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Modernization Application Architect

Est. $85k - $109k / yr

About this role

Who We Are

At Kyndryl, we run and reimagine the mission-critical technology systems that drive advantage for the world’s leading businesses. We are at the heart of progress; with proven expertise and a continuous flow of AI-powered insight, enabling smarter decisions, faster innovation, and a lasting competitive edge. For our people—Kyndryls—that means doing purposeful work that powers human progress. Join us and experience a flexible, supportive environment where your well-being is prioritized and your potential can thrive.


The Role

The Opportunity


Every large enterprise is sitting on decades of business-critical applications and a rare chance to reinvent them with agentic AI. As a Modernization Architect at Kyndryl, you’ll be the person who turns that chance into reality.

You’ll step into a client’s toughest modernization challenge, turn ambiguity into a clear architecture and roadmap, and build the working demo, pilot, or MVP that proves the value. Then you’ll stay with it, guiding delivery teams and advising senior executives, until the promised outcomes are delivered. Your work will span everything from focused engineering pilots to large-scale agentic factories.

This is a hands-on, client-facing leadership role in Kyndryl’s Global Modernization Center of Excellence. It’s built for architects who like to build, enjoy being in the room with decision-makers, and want their work to show up in real business results.


Who You Are

Why You’ll Love This Role


  • Build things that work. Create production-ready agentic AI demos, pilots, and reference implementations, not slideware.
  • Start ahead. Accelerate your solutions with the Kyndryl Agentic Framework (KAF), Kyndryl AI IP, and proven modernization offerings instead of starting from a blank page.
  • Get a seat at the table. Advise senior client stakeholders across industries and help shape their modernization strategy.
  • Own the outcome. Take a solution from scoping, estimates, and SOW through delivery, and see your designs go live.
  • Work with the best. Collaborate with sales, consulting, legal, delivery, and engineering teams, and bring in cloud, mainframe, and network & edge specialists whenever a solution crosses domains.
  • Keep growing. Ongoing learning and certification are part of the job, not an extra.

What You’ll Do


Discover and shape the opportunity

  • Lead client discovery and AI readiness assessments to uncover high-value application modernization and agentic AI use cases.
  • Turn ambiguous business needs into clear technical architectures and implementation roadmaps.
  • Facilitate workshops, design sessions, and architecture reviews that align business and technical stakeholders.
  • Advise senior client leaders on modernization and agentic AI adoption, with solution narratives that resonate with both executive and technical audiences.

Architect and build

  • Design target-state cloud-native and AI-native architectures, using microservices, APIs, containers, and cloud-native patterns, to modernize legacy and monolithic applications.
  • Define modernization solutions that combine application, infrastructure, agentic SDLC, and platform engineering expertise across public and private cloud.
  • Build agentic proofs of concept, pilots, MVPs, and reference implementations that demonstrate measurable business value.

Scope, estimate, and win

  • Own technical solution definition, including scope, PoC framing, assumptions, dependencies, and baselines.
  • Prepare estimates for effort, cost, risk, timeline, and team composition using Kyndryl’s solution calculator and related tools.
  • Develop SOWs, RFP responses, and technical proposal content, and contribute to commercial inputs.
  • Lead technical due diligence and confirm that proposed solutions are feasible and deliverable.

Deliver and grow

  • Partner with sales, consulting, legal, delivery, engineering, and COE teams to structure sound, deliverable engagements.
  • Provide technical leadership from pursuit through implementation to protect solution fidelity and client success.
  • Engage Cloud, Mainframe, Network & Edge, and other specialists when a solution spans multiple domains.
  • Stay ahead of advances in AI, application, and cloud technologies through continuous learning and certification.

What Success Looks Like


  • Clients see you as a trusted advisor who brings clarity to complex modernization decisions.
  • Your pilots and MVPs move from demo to production and show measurable business value.
  • Your estimates and SOWs hold up in delivery, and delivery teams value the clarity you provide.
  • You become a go-to voice in the COE, sharing patterns and reusable assets that make the next engagement faster.

Choose Your Path: Areas of Specialization


You’ll bring deep expertise in at least one of these areas, along with an application-led perspective across the others.

  • Apps on Public Cloud (AWS, GCP, or Microsoft Azure): Design and deliver application modernization and agentic AI solutions on a leading hyperscaler.
  • Edge & Software-Defined Networks: Modernize networks with agentic AI, SDN, SD-WAN, SASE, and zero-trust patterns for autonomous, resilient, and secure connectivity.
  • Mainframe Modernization: Modernize IBM Z and z/OS workloads through migration, integration, and adoption of modern application platforms.
  • Cloud Platform Engineering: Build internal developer platforms and apply CI/CD, DevOps, and DevSecOps practices to speed up modern application delivery.
  • Private Cloud: Modernize applications and workloads for private-cloud and data-center environments.

What You Bring


Core qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or a comparable discipline (or equivalent practical experience).
  • At least eight years of hands-on experience in solution architecture, software engineering, or technical consulting focused on application architecture and modernization.
  • Deep expertise in at least one of the five specialization areas above.
  • At least two years of hands-on experience delivering production-grade agentic AI applications.
  • Advanced expertise with leading open-source agentic frameworks such as LangChain/LangGraph, AutoGen, CrewAI, Semantic Kernel, or equivalent.
  • Deep Python proficiency; TypeScript/Node.js experience is a plus.
  • Experience integrating AI agents with enterprise systems, including CRMs, ERPs, APIs, and data lakes.
  • Experience with vector databases, embedding pipelines, and practical RAG architectures.
  • Strong client-facing advisory, pre-sales, live-demo, and technical storytelling skills for engineering and executive audiences.
  • Working knowledge of responsible AI, data privacy requirements, and enterprise security standards, applied across pursuit and delivery.

