Senior Solutions Architect

Description At CDW, we make it happen, together. Trust, connection, and commitment are at the heart of how we work together to deliver for our customers. It’s why we’re coworkers, not just employees. Coworkers who genuinely believe in supporting our customers and one another. We collectively forge our path forward with a level of commitment that speaks to who we are and where we’re headed. We’re proud to share our story and Make Amazing Happen at CDW. Job Summary CDW’s Solution Sales organisation is in place to collaborate with sales and to be responsible for delivering high value outcomes and experiences to our existing and prospective customers across a variety of technology growth pillars including Hybrid Platforms, Modern Workspace, Security and Digital Enablement. The Solution Sales organisation is made up predominantly of specialist sales and various levels of Architects (presales technical resource). The role of the Senior Solution Architect is focused on the following core areas: Driven overlay resource focused on supporting the delivery of successful financial metrics for the business through technical and services engagements with the customer. Solution owner supporting the creation and execution of a customer’s requirements based on their desired business outcome. Creation of documentation based on your technical design that delivers against the customer’s business needs, targets and KPIs. The primary purpose of the Senior Solution Architect is to be an overlay support function with compute, storage and data protection, trends, solutions and Professional & Managed Services specialist knowledge to lead business outcome engagements from start to finish on opportunities from proactive sales engagement with aligned account owners. The Senior Solution Architect is a contributor-level specialist who translates a customer’s business outcome requirements into high-level technical design and sales outcomes. Leveraging their own and other team members vendor expertise and CDW’s service portfolio, they support bids, promote aligned solutions, and contribute to proposal creation and customer presentations with precision and responsiveness. Senior Solution Architects also support other departments, including Sales, supporting campaigning into accounts with a view to winning future projects, and the OCTO function within CDW, sharing customer insights from project engagements to support engagement with customers in the future. What you will do Success Factors Complex solutions and services business won for CDW. Customer Engagement and Activity– Highlighted by customer/internal feedback and adhering to SLA’s and/or agreed timeframes throughout an engagement Design Quality and Accuracy – Ensuring the service we provide to the customer meets expectations and also support sales with positive opportunity outcomes Customer Engagement – Regular engagement with existing and prospective customers, ensuring satisfaction, retention and a profitable outcome for customers and CDW. Customer Facing Solution owner and key contributor, providing business and technical expertise to support broader solution efforts. Build trust and clarity by translating customer needs into actionable technical insights. · Being an experienced and confident presenter to groups of decision makers, ensuring technical and commercial experience is exacted to the customer Multi-Vendor / Technology Expertise Specialise in multiple technologies that sit within a domain and have broad knowledge across vendors and product categories to assess compatibility and recommend optimal solutions in line with desired business outcomes. Utilise vendor-specific tools, training certifications and resources to support credibility, solution design and validation. Strong understanding of technologies eco-system that sit within your aligned Go-To-Market, with the ability to articulate where required their importance to the project. Technology Recommendations Lead the process of advising the customer on best technologies and vendors to support their needs based on their desired outcome, including those that may sit outside your teams Go-To-Market. Suggest and provide quotes and outcome benefits for product add-ons that enhance existing customer environments without requiring major redesigns. Focus on incremental improvements that deliver value and align with the customer need and CDW’s portfolio. Capture Requirements Conduct structured discovery to capture customer’s technical requirements, ensuring completeness and clarity. Validate business requirements by gathering full comprehension of the desired outcome of this and other linked customer projects. Document findings in line with CDW’s standards to inform design and delivery planning. Proposal Creation Using the latest version of the proposal template, support the creation of the document whilst working with other aligned members of the Solution Sales team. Produce to an exemplary standard, technical high level design documents in line with the customer requirements . A significant contributor to the creation of defined bid outcomes, providing support throughout the engagement. Services Promote, relevant CDW services in line with the technical design and if required align relevant internal support from Solutions Sales teams if required. Provide accurate PS costings where relevant, following the internal processes in place. Commercials Architecture driven pricing and sizing to ensure opportunities meet the commercial element of the business outcome. Strategic approach considering relevant options, taking into account potential commercial risks to both CDW and the customer. What we expect of you Demonstrable knowledge in hybrid cloud solutions from leading vendors such as Cisco, Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Lenovo. Expertise and experience of Compute Solutions including CI, HCI and servers powered by VMware, Nutanix and Red Hat. Knowledge of a structured sales process. · An understanding of the competitive landscape and the ability to apply that in order to differentiate CDW against its competition. Key skills needed to succeed in the role: Ability to work collaboratively with sales, delivery teams, and Business Development Managers to support bids and customer engagements. Applies expertise to ensure relevance and accuracy of documentation and engagement to meet the customer’s required outcome. Maintains role-aligned certifications and accreditations and actively pursues ongoing learning. Required experience: Minimum of four years in a technical consulting, solution architecture, or pre-sales engineering role, ideally within a customer-facing environment. Experience in building positive working relationships with internal and external customer. Familiarity of relevant vendor platforms and tools, with the ability to navigate and integrate across ecosystems. Demonstratable experience of being business outcome lead during customer engagements. Demonstrated success in engaging with customers both remotely and face to face—capturing requirements, presenting solutions, and supporting procurement validation. · Track record of maintaining relevant technical certifications and participating in role-aligned training programs to stay current Key competencies Effective Communication — Persuades senior stakeholders and cross-functional teams with structured narratives that link technical trade-offs to business outcomes. · Decision-Making -Leads complex trade-off analyses across systems, recommending approaches with quantified risks and contingency plans. Organisation and Time Management Orchestrates cross-team schedules and priorities to protect programme critical paths and delivery milestones. Relationship Management Secures alignment across multiple stakeholders by facilitating workshops, negotiating compromises, and removing blockers. Personal Accountability Champions team accountability by enforcing standards, driving post-incident learning, and implementing preventative actions. Customer Insight and Solution Delivery Designs scalable, value-focused solutions that align to customer KPIs and programme-level objectives. Commercial Awareness/Ownership Drives revenue and margin across complex engagements by shaping solution propositions, modelling ROI and TCO to support pricing and contracting, and influencing commercial decisions with quantified risk and benefit analysis. We make technology work so people can do great things.       CDW is a leading multi-brand provider of information technology solutions to business, government, education and healthcare customers in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. A Fortune 500 company and member of the S&P 500 Index, CDW helps its customers to navigate an increasingly complex IT market and maximize return on their technology investments. Together, we unite. Together, we win. Together, we thrive. CDW is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regards to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other basis prohibited by state and local law.       CDW is committed to fostering an equitable, transparent, and respectful hiring process for all applicants. During our application process, CDW’s goal is to get to know you as an applicant and understand your experience, strengths, skills, and qualifications. While AI can help you present yourself more clearly and effectively, the essence of your application should be authentically yours. To learn more, please review CDW's AI Applicant Notice.