Manager: Presales Solution Architecture
POSITION PURPOSE
- Responsible for the management of the Indirect channel Presales Architects technical relationship management and all technical interactions including Quoting and commercial elements for bids and proposals through proper governance frameworks and relevant technically accepted design principles within the business and the wider industry.
QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
- Minimum of 3-year degree/diploma in ICT Discipline (IT, Telecoms, Engineering, Business Admin) or related
- Fluent in English and language of country preferable
- Relevant UCC, Cloud and Networking Certifications (Cisco, Huawei, GCS, Azure etc.)
- Current Cisco Network Certifications
- Current Cisco or other UCC certifications
- Minimum of 5 years’ experience in IP, UCC network and ICT related areas of specialisation.
- Minimum of 3 Years in supervising/managing others within a technical environment.
- Experience working in a large organization.
- Proposal and tender preparation and submission.
- Experience in managing highly technical staff.
- Large revenue project and Bid Response in last 2 years.
Competencies:
- Business and financial Acumen, Problem Solving, Information processing, Influencing others.
- Strategy Implementers, Decisive Problem Solver, Best Practice Value Creator
- Culture and Change Champion, Guiding People Manager, Relationship Builder
- Results Achiever, Operationally Astute
POSITION OUTPUTS
Driving Profitable Growth for the organisation:
- Manage staff to build, maintain and manage continuous technical relationships within corporate customers and partners to ensure high levels of satisfaction.
- Ensure sustainable solution designs that balance the business returns and customer requirements.
- Manage staff to give input into Account Plans for top customers within verticals, and all customers in Relevant Channel Named Accounts.
- Drive achievement of revenue targets for Relevant channels by ensuring the team is delivering on named account activities, Tender requirements, meeting deadlines and support with regards to presenting complex solutions.
- Ensure engagement with relevant Product, TES, and Partner teams to leverage partnerships for complex solutions business are not in the organisations Capability or product catalogue.
- Ensure effective training plans are developed to so that the Presales Architecture team remains relevant and suitably certified and retain credibility in the internal and external customer’s mind.
- Push the boundaries for solution designs within the relevant channels’ Named Accounts and ensure that the business is innovative but responsible.
- Ensure competitiveness in the industry by managing the team’s application of relevant commercial constructs in deal architecture when designing solutions for customer with the relevant Commercial Pricing approval where applicable.
Focus on providing exceptional Client Experience:
- Ensure customer satisfaction by ensuring designs and conceptual solutions for customers are deliverable and supportable by the business through the relevant governance processes.
- Approve complex customer designs and pricing before submission to sales environment to deliver on “first time right design”.
- Ensure the Presales Architecture team is the custodian for client technical presales activity engagement across the business.
- Ensure customer escalations are raised within the correct departments and followed up within agreed timelines and company OLAs.
Ensuring a culture of Operational Excellence:
- Ensure any nonstandard partner engagement for type 3 deals follows relevant Procurement and TES governance processes.
- Flexibility – Manage projects or presales activities inside and outside of relevant channels to ensure efficient use of resources.
- Ensure coordination of matrix reports from all other areas within the business to complete customer technical design/solutions.
- Manage technical input on tenders and proposals in line with ICT Enterprise Business Unit strategy.
- Give input into process development within Presales Solution Architect department and the areas they interact with.
- Ensure designs are within approved operational limits as per product specifications through applying for approval within the relevant governance boards.
- Provide input to products team for development of new products.
- Manage relationships between Presales Solution Architect team and the business, Sales, TES, Procurement, Commercial pricing, and the customer.
- Manage the accurate and timely business and performance reporting process using appropriate systems and tools.
- Ensure processes and procedures are optimised for Presales Solution Architect engagement between GEBU; Product; Solution Implementation, Commercial pricing, procurement and the business Core Network team.
- Ensure Specialisation and Subject matter expert disciplines are maintained or developed for product verticals through maintaining staff relevant Certifications and develop PDPs with clear timelines for any gaps identified.
Instilling appropriate Employee Excellence:
- Lead, develop and coach the Presales Solution Architect team to ensure suitable succession planning.
- Drive a culture of innovation and knowledge share within the team and across the Business organisation.
- Act as an ambassador and role model for Enterprise Business by living the brand values and vital behaviours.
- Make the business Presales Solution Architecture, relevant vertical, environment the best place to work.
- Improve the employee engagement through the Group Culture Audit.
- Ensure the attraction, development, and retention of talent within relevant verticals.
- Build a professional and differentiated team within relevant verticals.
- Ensure a culture of continuous evaluation and improvement within relevant verticals.
- Drive a culture of high performance, accountability, and consequence management within relevant verticals through relevant performance management principles and cycles.
Ensuring appropriate Governance and Control measures:
- Ensure alignment with relevant channels sales and presales solutions architects processes.
- Strictly follow and ensure team compliance of relevant policies and procedures.
- Oversee effective controls and decision-support systems to determine product viability to prioritise investments.
- Project Management:
- Develop and drive the execution of agreed projects.
- Drive the implementation, tracking, monitoring and compliance of Projects.
- Contract management in line with Procurement Policies.
- Co-ordinate project reporting.
- Ensure effective implementation of the integrated project management model.
- Risk management.
- Business Analysis:
- Perform Business Analysis in line with the methodology and guidelines.
- Identify ways to fine tune policies, processes, and systems in line with changing work practices.
- Determine, document, and review requirements for projects within the scope of the value stream or impacting processes and systems.
- Design, analyse and document workflow and make appropriate recommendations that will positively impact operational effectiveness.
- Identify Business Improvement and Optimisation opportunities that will result in improvement of process performance.
- Ensure that benchmarking is conducted with other companies and organizations within and outside the industry.
- Construct business cases for initiatives proposed by the business. Research and consider best practice, local conditions, trends, as well as competitor activity.
- Identify and implement innovative ways to use minimum resources to achieve maximum output.
Desired Skills:
- Business Analysis
- Project Management
- operational excellence
Desired Work Experience:
- 5 to 10 years
Desired Qualification Level:
- Degree