Sr Solution Architect, VMWare

About the role

The Sr Solution Architect, Modern Infrastructure, for the Center of Excellence (COE) works independently with little or no direct supervision under the general guidance of the Director, Solution Sales COE within the Technical Solutions group. This highly visible, client-facing role combines deep technical expertise with strong consultative sales and solution-selling skills to help customers achieve their business and technology objectives.

The Sr Solution Architect's primary objective is to drive sales growth of advanced technology solutions and services for all Connection business units through advanced pre-sales technical consulting, solutions design, and services scoping. The role involves assessing, qualifying, designing, and presenting technology solutions of highly advanced levels of complexity to clients, offering insight relative to the customer’s industry and objectives.

Responsibilities

• Drive sales growth of advanced technology solutions and services through pre-sales technical consulting, solutions design, and services scoping.
• Assess, qualify, design, and present technology solutions of advanced complexity to clients, leveraging knowledge in Modern Infrastructure and secondary areas.
• Provide solutions based on Connection’s Solutions and Services portfolio and extended partner network, aligning with customer business and technology objectives.
• Collaborate with other pre-sales roles across the Technology Solutions Sales group and COE focus areas, including Multi-Cloud, Digital Workspace, Supply Chain, and Lifecycle.
• Maintain awareness of the IT industry and support the COE Director in recommending market opportunities, emerging technologies, and competitive solution sets.
• Create and deliver sellable solutions using requirements gathering, data collection, sizing exercises, and documented design activities.
• Utilize presales tools, vendor-provided reference architectures, and validated designs to combine Connection’s vendor and OEM portfolios into holistic, integrated solutions.
• Design advanced solutions that meet client functional and technical requirements while enabling the sale and delivery of solutions that enhance customer lifetime value.
• Assist in developing new professional and managed services offerings using a multi-disciplinary framework to support positive customer experience (CX).
• Articulate and present the portfolio to Sales, customers, Product Management, and partners/vendors.
• Support technical sales strategies to drive growth of advanced technology solutions and services, targeting new accounts and expanding existing ones.
• Develop and build out physical and cloud-based labs for technical enablement, customer-facing demos, new services offerings, and partner program requirements.
• Support COE- and PM-driven compliance efforts by earning and maintaining vendor certifications, accreditations, and competencies.
• May assist with delivery of professional services, either remotely or on-site, in a team or individual capacity.

Qualifications

• VMware VCF 9 Architect VCP or VCF 9 Administrator certifications, and VCF 9 Proven Professional (Architecture or Implementation track) or VCF 9 Certified Expert (Architecture or Implementation track) required.
• Understanding of leading manufacturers' routing and switching architecture.
• Experience with storage and virtualization products from leading manufacturers.
• Demonstrated understanding of Converged Infrastructure concepts and the benefits of Cloud solutions.
• Verifiably successful professional solutions selling experience with customer-facing salesmanship proficiency, advanced presentation skills, and experience with up-sell and cross-sell strategies.
• Excellent time management, prioritization, and organizational skills.
• Strong oral and written communication skills, with the ability to prepare and deliver presentations that clearly demonstrate value propositions.
• Team orientation with the ability to work across all levels of the organization.
• Integrity to do what is right for Connection and the client.
• Keen appreciation of business and technical requirements, with the ability to assess both the technology and business objectives of the client.
• Relevant working knowledge of advanced technology solutions, including Data Center/IaaS, Compute, Storage and Fabrics, Enterprise Networking, Security, Multi-Cloud and PaaS, Virtualization and Containers, Modern Applications, Collaboration/UCaaS, and End-User Computing.
• Ability to demonstrate advanced and/or expert-level operational competencies in multiple technology areas, including Compute, Storage, Virtualization, Networking, and Security.
• Advanced VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 Certification (VCAP) (Storage and/or Networking) preferred.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation with a salary range of $120,000–$156,000 per year.
• Progressive and competitive 401k plans and medical insurance.
• Support for emotional wellbeing, including free therapy visits, mental health coaching and tools, and meditation resources.
• Generous paid time off package, including vacation, sick time, Wellness, and Volunteer Time Off days.

About the Company

Our team is strengthened by diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, driving innovation and unique technology solutions. We foster an environment where fresh thinking, creativity, and collaboration thrive, and we encourage you to share your ideas and experiences as part of our team.