JOB SUMMARY:

 We are looking for a Senior Solution Architect with deep expertise in network architecture to join our presales team supporting strategic enterprise accounts across the Mountain States region. This isn't a traditional technical support role. We're looking for someone who has made the shift from technical executor to trusted advisor, someone who leads with the client's business problem and brings their domain expertise to bear in a way that creates real outcomes.

This person will own the technical relationship in their engagements, not just support it. They'll be expected to insert themselves proactively into account strategy, lead discovery conversations that connect technology to business outcomes, and help clients build the internal justification they need to move forward on complex network investments.

This is a high visibility role in a region where networking represents one of our largest and fastest growing spend categories. The right person will thrive in that environment because they care about outcomes, not just deliverables.

SUMMARY OF ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

• Showing up as a consultative advisor who leads with business challenges and helps clients rationalize technology decisions against their goals
• Being a proactive partner to sellers, not waiting to be called in but actively shaping opportunities upstream
• Staying ahead of the domain and bringing forward-looking perspective to clients, helping them see around the corner on where enterprise networking is heading
• Owning the technical outcome of every engagement they're part of, including when things get hard
• Contributing to the cultural and technical voice of the region through mentoring, enablement, and visible engagement with the broader engineering community
• Being intentional about pipeline attribution, engaged on the right opportunities where they're driving the technical outcome and accountable for what they touch

 REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

 Core Networking Architecture

• Data center networking including fabric design, leaf-spine architectures, and interconnect
• Enterprise campus and branch networking design and deployment
• WAN architecture including SD-WAN platforms such as Cisco, Meraki, VMware, or equivalent
• Network automation and programmability including Python, Ansible, and intent-based networking platforms

Perimeter and Network Security

• Firewall architecture and policy design across platforms such as Palo Alto, Fortinet, or Cisco
• Network segmentation, micro-segmentation, and zero trust network access principles
• Secure access and edge security including SASE and SSE familiarity

Modern and Emerging Platforms

• Familiarity with AI-enabling network infrastructure including high performance fabrics, low latency design, and the connectivity considerations that underpin GPU cluster deployments
• Experience with cloud networking and hybrid connectivity across AWS, Azure, or GCP
• Exposure to network observability, AIOps, and intent-based management platforms

Presales and Client Engagement

• Experience in a presales, consulting, or customer-facing architecture role
• Comfortable leading discovery and positioning conversations with both technical and business stakeholders
• Ability to develop and present architecture proposals, business cases, and options analyses
• Track record of working alongside sales teams and contributing to pipeline development

Vendor and Partner Ecosystem

• Hands-on experience with one or more of the following: Cisco, , Arista, Juniper, Aruba, Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, VMware by Broadcom
• Relevant certifications valued but not required: CCIE, CCNP, PCNSE, NSE, JNCIE or equivalent
•  A minimum of 8 years’ experience with providing consultative engineering services for organizations.
• Highest level certifications within Architecture area, preferred.
• An understanding of the environment and challenges of IT operations in the typical corporation.
• Strong experience designing technology solutions for Fortune 500 companies.
• Excellent presentation skills; able to comfortably communicate and present in front of C-Level Executives, VPs and Directors.
• Strong understanding of how clients use technology to meet business objectives.
• Familiarity with the local district markets.
• Strong interpersonal skills; able to work well with people from many different disciplines.
• Ability to lead and mentor other engineers.
• Ability to mix deep technical expertise with simple, everyday language to deliver a story that is memorable, educational and useful.
• Must have a firm grasp on the industry and anticipate trends and movements while balancing maturity and timing.
• Motivated self-starter who loves to solve challenging problems and feels comfortable working directly with customers.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, excellent time management skills and able to effectively prioritize tasks in a fast-paced, high-volume, and evolving work environment.
• Comfortable managing multiple and changing priorities, and meeting deadlines in an entrepreneurial environment.