1. What is a Solutions Architect at AECOM?

At AECOM, the role of a Solutions Architect—specifically within our Operational AI and digital transformation organizations—is pivotal to modernizing how the world’s trusted infrastructure consulting firm operates. While AECOM is renowned for designing skylines and critical infrastructure, your role operates behind the scenes to build the intelligent digital backbone that supports over 50,000 planners, designers, and engineers globally.

In this position, you are not merely a technician; you are a strategic partner to business functions such as HR, Finance, and IT. You will be tasked with translating complex business needs into secure, scalable, and production-ready AI architectures. You will work on high-impact initiatives, such as designing retrieval-based systems (RAG) and agent-based orchestration workflows that eliminate manual bottlenecks. Your work directly enables our teams to focus less on repetitive tasks and more on delivering a better world.

This role requires a unique blend of deep technical engineering expertise and enterprise-level architectural vision. You will move beyond "proof of concept" experiments to deliver robust systems that adhere to strict governance, security, and observability standards. You are the bridge between cutting-edge AI capabilities and the rigorous operational demands of a Fortune 500 infrastructure leader.

2. Getting Ready for Your Interviews

Preparation for the Solutions Architect role at AECOM requires a shift in mindset from pure coding to architectural strategy and operational readiness. You should approach your preparation with the goal of demonstrating how you can deliver value safely and at scale.

Focus on demonstrating strength in these key evaluation criteria:

Enterprise System Design You must demonstrate the ability to design end-to-end distributed systems. Interviewers will evaluate your understanding of backend systems, APIs, and event-driven architectures. You need to show that you can build systems that integrate seamlessly with existing enterprise environments, not just standalone applications.

AI & GenAI Pattern Mastery AECOM is aggressively pursuing AI integration. You will be evaluated on your practical knowledge of AI patterns, specifically Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), agent orchestration, and multi-model workflows. You must be able to discuss the trade-offs between different models, vector databases, and prompting strategies in a production context.

Operational Readiness & Governance In our industry, risk management is critical. You will be assessed on your ability to design for security, data governance, and reliability. You should be ready to explain how you handle versioning, security controls, and system monitoring (observability) for AI solutions.

Stakeholder Partnership You will face questions testing your ability to translate vague business requirements into technical specifications. We look for candidates who can partner with non-technical teams (like Finance or HR), understand their pain points, and propose technical solutions that are cost-effective and scalable.

3. Interview Process Overview

The interview process for the Solutions Architect role at AECOM is rigorous but structured to assess both your technical depth and your ability to thrive in a collaborative, consulting-driven culture. Generally, the process moves from verifying your background to deep-diving into your architectural capabilities.

Expect an initial screening with a recruiter to discuss your interest in AECOM and your high-level experience with enterprise systems. This is typically followed by a hiring manager interview, which focuses on your specific experience with AI/ML solutions and your alignment with the team's mission. The core of the process usually involves a series of technical deep dives or a panel interview where you will be asked to solution specific business problems, discuss architectural patterns, and demonstrate your knowledge of operationalizing AI.

AECOM values practical, applicable knowledge over theoretical trivia. You should expect discussions to revolve around real-world scenarios—such as automating a complex document review process or optimizing a finance workflow—rather than abstract algorithmic puzzles. The team is looking for evidence that you can build "production-grade" software, not just prototypes.

The timeline above illustrates the typical flow from application to offer. Note that for specialized roles like the AI Solutions Architect, the "Technical Assessment" stage often takes the form of a system design discussion or a case study review rather than a coding test. Use the gaps between stages to research AECOM’s recent digital initiatives and refresh your knowledge on enterprise security standards.

4. Deep Dive into Evaluation Areas

The following areas represent the core pillars of the technical evaluation. You should be prepared to discuss these topics in depth, using examples from your past projects.

AI & Retrieval-Based Architectures

This is the most critical technical area for the Operational AI team. You need to show that you understand how to ground LLMs in enterprise data to prevent hallucinations and ensure relevance.

