Solutions Architect (Networks)

Position Summary

The Solutions Architect - Network role is to ensure and enhance a culture of solution and design excellence to create award winning customer solutions across our technical practices. The Solutions Architect - Network will serve along with a small team as solution/technical advisor for Claranet’s solutions, providing guidance and support on technology solutions that meet their business objective and ensures superior customer experience.

Role Mission

Claranet’s strategy is to build long-term, trusted relationships with its customers by delivering market-leading, integrated managed services. The Solutions Architect - Network will serve as a technical advisor for Claranet’s solutions.

Objectives and Key Results

• To create increased win probability in customer opportunities through the ability to engage with customers to design a solution that meets customers’ needs from the Claranet Portfolio at a commercial level that means they choose Claranet.
• To contribute to the target of 70% of services are scalable and repeatable through the Opportunity Solution Design cycle.
• To ensure that Network products and services are designed to the leading market standards, using where possible, repeatable designs.
• To serve as the Solutions Architect - Network aligned to agreed customer opportunities where hybrid solutions are required and provide guidance and support on technology solutions that meet the clients' business objectives.
• To develop and maintain relationships with key stakeholders of accounts, understanding their business requirements and translating them into technical architecture solutions aligned to the Claranet portfolio.

Essential duties and responsibilities

• Engages on identified customer pipeline opportunities that have been qualified to benefit from Solutions Architect - Network Engagement to accelerate and close the opportunity.
• Collaborates with customers to understand business requirements and translate them into technical architecture solutions, acting as the technical consultant for the lifecycle of the project.
• Has the expert ability to present, position and design solutions from a portfolio of solutions available from Claranet.
• Has the ability to articulate & translate customer needs into how a Claranet Portfolio will meet those needs, including where bespoke elements may need to be costed and built for the customer to achieve them.
• Delivers customer engagements using agreed tools, processes and delivers the defined customer deliverables to a high quality within agreed timescales.
• Ensures that time spent on customer engagement is recorded to demonstrate cost, value and ensure the piece of work operates to agreed budgets, project milestones and ensure cost recovery and also profit margins are maintained.
• Ensures that any statement of work/proposed solution customer document output is completed to a sufficient level of quality to ensure the project meets the customer needs, but also can be costed to ensure successful and profitable delivery.
• Ensures that any sales positioning of a proposed customer solution is balanced and accurate to ensure customer and project are aligned to the Claranet portfolio in accordance with the 70/30 rule.

Teams to collaborate with

• Portfolio and Propositions - collaborate to design and deliver portfolio and solutions that meet documented customer business outcomes and deliver strategic proposition outcomes. Work together to build Service Descriptions for customers where appropriate.
• Infrastructure (Networks) & Cloud Delivery Teams- collaborate with the teams to ensure skills and resourcing levels and availability are relevant to meet the delivery requirements.
• Project Management Office- identify timelines to deliver project.
• Customer Success and Growth - support team with technical and solution expertise to help translate customer needs into high level solution designs.
• Customer Experience and Managed Services - collaborate to ensure solutions are designed to enable a smooth service transition.

Behavioural competencies - organisational and behavioural fit.

• Flexible and creative to take considered risks.
• Learn and adapt quickly to changing situations.
• Self-motivated and able to work under pressure.
• Ability to travel to different sites and locations on a weekly basis.
• Manages conflict and challenges in an open and constructive manner.

Critical competencies - technical fit

• Proven experience in managing and delivering architecture projects.
• Proven track record of managing customers at senior levels.
• In depth knowledge of networking concepts and vendors such as Fortinet and Cisco.
• In depth knowledge of security concepts as it relates to Network Solution Designs.
• High-level Knowledge of at least 1 of the following environments: Azure, AWS, GCP, VMware Private Cloud, Microsoft 365
• A strategic thinker with experience in the development, implementation, and management of the entire solution architecture life cycle
• Strong interpersonal and relationship management skill with the ability to build credibility quickly at all levels as well as negotiate, influence, and persuade where required.
• Faces conflict and challenge in an open and constructive manner
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to effectively communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.