Solution Architect Emerging Technologies

As a Senior Consultant, Emerging Technology at Nationwide Technology, your role will involve driving hands-on exploration, research, and prototyping across various emerging technologies such as Agentic AI, Machine Learning / Deep Learning, Quantum, Physical AI, and cyber-physical systems. You will primarily focus on R&D, rapid experimentation, and de-risking emerging technologies to enable their scaling into secure, reliable solutions for customers and associates. Your responsibilities will include: - Lead exploration and research by identifying promising emerging technologies and use cases, framing hypotheses, designing experiments, and synthesizing findings into clear recommendations. - Build prototypes and proofs-of-concept for Agentic AI, ML/DL, Quantum, and Physical AI use cases to demonstrate feasibility, value, and risks. - Own end-to-end experimentation by defining success criteria and metrics, running experiments, analyzing results, and iterating quickly to converge on viable solution patterns. - Provide deep technical leadership to influence architecture and design for LLM/agentic systems and emerging-tech solutions. - Embed modern engineering and DevSecOps practices by using Git-based workflows, CI/CD, automated testing, security scanning, and observability even for prototypes. - Champion AI safety and compliance by incorporating secure coding, data protection, responsible-AI practices, and regulatory expectations into experiments and recommendations. - Partner across the ecosystem by collaborating with product, architecture, security, data, infrastructure, and business stakeholders to align priorities, share insights, and inform roadmaps. You will report to the Director, Head of Emerging Tech at Nationwide, India. This individual contributor role does not involve direct people management responsibilities but may include providing mentoring and technical guidance to engineers, interns, or vendor teams involved in emerging-technology initiatives. Qualifications and Skills: - 8+ years of hands-on experience delivering software solutions, ideally including AI-enabled or data-intensive systems, using Agile and DevSecOps practices. - Demonstrated experience leading technical explorations, R&D, or innovation initiatives from idea to prototype. - Proven ability to influence without formal authority and work effectively in matrixed environments. - Comfortable operating in high ambiguity and communicating options, risks, and constraints clearly. - Hands-on background with LLM-powered and/or agentic AI systems, including system design and evaluation. - Knowledge of Machine Learning and Deep Learning concepts and experience applying them in production systems. - Solid experience designing and operating systems on major cloud platforms using managed services, containers, and infrastructure-as-code. - Strong foundation in modern software engineering with languages like Java, Python, C#, or similar. - Practical experience with Git-based workflows, CI/CD pipelines, automated tests, static analysis, and security scanning. - Security and compliance expertise including secure coding, secrets management, access control, and working in regulated environments. Additionally, the ideal candidate should have a strong maker mindset, be curious and experimental, committed to engineering excellence and continuous improvement, and possess the ability to communicate complex technical concepts effectively to both technical and non-technical stakeholders. Values that are important for this role include putting customers and partners at the center of how emerging technologies are explored and applied, acting with integrity, respect, and responsibility, and championing inclusion and diversity in technology solutions. As a Senior Consultant, Emerging Technology at Nationwide Technology, your role will involve driving hands-on exploration, research, and prototyping across various emerging technologies such as Agentic AI, Machine Learning / Deep Learning, Quantum, Physical AI, and cyber-physical systems. You will primarily focus on R&D, rapid experimentation, and de-risking emerging technologies to enable their scaling into secure, reliable solutions for customers and associates. Your responsibilities will include: - Lead exploration and research by identifying promising emerging technologies and use cases, framing hypotheses, designing experiments, and synthesizing findings into clear recommendations. - Build prototypes and proofs-of-concept for Agentic AI, ML/DL, Quantum, and Physical AI use cases to demonstrate feasibility, value, and risks. - Own end-to-end experimentation by defining success criteria and metrics, running experiments, analyzing results, and iterating quickly to converge on viable solution patterns. - Provide deep technical leadership to influence architecture and design for LLM/agentic systems and emerging-tech solutions. - Embed modern engineering and DevSecOps practices by using Git-based workflows, CI/