One thing to understand is the customers buy what they want. In this case the company company is your customer. Do they want to have an architect on staff? D

One thing to understand is the customers buy what they want. In this case the company company is your customer. Do they want to have an architect on staff? Do they know what an architect does? If they had an amazing architect, would they even be able to tell? Get answers to those kinds of questions & you'll start to understand if the company as exists is an a place where you can grow your career in the direction you'd like to grow. At the end of the day, what we shoot for in our careers is rarely what we end up getting. Just do your best to figure out what you want, evaluate your options, pick a path, and commit to that path 100% for as long as you care to. We're all making things up as we go. As we gain more experience, we just get a more evolved sense on what is likely to be a good fit. You'll always be in the position of not knowing which path to choose. You get better at accepting that & having the confidence to make wild ass guesses.