks, CF Benchmarks).

Help define what the product suite should look like through the discovery being done on the front lines.

Identify common asks and communicate priorities to downstream engineering teams so recurring asks get built as a priority directly into the product.

Design tailored solutions spanning our existing offerings, customizations to those offerings, bespoke integrations built on top of our platform, or hands-on work directly in the customer's codebase Scope and build proof-of-concepts that demonstrate technical feasibility and win the deal Own a clean, structured handoff to our Implementation team — delivering PoCs, solution design docs, and knowledge transfer sessions that ensure what was promised gets built Build the pre-sales Solutions Engineering playbook from scratch — discovery frameworks, solution templates, PoC standards, and handoff runbooks that the broader SE team will operate from Identify product gaps blocking deals and feed them into the roadmap with business context.

Escalate to leadership blockers and help identify permanent solutions so the blocker doesn’t arise again.

Skills you should HODL 7+ years in a technical pre-sales role (solutions engineering or solutions architecture) at a B2B API or infrastructure company Proven track record owning the technical pre-sales motion — discovery, solution design, PoC delivery, and deal-winning Fluency with REST/WebSocket APIs, auth patterns (OAuth, JWT), webhook architecture, and integration debugging Experience designing and building complex integrations for technical buyers at fintechs, banks, or neobanks — including customizations and bespoke work Background building process from scratch — you've been an early or founding SE hire before and have created the playbook others run Strong knowledge transfer skills — you know how to package a solution design so an implementation team can execute it faithfully Clear, structured communicator who can run a discovery call, a design review, and a handoff debrief back to back Experience writing RFPs and documenting solution approaches that clearly communicate how our product and our customizations will solve a customers problem.

Nice to haves Crypto domain knowledge — trading, custody, KYC, staking, fiat ramp mechanics Experience with embedded finance or crypto-as-a-service products Experience with Coast and building out proof of concept sales demos inside Coast Hands-on with AI development tools (Claude Code, Cursor) for rapid prototyping You've built a playbook and then hired the team to run it Unless a specific application deadline is stated in the job posting, applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.

Please note, applicants are permitted to redact or remove information on their resume that identifies age, date of birth, or dates of attendance at or graduation from an educational institution.

We consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment on our team, assessing candidates in a manner consistent with the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.

Kraken is powered by people from around the world and we celebrate all Krakenites for their diverse talents, backgrounds, contributions and unique perspectives.

We hire strictly based on merit, meaning we seek out the candidates with the right abilities, knowledge, and skills considered the most suitable for the job.

We encourage you to apply for roles where you don't fully meet the listed requirements, especially if you're passionate or knowledgable about crypto!

We may ask candidates to complete job-related skills or work-style assessments as part of our hiring process.

These assessments are designed to evaluate competencies relevant to the role and are applied consistently across candidates for similar positions.

Assessment results are considered alongside other relevant information, such as experience and interviews, and are not the sole basis for any employment decision.

As an equal opportunity employer, we don’t tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind.

Whether that’s based on race, ethnicity, age, gender identity, citizenship, religion, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, veteran status or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state or local laws.

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