Headless Developer Jobs in Chicago, IL (NOW HIRING)

About the Role

Merkle is seeking an accomplished Solution Architect to own the end-to-end technical vision and delivery quality for enterprise-grade digital platforms. This role sits over the top of all technology on an engagement, defining a unified architecture across every domain while serving as the primary client-facing technical leader on the engagements you lead. You operate with full project autonomy and are accountable for end-to-end technical excellence, supported by domain architects (such as frontend and backend) whom you direct and consult with.

You will design architecture solutions for high performance and scalability across applications and architecture domains, translate business and IT strategy into architectural designs, and guide architects, lead engineers, and development teams through delivery. As a trusted advisor to our clients, you establish governance, maintain architecture documentation, drive continuous improvement, and lead solution architecture efforts for client engagements from pitch through go-live.

We strive to find technical leaders who pair deep hands-on expertise with the judgment to make sound, defensible decisions at scale. A natural curiosity to explore new technology, the determination to rise to complex challenges, and a genuine desire to empower teams and the broader technical community all resonate well here.

Key Responsibilities

Solution Ownership & Technical Vision

• Own overall project technical quality and deliveryacross all technology domains, operating with full project autonomy and accountability for end-to-end technical excellence.

• Define and own the unified technical visionacross every domain on the engagement, collaborating with and directing domain architects (frontend, backend, and others) to ensure alignment.

• Lead architecture solution designacross applications and all architecture domains to ensure high performance, scalability, and adherence to defined standards and policies.

• Provide architectural oversightacross all domains, including platform, CMS, integration, and middleware, partnering with the relevant domain architects on detailed design.

• Define overall technical standardsand enforce them through the architect team, remaining hands-on where the work demands it.

• Make final technical decisionsand resolve cross-domain conflicts, acting as the project's ultimate technical decision maker.

• Identify and own proof of conceptsto de-risk architectural direction and validatetechnical decisions, partnering with relevant domain architects as needed.

Client & Stakeholder Leadership

• Act as the primary client technical point of contact, building strategic and technical rapport with stakeholders to influence decision making.

• Prepare and presentarchitecture and solution recommendations to obtain stakeholder buy-in, translating complex technical decisions for non-technical audiences.

• Lead solution architecture pitchesand client work, partnering with strategy, design, engineering, and business analysis teams.

• Partner with business analyststo understand the requirements they define, and with development teams to ensure solutions are built to support those requirements and optimal performance.

• Identify and communicatecross-area and cross-release issues that affect other project areas.

Governance, Delivery & Risk

• Establish and enforce architecture governanceand practices to ensure architectural integrity and consistency across the software development lifecycle.

• Define, create, and maintaincomprehensive architectural documentation and decision records across all domains.

• Own the technical risk register, managing high-impact technical risks and resolving cross-domain conflicts throughout the project lifecycle.

• Lead go-live planningand feature sequencing during project planning, and own order-of-magnitude feature sizing and estimates.

• Participate in project planning and estimationactivities and consult on sprint ceremonies and showcase demos.

Mentorship & Continuous Improvement

• Mentor and coachdomain architects, andtechnicalteamswithin your project.

• Drive continuous improvementwithinyourproject's technical teams, staying current with industry trends and emerging technologies.

Qualifications

We expect you to confidently demonstrate the following:

• Extensive software engineering and solution architecture experience, typically 10+ years, with a sustained track record in architect-level roles across multiple technology domains.

• Proven experience designing architecture across multiple applications and architecture domains for high performance and scalability.

• Proven experience with headless and composable architecture.

• Breadth across the technology stack, with the ability to direct and consult with specialist domain architects (such as frontend and backend) rather than owning a single discipline.

• Expertise in API design and consumption across REST and GraphQL, including cross-domain integration and middleware strategy.

• Proven experience working across headless and composable CMS platforms such as Contentful, Sitecore, Sanity, and Optimizely.

• Experience with cloud deployment (Vercel, AWS, Netlify, or Cloudflare Pages), CI/CD pipelines, and branching strategy.

• Excellent communication skills, especially in translating complex technical decisions and architecture for non-technical and client audiences.

• A willing and capable technical leader and mentor, able to establish and enforce governance across teams.

• Strong partnership skills, including working alongside business analysts who own requirements definition.

• Knowledge of and experience working within agile teams, with the ability to estimate and deliver in a deadline-driven environment.

• Ability to work independently with a high level of accountability and full project autonomy.

Preferred

• Agency or consulting experience delivering for enterprise clients.

• Experience leading client-facing pitches and pre-sales solution work.

• E-commerce experience (Shopify, commerce platforms, or custom booking systems).

• Backend and middleware depth (Node.js, serverless functions such as AWS Lambda or Vercel Edge Functions).

Dentsu is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees. We do this without regard to race, color, national origin, sex , sexual orientation, gender identity, age, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, ancestry, physical or mental disability, marital status, political affiliation, religious practices and observances, citizenship status, genetic information, veteran status, or any other basis protected under applicable federal, state, or local law.

Dentsu is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to, among others, individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans. If you need an accommodation because of a disability to search and apply for a career opportunity with us, please send an e-mail toApplicantAccommodations@dentsu.comby clicking on the link to let usknow the nature of your accommodation request and your contact information. We are here to support you.