Contract Systems Architect — AI, AWS & Consumer Platforms

Contract Systems Architect — AI, AWS & Consumer Platforms Engagement: Project-based independent contractor Location: Remote, worldwide; North American time zones preferred Schedule: Flexible, with agreed overlap with our team Compensation: Hourly or fixed project fee, based on scope and experience About us We’re an AI-focused consumer technology startup building products designed to reach a large user base. We’re looking for an experienced Systems Architect to help us make practical technical decisions, deliver reliable AI capabilities, and establish infrastructure that can grow with the business. This is a project-based contract role. Each engagement will have an agreed scope, timeline, deliverables, and acceptance criteria. Follow-on projects may be available as our needs evolve. The role You’ll work directly with founders and engineers to translate product goals into secure, scalable, and cost-effective systems. Your work may span architecture reviews, AWS infrastructure, AI model integration, agentic workflows, and production readiness. You should be comfortable moving from architecture diagrams to code, prototypes, infrastructure configuration, and technical reviews. We value clear judgment: knowing what to build now, what to defer, and when a simpler design will serve the business better. What you’ll do Assess our product requirements, existing architecture, and infrastructure; identify risks, bottlenecks, and priorities. Design AWS architectures for consumer applic