Be ready to go over:

• RAG Implementation – How to chunk data, select embedding models, and manage vector databases.
• Agentic Workflows – Designing systems where AI agents can take actions (e.g., query a database, send an email) based on reasoning.
• Model Selection – When to use GPT-4 vs. lighter open-source models vs. fine-tuned models based on cost and latency.
• Advanced concepts – Hybrid search (keyword + semantic), re-ranking strategies, and graph-based retrieval.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Design a system that allows HR employees to query thousands of PDF policy documents and get an accurate, cited answer."
• "How would you handle a scenario where the retrieval system returns outdated information to the LLM?"
• "Explain how you would secure sensitive financial data in a RAG architecture."

Enterprise Distributed Systems

AI does not exist in a vacuum. You must demonstrate that you are a strong backend engineer who understands how to integrate AI components into a broader distributed system.

Be ready to go over:

• API Design – REST vs. GraphQL, rate limiting, and designing contracts for internal services.
• Event-Driven Architecture – Using message queues (Kafka, RabbitMQ) to decouple AI processing from user-facing applications.
• Scalability – Handling spikes in inference requests and managing latency in synchronous vs. asynchronous workflows.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "We have a legacy finance application. How would you architect a modern API layer to expose its data to an AI agent?"
• "Describe a time you had to debug a performance bottleneck in a distributed system."

Operational Excellence (LLMOps)

AECOM requires solutions that are robust and governable. This area tests your maturity as an architect regarding the lifecycle of the software.

Be ready to go over:

• Observability – How to trace a request through a chain of AI agents and log inputs/outputs for auditing.
• Cost Management – Strategies for monitoring token usage and optimizing for cost without sacrificing quality.
• Governance & Security – Data privacy (PII masking), RBAC (Role-Based Access Control), and ensuring AI safety.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "How do you ensure that an AI tool introduced to the IT department doesn't accidentally leak administrative credentials?"
• "Define the metrics you would track to determine if a GenAI solution is 'healthy' in production."

5. Key Responsibilities

As a Solutions Architect at AECOM, your day-to-day work is a mix of high-level design, hands-on technical guidance, and cross-functional collaboration. You are responsible for designing end-to-end AI systems, which involves selecting the right tools, defining the architecture, and ensuring the solution aligns with enterprise reference architectures.

You will frequently partner with business and back-office teams. This means you might spend a morning meeting with Finance leaders to understand their invoicing bottlenecks, and the afternoon translating those needs into a technical design for an engineering team. You act as the translator between "business intent" and "technical implementation."

A significant portion of your role involves guiding delivery teams. You will review code and designs to ensure they meet security and scalability standards. You are also expected to provide feedback to the central architecture team to help evolve the enterprise's architectural guardrails, ensuring that AECOM stays at the forefront of innovation while managing risk.

6. Role Requirements & Qualifications

Candidates for the Solutions Architect role are expected to bring significant engineering maturity. This is a senior-level individual contributor role.

Must-have skills

• Experience: Bachelor’s degree plus at least 10 years of professional engineering experience in enterprise or distributed systems.
• Technical Foundation: Strong background in backend systems, APIs, and cloud architecture (Azure/AWS).
• AI Specialization: Proven hands-on experience designing and delivering GenAI solutions (RAG, orchestration flows, agents) in a production environment.
• Operational Mindset: Deep understanding of security controls, versioning, and system monitoring.

Nice-to-have skills

• Advanced Education: Master’s degree in Computer Science or Engineering.
• Domain Experience: Previous experience delivering solutions for enterprise back-office domains like HR, Finance, or IT.
• Lifecycle Management: Experience managing the ongoing lifecycle of GenAI solutions with real users and governed data.

7. Common Interview Questions

The following questions are representative of what you might face. They are drawn from typical industry standards for this role and the specific focus of AECOM’s Operational AI team. Expect a mix of architectural design, behavioral, and specific technical knowledge questions.

AI System Design & Architecture

This category tests your ability to build valid technical solutions for complex problems.

