Senior Manager, Solutions Architecture - Vertical Solutions

LOCATION

This is a remote opportunity with frequrent and at times heavy travel across North America. 

JOB SUMMARY

NetApp is seeking a technically credible people leader to manage our North America Vertical Solutions team, a group of experienced presales Solutions Architects. These specialists bring deep expertise in S3 object storage and StorageGRID, healthcare EHR and Epic environments, medical imaging and PACS, video surveillance, and E-Series solutions.The team operates as a specialist overlay across sales segments throughout North America. Client Executives own customer accounts and territories, while their aligned Solutions Engineers provide day-to-day technical partnership. Vertical Solutions Architects complement those account teams with the specialized product, workload, and industry expertise needed to develop solutions, navigate complex requirements, and advance strategic opportunities.

As manager, you will combine technical leadership, business judgment, and thoughtful people management to help an established team of experts deliver results. You will prioritize specialist engagement, strengthen relationships across the sales and partner ecosystem, and connect the team’s work to product bookings, customer outcomes, and broader business goals. This role requires a leader who has worked in technical presales and managed presales specialists within enterprise storage, data infrastructure, or a closely related technology environment. You should be comfortable leading highly experienced subject matter experts, creating clarity through change, and balancing immediate deal support with proactive business development and enablement.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Lead, coach, and develop experienced Solutions Architects, creating an environment of trust, accountability, collaboration, and continued professional growth. Respect individual expertise and autonomy while providing clear expectations and meaningful support.
• Set priorities and allocate specialist resources across North America based on customer requirements, opportunity complexity, revenue potential, and team capacity. Balance reactive deal support with proactive engagement that builds future business.
• Partner with Client Executives, Solutions Engineers, and sales leaders to determine when and how specialists can make the greatest impact. Help account teams build customer confidence, strengthen competitive positioning, and advance complex sales cycles.
• Guide the team’s contributions to technical discovery, solution architecture, sizing, configuration, technical validation, and customer presentations. Draw on individual specialists for deep domain expertise while maintaining the technical credibility to challenge assumptions and remove obstacles.
• Drive product bookings and performance against assigned business goals. Review pipeline, engagement, and business results to identify gaps, focus resources, and advocate for the capacity and support the team needs.
• Expand engagement with sales districts and account teams through account planning, technical workshops, webinars, and field enablement. Help sellers and Solutions Engineers recognize relevant use cases, engage the right customer stakeholders, and position specialized solutions.
• Support new customer acquisition and expansion by connecting specialist expertise with account strategies. Ensure opportunities developed through specialist or partner relationships are coordinated with the appropriate account owners.
• Build and strengthen relationships with independent software vendors, systems integrators, technology partners, and internal partner teams. Support joint solution development, technical alignment, and customer engagement across the team’s industry and product focus areas.
• Partner with product management, engineering, and other internal stakeholders to resolve challenges and share customer, partner, and field feedback.
• Maintain accurate CRM records, dashboards, and engagement metrics. Make the team’s contributions visible through reporting on opportunity influence, bookings, enablement, partner engagement, and customer outcomes.
• Build team confidence and morale through consistent communication, recognition, and coaching. Help employees navigate organizational change, address barriers, and understand how required training and operational responsibilities connect to broader priorities.
• Travel across North America to support customer meetings, partner engagements, field enablement, and strategic sales opportunities.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Demonstrated people management experience (5+ years) leading technical presales specialists, Solutions Architects, or a comparable specialist Solutions Engineering organization. Experience coaching senior, highly autonomous subject matter experts is essential.
• Prior/Recent experience in a customer-facing technical presales role within enterprise storage, data infrastructure, or a closely adjacent technology environment, with direct involvement in complex customer engagements and sales cycles.
• Strong technical foundation in enterprise storage architectures, data management, and infrastructure supporting business-critical applications. Ability to assess solution strategies, guide technical discussions, and help teams resolve complex challenges.
• Relevant expertise in one or more of the team’s focus areas: S3 object storage and StorageGRID or comparable platforms; healthcare infrastructure and EHR/Epic environments; medical imaging and PACS; video surveillance; or enterprise block storage and E-Series. Deep expertise across every area is not required, but the ability to lead specialists across these domains is essential.
• Proven ability to lead an overlay organization through influence and collaboration, aligning specialist resources with account teams while maintaining clear responsibilities and shared business objectives.
• Track record of helping teams advance opportunities through technical discovery, solution design, validation, and clear communication of customer value.
• Ability to establish credibility with technical practitioners, customer executives, sales leaders, and partners, translating complex technical concepts into business-relevant discussions.
• Experience working with technology partners, independent software vendors, or systems integrators to support joint solutions, enablement, and customer opportunities.
• Strong business judgment and operational discipline, including experience prioritizing resources, evaluating pipeline and performance, and communicating a technical team’s business impact.
• A thoughtful leadership approach grounded in trust, clear communication, accountability, and employee development, including the ability to sustain engagement through change.
• Experience with NetApp solutions or comparable enterprise storage and infrastructure technologies preferred.
• Willingness to travel across North America based on customer, partner, and business needs.