Pre-Sales Solutions Architect – Cisco
The Cisco Solutions Architect is responsible for creating a comprehensive architecture for a solution and providing strategic direction throughout the design and project deployment process. After determining a clear understanding of the client’s business needs, the Cisco Solutions Architect will map out the product, vendor and overall end-to-end high-level design that will constitute the solution, and how they are going to work together to ensure success of the Customer’s requirements. This role will be accountable for the solution design approval at customer pre-order stage.
This role will partner with Customers, sales, engineering, and product teams to craft scalable, flexible and resilient architectures that address Customer business problems and accelerate the adoption of the Company products and solutions. In collaboration with sales, this role will drive revenue growth across a broad set of Customers.
The role will also involve the RFP/RFI process as well as bespoke solutions in collaboration with Product teams from the quote to delivery processes, ensuring accurate verification, technical design vetting and overall quality for the correct design and implementation. This role will be leveraged as a key stakeholder for both the development and delivery lifecycles to plan and execute on scalable solutions and products.
We are specifically looking for someone that has the experience and is proficient in the Cisco world and the extended technology and product knowledge will be hugely beneficial.
DELIVERY RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Lead brainstorming sessions to develop potential solutions for business needs or problems.
- Work with business units to develop IT strategies and to improve current IT implementations.
- Work with product and delivery teams to develop scalable solutions and products.
- Communicate and consult with clients and internal stakeholders to develop appropriate solutions.
- Engage with internal stakeholders with regards to driving opportunities.
- Achieve Sales Support Target year on year
- Work closely with Cisco and the Company’s internal business unit manager
- Writing and presenting proposals to clients
- Responding to Technology RFI / RFP / Solicited Proposals
- Building Demo environments based on Client requirements using Microsoft pre-sales artefacts and best practices
- Build and migrate software and services across the organization.
- Assist Business Development with understanding the client problem and generating backlogs for work – including stories, tasks and work estimation
- Stay up to date with Cisco product offerings and latest releases
- Assist with delivery on engagements.
- Interest in and awareness of technology trends, including competitive solution selling.
Bids, Proposals and Service Design Architecture; including pre-sales (60%)
Opportunity Support
- Assist Business Development by providing technical support to clearly understand and document the client’s problem statement and assist with providing backlogs and effort estimations
Bid (RFP / RFI / Solicited Proposals) Support
- Monitor and assist with the operative technical support and response needed to successfully execute the bidding process
Client Demonstrations
- Leveraging the best Cisco technology and practices to build a demo environment based on client requirements
Client Presentations
- Build and execute client facing Cisco technology solution presentations to clients
Service Solutions (20%)
Delivery
- Fulfil a role of solution delivery lead on engagements.
- Creation of design documents
- Configuration, Deployment and Training when needed.
Problem Solving Skills
- Understands customer’s problems/needs; acts as a customer advocate; takes responsibility for resolving problems
Cisco Technical Skills
- This role requires deep Microsoft experience and technology and platform knowledge across a multitude of
- Microsoft products. Certification in at least 3 Cisco products is required.
Opportunistic
- Spontaneous and willing to take chances that will benefit the customer; tries the untested when standard procedures or methods for satisfying a need will not suffice; takes action so that opportunities will not slip away due to procrastination; easily builds rapport through candour and an unguarded approach; offers ideas or suggestions in a timely manner.
Relationships (20%)
- Build strong relationships with sales (Executive Management, Account Managers, Management, Other
- Practises), with remote / central internal service delivery teams & sector service delivery teams
- Build strong relationships with customers to obtain the information required to build a solution and commercial offer
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS:
- Assist to execute on business plan
- Achieve Practise Financial Target
- Grow Customer base
- Successfully create and position/market Cisco Solutions in the market
PERSON REQUIREMENTS:
- Strong interpersonal skills used to effectively communicate within the organisation as well as with external stakeholders such as customers and vendors
- Passionate about researching current and emerging technologies and developing innovative solutions
- Detailed knowledge of overall ICT solutions
- Demonstrates skills incorporating effective technical demonstrations into presentations, building customer enthusiasm, articulating the technical strategy and vision and building awareness of new possibilities
- Build strong relationships & communicate effectively at all levels both internally & externally
- Strong communication skills (written, verbal & presentation)
- Ability to balance, co-ordinate and translate the needs of multiple stakeholders
- Ability to multi-task and work to tight deadlines in pressure situations
- Manage workloads/time to achieve deadlines
- Good negotiation skills
- Experience in translating client-specific strategies and needs into a solution design
- High degree of self-reliance, commitment, and ability to work under pressure
- Analytical skills
- Results driven
- Business presentation skills
- Negotiation skills
- Persuasive
EXPERIENCE:
- 10 years Cisco implementation, architecture and or pre-sales experience;
- 10 years business or management consulting experience;
- Proven history of implementing network solutions across multiple technical domains
- Pre-Sales and design on advanced architectures in a networking domain and integrate multiple systems or platforms
- Able to present architecture concepts, designs, and goals to Customers at all levels.
- Solid professional technical, IT or Operations experience within a large-scale technology services environment
- Proven Networking, Security and Cisco experience is essential
- Some Project or Program Management experience would be preferred but not essential
- Proven client engagement and consulting experience coupled with solid experience in client needs assessment and change management
- Proven experience in integrating the solution for the project with the business domain, enterprise concerns, industry standards, established patterns and best practices
QUALIFICATIONS:
-
University degree (with a degree in business informatics, business administration or related fields) or comparable professional training would be advantageous
-
3 years tertiary qualification or CCIE, CCIE Emeritus or CCDA would be ideal
- Current certification in at least 3 Cisco products is required.
- Beneficial: Cisco Pre-Sales Engineer Training
- ITIL Foundation will be beneficial
Desired Skills:
- Cisco implementation
- Cisco architecture
- Cisco pre-sales experience
- Implementing networks across multiple technical domains
- Pre-sales and design on advanced architectures
- Networking
- Security
- Cisco
- Project Management
- Client Engagement
- Solution Architecture
- Solution Design
- Solution Implementation
- Pre-sales
- Integration Architecture
Desired Qualification Level:
- Degree
About The Employer:
ASAP Resources Global is a specialised recruitment agency with a speciality in headhunting and high-calibre recruitment strategies. We secure resources for a variety of clients in many industries on a global scale with a focus on building lasting relationships with all candidates and clients.