Presales Solutions Architect

Title: Presales Solutions Architect (Canada)

Reports to: Manager of Defense Pre-Sales Engineering

Location: Remote Canada, Ontario area or near major airport

Job Description: The Sterling Sales Engineer will work closely with sales Account Managers in a presales technical role designing solutions to meet specific customer complex technology needs, showcasing product solutions, setting up product demonstrations, and explaining the features and value of technology solutions to customers. The Sales Engineer will be a key partner in the sales cycle and interact with customers both remotely and on site to build trust and act as a trusted advisor for Sterling’s customers. Additionally, the Sales Engineer will identify, research and present industry solutions to solve key information technology and other technical challenges to solve problems on behalf of customers.  As part of the Canadian sales team, the Sales Engineer will develop technical sales strategies for deeply complex and large organizations operating on behalf of and in tandem with Government agencies, while articulating the value of Sterling to these customers and industry peers. We are looking for a high caliber technical thought leader that can accelerate our growth by inspiring and enabling individual contributors to perform at high levels.

Job Experience Requirements: The SE should have a minimum of 5 years of experience in an IT or engineering field. A four-year technical degree or military service is not required, though desirable. Prior sales experience, while relevant to the role, is not a prerequisite for this position. The SE must have the foundational knowledge to be able to connect the dots technically, while also having the “soft skills” necessary to develop a personal relationship with customers, partners and vendors.  A Solutions Architect should understand the tactical and strategic elements of Enterprise IT Consulting as a technical VAR to position solutions from one or more of the following:

Core Technical Skillset Requirements (experience with one or more in each group)

• Virtualization: must have a strong understanding of virtualization technologies, including hypervisors such as VMware, Hyper-V, KVM, and Citrix
• DR/Backup: should have a strong understanding of backup and disaster recovery strategies from vendors such as Veeam, Zerto, Dell, Commvault, Rubrik and Cohesity.
• Storage: must have knowledge of storage architecture, including storage area networks (SANs), network-attached storage (NAS), and software-defined storage such as: vSAN, Dell, HPE, Pure Storage, NetApp, NetApp, Pure Storage, Qumulo and VAST.
• Network Architecture: should have in-depth knowledge of network architecture, including software-defined networking (SDN) and network virtualization such as: Cisco , Fortinet, Palo Alto, Juniper, Extreme, Ruckus, VMware and HPE/Aruba

Additional Technical Fundamentals (high level familiarity with each group)

• Security: should have a strong understanding of security principles, including authentication, authorization, and encryption to ensure that infrastructure is secure 

• Cloud: should be familiar with cloud computing technologies, including public, private, and hybrid clouds, and be able to recommend the best cloud solution based on customer requirements. Must be familiar with: AWS, Azure, Google, Oracle, Gov Clouds

• Cost Optimization: must have a good understanding of cost optimization techniques, including using open-source solutions and scaling infrastructure based on demand, to provide cost-effective solutions to customers.

• Services: you must understand the role of services to customers and sales organizations and be able to position appropriately.

The minimum requirements for this SE role are outlined in the five categories below:

• Productive: Sterling is a large small business that requires our employees to have an entrepreneurial motor to remain productive. Our SEs maximize their day and downtime to ensure their teams overachieve their sales goals while building deeper relationships and trust with our customers.
• Teamwork: Sterling’s selling motions are built on utilizing cross-functional teams to maximize success. Our SEs must work well with peers, vendors and other segments within our business.
• Coaching: Technology is always changing, and we would never expect our SEs to know everything. We do, however, expect our SEs to learn from the experience of our extended engineering group and leadership. We try to minimize our mistakes and losses, however learning from them is vital.
• Winning: Sterling has large ambitions and the only way we can achieve them is by winning together as a team. We want our SEs to have a winning mindset and to celebrate all successful events. When they win, we want them to enjoy the limelight, to grow in their influence, and to increase their earnings. 
• Development: We expect our SEs to constantly evolve their knowledge, process and influences within the company and customers. What works today may not work tomorrow and we need SEs to prepare for the future of Sterling.
• Other: 
  • Ability to communicate, coordinate, and work effectively with sales, engineering, leadership and services delivery teams.
  • Understand financial benefits of solutions and can speak to TCO/ROI of comparable offers.

1. Ability to comprehend, understand, and confidently articulate technology solutions and how they best apply to customers.
2. Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
3. Ability to apply critical thinking and empirical evidence to solve problems.
4. Able to clarify and assimilate information from different sources into a unified communication.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Confidently articulate features and value of technology solutions to customers.
• Configure products according to specifications.
• Ensure any RFP responses are technically acceptable and profitable.
• Build deep relationships with key customer decision makers.
• Develop and perform technical presentations to customers, partners, and prospects.
• Participate regularly in industry training and seek and maintain certifications to keep up to date on relevant competitive solutions, products and services.
• Provide technical guidance to the business on forward looking technologies.
• Build partner relationships with key technology vendors and OEMs.
• Participate in account planning and QBRs with sales and sales leadership.

Sterling Computers Corporation (“Sterling”) is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, creed, religion, disability, medical condition, economic status or status with regard to public assistance, citizenship status, national or social or ethnic origin, past or present membership in the uniformed services, protected veteran status, sex, pregnancy, marital or civil union or domestic partnership status, family or parental status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, family medical history or genetic information, HIV status, political belief, or any other status or characteristic protected by applicable law.