Pre-Sales Solution Architect

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Pre-Sales Solution Architect is a client-facing technical leader within Operations who translates business, security, operational, and technology requirements into secure, scalable, supportable solutions. The role leads discovery, architecture, implementation scoping, risk validation, and delivery readiness across managed services, cloud, cybersecurity, infrastructure, and healthcare technology.

Microsoft Azure and Azure Arc are key areas of expertise. The candidate must be able to design and position hybrid and multi-cloud solutions spanning Azure, on-premises infrastructure, edge environments, and other clouds, including management, governance, security, monitoring, and operations. The role also requires broad enough expertise to lead discovery and design across the portfolio.

This remote, exempt position reports to the Director of Pre-Sales and Solution Design. It supports Commercial while aligning to Operations to promote solution quality, delivery readiness, and long-term supportability.

Role Focus : Own technical discovery, solution design and validation, implementation assumptions, risk identification, and operational handoff for assigned opportunities. Support proposals, scopes, pricing inputs, and customer-facing sales activities without owning quote administration, sales operations, commercial approvals, or routine delivery. Prioritize work by opportunity qualification, complexity, strategic value, and delivery risk.

Engagement Model : Engage through a defined intake and qualification process. Account Managers and Business Development Executives own opportunity strategy, customer coordination, and commercial progression; the Solution Architect determines the required technical involvement. Use approved architectures and scope patterns for standard opportunities and deeper support for complex, high-risk, or non-standard work. Escalate delivery risks and capacity conflicts early.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Partner with Account Management, Customer Success, Operations, and Delivery to define sound solutions that meet customer needs, reduce implementation risk, and support successful sales and service outcomes.
• Lead customer discovery and document business needs, infrastructure dependencies, security and compliance requirements, and operational constraints.
• Design and present end-to-end solutions across managed IT, cybersecurity, Microsoft cloud, professional services, infrastructure modernization, and healthcare technology environments.
• Serve as the Azure and Azure Arc subject matter expert for hybrid management, governance, monitoring, policy, security, updates, and multi-cloud operations.
• Assess customer environments and develop practical Azure and hybrid-cloud roadmaps covering migration, modernization, landing zones, identity, networking, security, resiliency, and operations.
• Translate technical complexity into clear business outcomes, value, implementation approach, risks, assumptions, and operating impact for technical and executive audiences.
• Develop architectures, presentations, implementation approaches, diagrams, assumptions, dependencies, prerequisites, and proposal-ready technical content; support RFI/RFP responses and technical reviews.
• Work with Commercial Operations to ensure quotes and proposals accurately reflect technical components, assumptions, quantities, licensing dependencies, and labor estimates without owning quote administration.
• Approve proposed solutions within assigned authority, confirming security, supportability, operational feasibility, standards alignment, and delivery readiness. Escalate material exceptions, unsupported technologies, unresolved dependencies, and non-standard risks before proposal approval.
• Lead or support demonstrations, workshops, assessments, pilots, and Proof of Concept (PoC) engagements.
• Collaborate with Microsoft, distributors, strategic alliances, channel partners, and technology vendors on co-sell opportunities, solution design, licensing, and technical positioning.
• Maintain accurate opportunity details, assumptions, scope notes, and architecture decisions in Salesforce or other systems of record.
• Own and improve architecture standards, reference designs, review practices, discovery tools, scope templates, and enablement materials so teams can progress standard opportunities consistently and reserve direct SA involvement for complex work.
• Stay current on Microsoft cloud, cybersecurity, infrastructure, healthcare IT, and compliance trends; continuously strengthen technical knowledge across the solution portfolio.
• Reduce key-person risk by documenting decisions, maintaining reusable artifacts, involving Delivery and Operations early, and keeping critical opportunity context accessible.
• Maintain security and compliance by following company policies, reporting suspected security incidents, and completing required cybersecurity and compliance training.

EDUCATION & EXPERTISE

Required

• 7+ years in Sales Engineering, Solution Architecture, Cloud Architecture, Security Engineering, or client-facing IT consulting, including 3+ years leading complex discovery and design with limited oversight. Mid-market and healthcare experience preferred.
• Strong hands-on and/or architecture experience with Microsoft Azure, including networking, identity, governance, security, monitoring, compute, storage, hybrid connectivity, and cloud operations.
• Demonstrated Azure Arc experience, particularly Azure Arc-enabled Servers and the use of Azure services to manage, govern, secure, monitor, and update non-Azure or on-premises infrastructure.
• Strong Microsoft ecosystem knowledge, including Microsoft 365, Entra ID, Intune, Defender, Sentinel, Azure Monitor, Azure Policy, and related security and management services. Translate licensing, prerequisites, dependencies, and consumption into accurate recommendations and seek specialist validation when needed.
• Solid understanding of modern infrastructure and security architecture, including Windows and Linux servers, endpoints, virtualization, networking, firewalls, SD-WAN, identity, MFA, SIEM, SOC operations, backup, disaster recovery, and cloud connectivity.
• Working knowledge of NIST Cybersecurity Framework and HIPAA Security requirements; ability to connect technical recommendations to risk, compliance, and operational outcomes.
• Proven ability to conduct technical discovery, develop solution designs, present to customers, and explain complex technology in clear business language.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to work effectively with executives, technical stakeholders, vendors, and internal delivery teams.
• Able to serve as the primary pre-sales technical resource, prioritize competing opportunities, recognize when specialist or vendor support is needed, make defensible recommendations with incomplete information, and raise capacity or risk concerns early.
• Demonstrated success supporting complex customer opportunities through technical solutioning, architecture validation, delivery scoping, and operational handoff.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Azure and Arc-enabled Kubernetes, Azure Local, Azure Arc-enabled VMware vSphere, or other hybrid/multi-cloud Azure Arc scenarios.
• Experience with Azure Cost Management, cloud economics, licensing, consumption modeling, and optimization conversations in a presales environment.
• Experience with AWS or Google Cloud in multi-cloud customer environments.
• Relevant Microsoft certifications such as Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Azure Administrator Associate, Cybersecurity Architect Expert, or comparable current certifications.
• Experience in an MSP, MSSP, healthcare IT, or regulated-industry environment.
• Experience building repeatable solution standards, reference architectures, assessment frameworks, or sales engineering playbooks.

SUCCESS PROFILE

Success Measures: Within six months, establish a reliable intake and prioritization process; improve discovery, assumptions, and handoffs; reduce rework and unsupported exceptions; publish standards for common solutions; and enable routine opportunities to progress without continuous SA involvement.

• Technically credible and commercially aware.
• Consultative, curious, and comfortable challenging assumptions when needed.
• Able to move between executive-level business discussions and detailed technical architecture.
• Collaborative, accountable, low-ego, and highly autonomous. Prioritizes disciplined execution, communicates tradeoffs early, and avoids unsupported one-off solutions made only to accelerate a sale.