• "Design an internal chatbot that can answer employee questions about benefits by pulling data from three different internal databases. How do you handle conflicting data?"
• "How would you architect a document summarization pipeline for legal contracts that ensures no data leaves our secure VPC?"
• "What is your approach to evaluating the accuracy of a RAG system before releasing it to users?"
• "Compare the trade-offs between using a vector database vs. a traditional keyword search for our use case."

Behavioral & Stakeholder Management

These questions assess your ability to navigate a large organization and influence without authority.

• "Tell me about a time you had to explain a complex technical trade-off (like latency vs. accuracy) to a non-technical stakeholder."
• "Describe a situation where you pushed back on a feature request because of security or governance concerns. How did you handle it?"
• "How do you prioritize which AI initiatives to pursue when multiple departments are asking for help?"

Operational & Backend Engineering

These questions ensure you have the foundational engineering skills required for the role.

• "How do you handle API rate limiting when integrating with third-party LLM providers?"
• "Explain how you would implement observability for an agent-based workflow that spans multiple services."
• "What is your strategy for managing 'drift' in AI model performance over time?"

8. Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is this role remote or onsite? The position typically offers flexibility for hybrid work schedules. You should expect to have some in-office presence combined with telecommuting. For the AI Solutions Architect role, the base locations are typically Dallas or Houston, TX.

Q: Does AECOM sponsor visas for this position? According to the job data, sponsorship for US work authorization is not available for this position, now or in the future. You must be authorized to work in the US without sponsorship.

Q: How technical is this role? Will I be coding? Yes, it is highly technical. While you may not be writing production code every day, you are expected to have a "strong architectural foundation" and guide engineering teams. You must be capable of hands-on design and likely code reviews or prototyping.

Q: What is the difference between this role and a standard "Architect" at AECOM? This is a crucial distinction. At AECOM, "Architect" often refers to building/design architects (designing structures). This guide is for the Solutions Architect (IT/AI) role. Ensure you are applying to the correct requisition within the "Operational AI" or "Digital" organization.

Q: What cloud platforms does AECOM use? As a global enterprise, AECOM likely utilizes major cloud providers. Experience with Azure or AWS is highly relevant, as is familiarity with enterprise-grade cloud security and governance.

9. Other General Tips

Understand the "Enterprise" Context AECOM is a large, regulated, and risk-aware company. When answering questions, always prioritize security, governance, and reliability over "cutting-edge" experimentation. Your solutions need to be safe for a Fortune 500 company to deploy.

Focus on Business Value Don't just talk about the technology; talk about the outcome. Whether it's saving hours of manual data entry for the Finance team or improving the speed of HR responses, always tie your technical choices back to business efficiency.

Demonstrate "Production" Experience Many candidates have built AI demos. To stand out, discuss the challenges of going to production: handling latency, managing costs, dealing with PII (Personally Identifiable Information), and maintaining the system after launch.

Highlight Cross-Functional Communication You will be working with non-technical teams. During the interview, avoid excessive jargon when describing solutions to behavioral questions. Show that you can be a bridge between the "tech world" and the "business world."

10. Summary & Next Steps

Becoming a Solutions Architect at AECOM is an opportunity to drive digital transformation at one of the world’s premier infrastructure firms. You will be at the forefront of applying AI to real-world operational challenges, creating systems that help thousands of employees work more efficiently. This role offers the unique challenge of blending agility with enterprise scale, requiring both technical brilliance and strategic vision.

To succeed, focus your preparation on end-to-end system design, GenAI operationalization, and collaborative problem-solving. Review your past projects to identify examples where you successfully navigated the trade-offs between innovation and reliability. Enter your interviews ready to act as a consultant who can listen to a problem and architect a secure, scalable solution.

The salary data above provides a general range for architecture roles. However, note that specialized roles like AI Solutions Architect requiring 10+ years of experience often command compensation at the higher end of or exceeding standard architectural bands due to the specialized technical skill set required. Always discuss specific expectations with your recruiter.

For more insights and resources to help you prepare, explore the tools available on Dataford. Good luck—your expertise could be the key to the next generation of AECOM's digital evolution.