Depth in your specialization

Show us depth in the area you’re choosing. Certifications are valued, and if you don’t hold one yet, we’ll support you in earning it.

  • Apps on Public Cloud: Design and implement cloud-native and AI-native applications on AWS, GCP, or Azure. Helpful certifications: AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional, Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect, or Azure Solutions Architect Expert.
  • Edge & Software-Defined Networks: Design agentic AI-enabled network modernization using SDN, SD-WAN, SASE, zero-trust, and automation patterns, with expertise in Palo Alto, Zscaler, Illumio, or Guardicore and strong DevNetOps and DevSecOps skills. Helpful certifications: CCNP Enterprise, AWS Certified Advanced Networking – Specialty, Azure Network Engineer Associate (AZ-700), or Google Cloud Professional Cloud Network Engineer.
  • Mainframe Modernization: Design modernization approaches for IBM Z and z/OS workloads, including migration, integration, API enablement, and adoption of modern application platforms. Helpful certifications: IBM Z Xplore or IBM Z Skills badges covering z/OS and IBM Z Software, or an IBM or Broadcom Mainframe Modernization or zCloud Program certification.
  • Cloud Platform Engineering: Design internal developer platforms and standardized golden paths that accelerate secure application delivery. Helpful certifications: Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA), Azure DevOps Engineer Expert (AZ-400), AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – Professional, or FinOps Certified Practitioner.
  • Private Cloud: Design application and workload modernization for private-cloud and data-center environments using containers, Kubernetes, APIs, automation, and cloud-native operating models. Helpful certifications: CKA, AZ-400, AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – Professional, FinOps Certified Practitioner, or a comparable private-cloud platform credential.

Nice to have

  • Background in engineering consulting or professional services.
  • Experience contributing to large-scale modernization or transformation programs.
  • Experience in both consultative solutioning and delivery settings.
  • Industry experience in Financial Services, Healthcare, Telecommunications, Manufacturing, or the Public Sector.
  • Familiarity with enterprise AI governance and AI risk-management frameworks.

Who you are

You bring a growth mindset and a commitment to your own development. You put customer success first, and you work openly, collaboratively, and inclusively with sales, delivery, engineering, and COE teams. If you meet most of the requirements above and the work excites you, we encourage you to apply.


Travel

You’ll travel globally at least 25% of the time to meet clients, lead workshops, and work side by side with delivery teams.


Why Kyndryl?

Kyndryl is redefining modernization through AI-led transformation, agentic platforms, and repeatable engineering patterns. As part of the Modernization Center of Excellence, you’ll work on high-impact client opportunities across industries, partner with global delivery and engineering teams, and apply Kyndryl’s agentic AI frameworks to solve complex modernization challenges at scale.


Your Future at Kyndryl

Every role at Kyndryl offers opportunities to advance your career through hands-on experience, continuous learning, and certifications across all four major platforms. Whether you want to expand your expertise or specialize in a specific sector, you can build your future here.


Being You

The “Kyn” in Kyndryl means kinship, which represents the strong bonds we have with each other, our customers and our communities. We focus on ensuring all Kyndryls feel included and we welcome people of all cultures, backgrounds, and experiences. Even if you don’t meet every requirement, we encourage you to apply. We believe in growth, and we’re excited to see what you can bring. At Kyndryl, employee feedback has told us that our number one driver of employee engagement is belonging. That sense of belonging — being a valued, respected, trusted member of the team — is fundamental to our culture and fueling great experiences for our customers. This dedication to welcoming everyone into our company means that Kyndryl gives you the ability to thrive and contribute to our culture of empathy and shared success. That’s The Kyndryl Way.


What You Can Expect

Your career with us isn’t just a job—it’s an adventure with purpose. We offer a dynamic, hybrid-friendly culture that supports your well-being and empowers you to grow. Our Be Well programs are thoughtfully designed to support your financial, mental, physical, and social health—because we know that when you feel your best, you do your best.

From your very first day, you’ll dive into impactful work that powers the systems our customers rely on every day. You won’t just contribute—you’ll make a difference, tackling meaningful projects that sharpen your skills and fuel your growth.

We’re here to champion your journey. With powerful tools to chart your career path, personalized development goals aligned with your ambitions, and continuous feedback to keep you inspired and on track, you’ll have everything you need to thrive and evolve. You’ll develop in-demand skills to grow your career and achieve your ambitions with access to cutting-edge learning opportunities—from certifications with Microsoft, Google, and Amazon to coaching and hands-on experiences. And through it all, you’ll be part of a culture that values empathy, restless learning, and a devotion to shared success.

We want you to thrive here—and we’re committed to helping you do just that. Ready to make an impact? Join us and help shape what’s next.

Get Referred!

If you know someone that works at Kyndryl, when asked ‘How Did You Hear About Us’ during the application process, select ‘Employee Referral’ and enter your contact's Kyndryl email address.

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