At least 10 years of experience in CRM or customer engagement, including at least 6 years in functional lead or architect roles.
A track record of leading the functional design of end-to-end enterprise CRM implementations on large-scale, multi-workstream programmes.
Deep implementation experience on at least one leading CRM platform, such as Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365, SAP Sales & Service Cloud, Oracle CX, or Pega.
Experience in a consulting or systems integration environment, delivering for enterprise clients in a structured, client-facing delivery model.
Strong knowledge of CRM domains, including sales, customer service, marketing, field service, and customer data management.
Strong business process design skills, including process mapping such as BPMN and requirements management in Jira or Azure DevOps.
A working understanding of CRM data models, integration concepts, and platform capabilities sufficient to collaborate credibly with technical teams.
Experience leading workshops, fit-gap sessions, and user acceptance testing with senior business stakeholders.
Communication and facilitation skills to influence business and technical audiences.
Ability to work independently in a contract capacity and become productive quickly within established client teams.
Responsibilities
Lead discovery workshops with business stakeholders to understand objectives, current-state processes, pain points, and customer engagement requirements.
Map and redesign end-to-end customer processes, including lead-to-opportunity, quote-to-order, case management, service delivery, loyalty, and customer journeys.
Define functional CRM architecture across sales, service, marketing, and field operations capabilities.
Support CRM platform selection and evaluation, including requirements definition, vendor assessment, and fit analysis.
Run fit-gap analysis and recommend the balance of out-of-the-box capability, configuration, and custom development.
Translate business requirements into functional designs, user stories, and acceptance criteria for delivery teams.
Define the functional data model, customer 360 view, record ownership, roles and access, business rules, and process flows in partnership with technical architects.
Act as the design authority for functional decisions, managing scope, trade-offs, and change requests across workstreams.
Define business-perspective integration requirements covering ERP, marketing automation, contact centre, customer portals, and data platforms.
Define business-perspective data migration requirements, mapping, and validation.
Lead functional test strategy, including scenario design, system integration testing support, and user acceptance testing.
Shape training, change management, and adoption plans for post-go-live use of the solution.
Contribute to solutioning, estimation, and scoping of new phases and change requests.
Identify opportunities to use AI and automation within CRM to improve productivity and customer outcomes.
Advise clients on CRM best practice, operating model, and governance.
Produce functional artefacts, including process maps, functional design documents, requirements traceability, and decision logs.
Collaborate with technical architects, developers, data, and delivery leads throughout discovery, design, build, testing, and hypercare.
Desired Qualifications
Exposure to more than one leading CRM platform.
CRM certifications, such as Salesforce Certified Consultant or Architect credentials, Microsoft Dynamics 365 functional certifications, or equivalents.
Experience with CRM platform selection or multi-platform CRM landscapes.
Experience with contact centre, CDP, or marketing automation solutions.
Industry experience in financial services, government, telecoms, or other regulated sectors.
GCC client experience and/or Arabic language skills.
Functional CRM Solution Architect
Brainlake Advertising LLC · Dubai, United Arab Emirates · Contract · Posted 2026-10-21
Workplace: on_site
Description
We’re looking for an experienced Functional CRM Solution Architect to lead the functional design and delivery of enterprise CRM solutions for large, complex organizations.
This is a hands-on, client-facing role for someone who understands how businesses sell, serve, and engage their customers, and who can turn that understanding into a clear, well-designed CRM solution. You’ll lead process discovery, shape the functional architecture, and make sure that what gets built actually works for the people who use it.
You’ll work on enterprise-scale transformation programmes with multiple workstreams, demanding stakeholders, and real accountability for outcomes. We want someone who brings a point of view, not just someone who documents requirements. You should have challenged how a business works, designed a better way, and seen it through go-live and adoption.
What You'll Do
❏ Lead discovery workshops with business stakeholders to understand objectives, current-state processes, pain points, and customer engagement requirements.
❏ Map and redesign end-to-end customer processes such as lead-to-opportunity, quote-to-order, case management, service delivery, loyalty, and customer journeys.
❏ Define the functional CRM architecture across sales, service, marketing, and field operations capabilities.
❏ Support CRM platform selection and evaluation, including requirements definition, vendor assessment, and fit analysis.
❏ Run fit-gap analysis and recommend the right balance of out-of-the-box capability, configuration, and custom development.
❏ Translate business requirements into functional designs, user stories, and acceptance criteria that delivery teams can build from.
❏ Define the functional data model, customer 360 view, record ownership, roles and access, business rules, and process flows in partnership with technical architects.
❏ Act as design authority for functional decisions, managing scope, trade-offs, and change requests across workstreams.
❏ Define integration requirements from a business perspective, covering ERP, marketing automation, contact centre, customer portals, and data platforms.
❏ Define data migration requirements, mapping, and validation from a business perspective.
❏ Lead test strategy from a functional perspective, including scenario design, system integration testing support, and user acceptance testing.
❏ Shape training, change management, and adoption plans so that the solution is used as intended after go-live.
❏ Contribute to solutioning, estimation, and scoping of new phases and change requests.
❏ Identify opportunities to use AI and automation within CRM to improve productivity and customer outcomes.
❏ Advise clients on CRM best practice, operating model, and governance.
❏ Produce high-quality functional artefacts, including process maps, functional design documents, requirements traceability, and decision logs.
❏ Collaborate with technical architects, developers, data, and delivery leads throughout discovery, design, build, testing, and hypercare.
Requirements
❏ 10+ years in CRM or customer engagement, including 6+ years in functional lead or architect roles.
❏ A track record of leading the functional design of enterprise CRM implementations end to end on large-scale, multi-workstream programmes.
❏ Deep implementation experience on at least one leading CRM platform, such as Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365, SAP Sales & Service Cloud, Oracle CX, or Pega, with exposure to more than one being a strong advantage.
❏ Experience in a consulting or systems integration environment, delivering for enterprise clients in a structured, client-facing delivery model.
❏ Strong knowledge of CRM domains, including sales, customer service, marketing, field service, and customer data management.
❏ Strong business process design skills, with experience in process mapping (for example, BPMN) and requirements management in Jira or Azure DevOps.
❏ A working understanding of CRM data models, integration concepts, and platform capabilities, enough to collaborate credibly with technical teams.
❏ Experience leading workshops, fit-gap sessions, and user acceptance testing with senior business stakeholders.
❏ Excellent communication and facilitation skills, with the ability to influence business and technical audiences alike.
❏ Comfort working independently in a contract capacity and getting productive quickly within established client teams.
Nice to Have
❏ CRM certifications, such as Salesforce Certified Consultant or Architect credentials, Microsoft Dynamics 365 functional certifications, or equivalents.
❏ Experience with CRM platform selection or multi-platform CRM landscapes.
❏ Experience with contact centre, CDP, or marketing automation solutions.
❏ Industry experience in financial services, government, telecoms, or other regulated sectors.
❏ GCC client experience and/or Arabic language skills.