Solutions Architect - Service Provider (Req#1318)

About the role

Candidates perferrably geographically located near Plymouth, MN.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical expertise/credibility to account team on designated focus area
• Conduct customer presentations on ePlus value proposition and technical solution sets for assigned accounts and focus areas
• Affiliate with sales account managers with overall account planning, as it relates to technical aspects of hardware, software, and services opportunity development
• Affiliate with sales account managers with project management for complex presales engagements
• Complete technical sections for RFP/RFI/RFQ responses for assigned accounts
• Affiliate with account teams with collecting customer business and technical requirements and determining ePlus recommended solution(s)
• Develop solution architecture and detailed line-item configurations/bills of material (BOMs)
• Develop proposal and/or presentation of recommended solutions
• Affiliate with technical scoping/review for Statements of Work (SOWs) for assigned accounts
• Function as liaison to end-user customer technical staff regarding solution and implementation specifics
• Function as a liaison between the sales team and professional services organization to vet solution recommendations and to complete technical portions of the SOW, as appropriate
• Function as technical liaison and ePlus ambassador with field OEM sales and technical teams
• Affiliate with sales management with mentoring of junior sales account managers as it relates to overall opportunity management and technical solution set
• Conduct knowledge transfer with team members around solution updates, implementation lessons learned, etc., as relevant
• Affiliate with sales and services management in dealing with customer satisfaction issues surrounding technical aspects of a recommended solution & its implementation or deployment, as needed
• Affiliate with sales and services management in identifying candidate solution areas for ePlus development or investment
• Complete training, per development plan, and maintain certifications in accordance with focus area
• Affiliate with Services Director with helping improve procedures and functions
• Ensure appropriate coverage for in-process opportunities while out of office for training, vacation, PTO, etc.
• Participate in weekly team planning conference calls
• Complete administrative tasks (expenses, time reporting) in a timely fashion
• Travel up to 50% may be required

Qualifications

• Technical Expertise:
• Extensive hands-on experience with one or more of the following high-end routing platforms (or other OEM equivalent), including:
• Cisco ASR 9000 / 1000 Series, NCS 5500 Series
• Juniper MX, PTX, and ACX Series
• Nokia 7750 SR, 7950 XRS, and 7250 IXR Series
• Ciena SAOS platforms
• Strong background in optical networking technologies, specifically:
• DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing)
• OTN (Optical Transport Network)
• ROADMs (Reconfigurable Optical Add-Drop Multiplexers)
• Deep protocol-level knowledge, including:
• BGP, MPLS, IS-IS, OSPF, and EVPN
• Proven ability to integrate routing and optical technologies into cohesive network solutions
• Practical experience designing and deploying large-scale networks for service providers
• Solid pre-sales engineering background, with responsibilities such as:
• Direct involvement in OEM and platform selection
• Demonstrated success in developing Statements of Work (SOWs) for services engagements
• Experience in 1:1 alignment with an Account Executive to drive strategic customer engagements
• Professional Experience:
• Technical proposal development
• Solution presentations and product demonstrations
• Response to RFPs/RFIs
• Minimum 5+ years in telecommunications or service provider engineering roles
• College degree or applicable work experience
• Certifications in applicable technology preferred
• Excellent written communications skills
• Strong attention-to-detail
• Excellent oral presentation skills

Pay

The initial base salary range for this position is expected to be between $110,000 and $150,000 annually. The final base salary offered will be determined by multiple factors, including, but not limited to, job-related knowledge, depth of experience, skills, certifications, and geographic location. In addition to the base salary, our compensation structure may include other components such as commissions and discretionary bonuses.

Schedule

Travel up to 50% may be required