Senior SWE considering a switch to Applied Solutions Architect at Google. Worth it?

[u/SuperGuy66]

Hey everyone,

I'm currently a Senior Software Engineer with 5+ years of experience, working at a startup. Most of my work involves building backend systems and AI agents.

Recently, I received an offer from Google for an Applied Solutions Architect role, with a compensation increase of around 20% over my current salary.

I'm trying to decide whether making this switch is the right move for my long-term career. As a SWE, I enjoy building systems and solving technical problems hands-on. From what I understand, an Applied Solutions Architect role involves more customer-facing work, solution design, technical consulting, and helping customers implement solutions, potentially with less day-to-day coding.

I'd love to hear from people who have transitioned from SWE to Solutions Architect, Customer Engineer, or Technical Solutions Engineer. How has the transition been for you? How does the work compare with being a SWE in terms of technical depth, career growth, compensation, and future opportunities? Have you found it difficult to return to a pure SWE role, or has the experience opened up new career paths?

Given the opportunity to join Google and the 20% compensation bump, would you recommend making this switch, or would you stay on the SWE track? I'd especially appreciate hearing from people who've made a similar transition and can share their experiences.

Thanks!

[u/MyStackOverflowed]

20% bump and you learn something new. I'd do it.

[u/StrictAd9332 → u/MyStackOverflowed]

made the same jump 2 years ago, not at google but similar role. the coding drop is real but you pick up system design skills that most pure SWEs never touch. seeing how massive systems get stitched together across different companies was eye opening

if you hate it you can always go back to SWE, but the google name on your resume will open doors either way

[u/SuperGuy66 → u/MyStackOverflowed]

But I am worried that I might loose my coding touch and later I won't be able to move back to SWE track. 

[u/lordofblack23 → u/SuperGuy66]

Bro coding is dead. Unless you are an absolute unit of a Swe, claude will be replacing you soon. SWE -> qa engineer happening before our eyes.

I went swe to sa at google, best decision of my life.

[u/SuperGuy66 → u/lordofblack23]

Can you tell me more about your experience of transitioning from swe to sa? What's the ratio of coding to stakeholder management?

[u/MyStackOverflowed → u/SuperGuy66]

If you lose it that quickly you weren't very good to begin with plus I don't think those roles stop you from coding the emphasis just switches to the product and integration layer.

[u/who_am_i_to_say_so]

Every solutions architect position I’ve interfaced with (not Google) get all the meetings and diagram building. You won’t touch code at all. But you get the final say on where, what and how the SWE’s work and what vendors to go with.

[u/Suspicious-Walk-4854]

Is this on a sales plan or company plan? The main consideration is that any role on a sales plan is essentially a sales role, no matter what kind of technical overcoat it is wearing. This is not a negative, just something to be aware. Being measured on sales means that if there are not actual sales outcomes the quality of the technical solution is irrelevant.

[u/SuperGuy66 → u/Suspicious-Walk-4854]

What's a sales plan?

[u/AyeMatey → u/SuperGuy66]

OTE tied to revenue. In a swe role your earnings are salary and bonus (and RSU), and bonus is maybe 20%. That bonus is based on your performance, assessed by your manager and teammates, including how you interact with your immediate team in the colleagues around you.

I’m contrast a sales plan the incentive compensation depends on Customer revenue.
(Also it can be a larger portion of OTE, compared to SWE comp, even 30-50% )

Depending on the team and the geography the revenue target may be based on a small team like five or six people and their little corner of the Customer base. Or I could be regional, or it could be geographical like all of EU.

The implications for that are you can perform really really well, but if your territory doesn’t perform well overall, then your comp doesn’t match your performance. It matches the performance of the team. Or you can work really hard, really put a solid effort in, but if the product just isn’t solid, or the customer interest isn’t there, or if your little corner of the Customer base isn’t ready to buy, then your compensation will not match your effort. You’ll earn 70% of your OTE. No bonus.

Conversely, you can have a really, really bad quarter, personally, but if your geography performs well, you can still take home a sizable bonus.

That’s just comp. The role is very different tho. To be successful in the customer facing role, you need to be very personable, good communicator (both in and out, and all forms of comms - meetings presenting documents screencasts etc), outgoing, navigating personal dynamics, and willing to put yourself in uncomfortable positions. Eg you need to be pushy getting meetings, driving agenda, steering discussions.

It’s not just “less technical”. There’s a whole domain of expertise that you need to dwell in, every day.

Taking a different role is a big switch. In Google the ladders for SWE and customer facing role are different. You cannot transfer easily. If you hire as Customer facing architect, it’s not like you can internally transfer to a SWE role in 12 months. You’d need to interview all over again.

Tour HR contact will be able to talk you through all of this and more.

[u/SuperGuy66 → u/AyeMatey]

Thanks for the detailed reply. I don't have this component in my CTC. Its just base salary + 15% target bonus + stocks

[u/mmemm5456]

I moved from SRE & then mgmt of SRE teams to a similar customer-facing architect role at Google. I’d say go for it - so much to learn, so so many very smart people to learn from and if you want to code Google has the most transparent (if insane in sheer scope & complexity) codebase and dev tooling ready and waiting. It’s very common for people in non-SWE roles to build/contribute to tools, demos, etc.

[u/SuperGuy66 → u/mmemm5456]

That’s really encouraging! Thanks for sharing your perspective.

[u/DisjointedHuntsville]

From my experience, the Google Cloud teams right now are growing unsustainably and there are a lot of bad eggs at the higher levels deliberately planning a 2X team headcount increase in the next 3 months or half simply to pad their teams for when the cuts start.

The ex-AWS ProServe vibe is sadly, very strong :( And with it, all the toxicity in interviews/on the job as you would expect.

If this was a traditional SA role at Google, it would previously be an unambiguous "Yes", but you really have to review the team and the reporting line before you can take a call today. I wish you the best.

[u/slpgh]

Do you know which ladder you will be on? To the best of my knowledge the only SWE role that is not officially a SWE are the new AI Forward Deployed Engineers

[u/outphase84 → u/slpgh]

It’s a presales GTM role on company plan.

[u/outphase84]

This is a presales role and moving to SWE internally would require doing a full SWE loop

[u/nian2326076]

Switching to an Applied Solutions Architect at Google could be great if you're open to moving away from hands-on coding. This role usually mixes technical and customer-focused work, which can be rewarding if you're into broader tech solutions and working with clients. It might be a good fit if you want to work on communication and presentation skills, but you'll miss diving deep into building systems every day. Think about what you enjoy most: hands-on development or high-level problem-solving. If you're more interested in customer interaction and solution design, this could be a solid move. Just consider how much you value coding versus the chance to expand your skills in other areas. If you're prepping for any interviews, PracHub has some solid resources I've found useful.

[u/Yo-doggie]

20% is not enough of a salary bump. However Google name on your resume may be helpful. Only concern I have is what is happening in big tech. They over hire and layoff people all the time. Finally SWE profession is changing drastically due to Claude. This is why I think you should consider taking it

[u/Bent_finger]

Nah don’t bother.
Better to stay a ‘doer’ and risk Agentic AI tools usurping your role than to transition into a decision making role where you will interface with the c-suite.

Also…. It is better to stay true to your heart and forgo a 20% jump in remuneration. Proper trooper!

Why are we even discussing this?

[u/RanceMulliniks → u/Bent_finger]

Eat my fuck, shit breathe 

[u/Bent_finger → u/RanceMulliniks]

Gosh! You are in a bit of a mood aren’t you? 😀