Principal Field Solution Architect

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Job Summary

This Principal FSA role is for the Data Protection and Information Management (DPIM) national team.  The DPIM team is responsible for thought leadership and subject matter expertise regarding cyber resiliency, cyber recovery, and data protection solutions and technologies.  Key technologies include, but are not limited to, Cohesity, Commvault, Dell, Druva, IBM, Rubrik, Vertias, Veeam, and Zerto.  DPIM team members must be able to position and recommend these solutions accurately within complex environments spanning accounts in the healthcare, financial, and enterprise sectors.  In addition to positioning these technologies, DPIM team members must be able to scope out complimentary CDW services and ensure a high degree of customer satisfaction. The Principal Field Solution Architect (FSA) role focuses on pre-sales solution design. This role is responsible for working with internal and external sales teams to plan and organize sales strategies. The incumbent analyzes the sales environment including customer expectations, competitive environment as well as the customer's technical environment and define actions to be performed in the sales cycle timeframe.

What you’ll do

• Ensure understanding and intricate knowledge of the cyber resiliency and cyber recovery market.
• Work with vendor partners to stay ahead of how updates and changes to product lines impact our customers and our ability to sell and position solutions.
• Technology Leadership Acquires deep technical depth in their role; Is the "Go To" person for the solution, both technically and strategically; is on the forefront of their solution(s) and the implications for CDW offerings.
• Performs a lead role in executing the "Go-to-Market" for new offerings.
• Designs technical solutions not only considering the customer’s infrastructure but also the business limitations and opportunities; operates comfortably beyond standard approaches to satisfy the needs of all the stakeholders.
• Reviews peer’s designs for quality and accuracy.
• Determines and defines services that complement and/or round out proposed hardware and software engagements, estimates required engineer effort.
• Operates beyond a ‘self’ focus for the benefit of the team and the practice to better CDW’s technology leadership, execution, and overall relevance to our customers; develops standardized templates of deliverables, including the SOW framework, tools, demo lab and scripts, and services calculation (Calc); provides leadership to equip CDW to deliver the solution at a high level of quality.
• Communicates and trains the team on changes in technologies, procedures, solution implementations and approaches.
• Develops training materials for team members to use with CDW audiences.
• Promotes a culture of knowledge sharing and collaboration by organizing knowledge bases, contributing regularly, and encouraging team members to contribute.
• Coaches and mentors team members to improve their technical, consulting, and sales skills.
• Acts as a resource to FSAs for advice and recommendations on technical design issues and product choices.
• Conducts technical assessment and expertise evaluations during the candidate selection process.
• Assist managers with new hire FSAs’, leads shadow assignments; proactively provides assistance and guidance to new hires to accelerate productivity.
• Sales Follows up on implemented solutions and identifies new opportunities that complement the work that was completed.
• Advises team members and sales prior to customer calls and/or sales strategy sessions.
• Assists customer in understanding their equipment maintenance contracts, upgrade needs, and renewals; analyses the most cost-effective approach for the customer (e.g. renew the contract or purchase new equipment and contract.)
• Incorporates financing (through manufacturer or third party) as part of the sales proposal and discussion; looks beyond the current infrastructure/problem toward a three to five year roadmap.
• Articulates to customers the ITS Practice (Integrated Technology Solutions) value proposition to customers, account managers, and partners and uses it to generate additional revenue opportunities to CDW.
• Guides (compares and contrast) customers in their decision making within all tiers of CDW technologies (e.g., Cisco vs. McAfee/Juniper) as well as with external competing technologies/solutions (e.g. Dell vs. NetApp/EMC).
• Initiates new event ideas; collaborates with Partners and Sales to design events that can be replicated by other FSAs; secures funding to support CDW customer events.
• Delivers presentations and conducts sales conversations with confidence and credibility to C-level clients, both in small meeting and large group formats.
• Develops presentation content for the team
• Delivers presentations and conducts sales conversations with confidence and credibility to C-level clients, both in small meeting and large group formats.
• Develops assessments improvements and demos for FSAs to use as sales tools, identifies new ideas for cross-sell opportunities, teaches FSAs in Sales on how to use these tools.
• Collaborates with Partners, Inside Solution Architects (ISA), and Account Executives (AE) to drive mapped opportunities; fine tunes strategies and approaches to achieve greater sales results.
• Operates in a regular cadence with multiple partners to educate, plan, and execute on joint strategies in collaboration with multiple stakeholders (ISA, AE, Sales Manager, Field Sales); understands partner alignment in geography and leads customer opportunity mapping exercises; coordinates on-site partner visits.

What we expect from you       

Minimum basic requirements                                                                                                  

•  Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent experience
• Seven-year minimum technical pre-sales or technical architecting experience
• Extensive experience with key technologies including, but are not limited to, Cohesity, Commvault, Dell, Druva, IBM, Rubrik, Vertias, Veeam, and Zerto.   
•  Ability to design, position, and sell highly customized cyber recovery solutions and services.
• Intricate knowledge regarding air gapped offerings, vault, clean room, and highly automated and orchestrated solutions.
• Stay up to date on products, applications, technical service, market conditions, competitive activities, advertising, and promotional trends through the reading of pertinent literature, seminars, and online training
• Proven project management skills
• Proficient in Microsoft office applications
• Proven success and experience selling technologies solutions and services
• Knowledge and proven success of engaging and working with sales teams
• Ability to execute on territory goals and metrics
• Ability to adapt and change to the business needs of the practice and team coverage model
• Strong interpersonal and presentation skills, including consulting skills
• Strong oral and written communication skills
• Strong passion for learning and teaching others
• Motivated and self-starting
• Ability to think creatively and come up with proactive ideas that will increase sales
• Strong problem solving skills
• Must be able to communicate effectively and in a constructive manner with management, peers and coworkers
• Ability to understand, remember, and apply oral and/or written instructions or other information. Ability to organize thoughts and ideas into understandable terminology. Ability to multi-task, organize and prioritize. Ability to apply common sense in performing job. Ability to understand and follow basic instructions and guidelines. Ability to travel as needed.

Preferred skills                                                                                                                             

• Intricate knowledge of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework
• Understanding of Role-based access control solutions
• Background in security and security solutions preferred
• Obtain and maintain relevant industry standard certifications.

• Pay range: $ 115,200- $ 144,000, depending on experience and skill set
• Annual bonus target of $35,000 subject to terms and conditions of plan
• Benefits overview: https://cdw.benefit-info.com/
• Salary ranges may be subject to geographic differential

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.