Senior Solutions Architect - Pre-Sales

About Ellucian

Ellucian powers innovation for higher education, partnering with approximately 3,000 customers across 50 countries, serving more than 21 million students. Ellucian's AI-powered platform, trained on the richest dataset available in higher education, drives efficiency, personalized experiences, and strengthened engagement for all students, faculty and staff. Fueled by decades of experience with a singular focus on the unique needs of learning institutions, the Ellucian platform features best-in-class SaaS capabilities and delivers insights needed now and into the future. These solutions and services span the entire student lifecycle, including data-rich tools for student recruitment, enrollment, and retention to workforce analytics, fundraising, and alumni engagement. Ellucian's innovative solutions, vast ecosystem of partners and user community of more than 45,000 provides best practices leading to greater institutional success and achieving better student outcomes.

About the Opportunity

Ellucian is seeking an accomplished, customer-focused Senior Solutions Architect to join our Services Solutions team within Sales and lead the functional design of scalable, cloud-based SaaS solutions that shape the future of Higher Education.

In this role, you will serve as a senior functional partner in the pre-sales process, working with sales teams, institutional stakeholders, technical architects, and product and delivery leaders to understand institutional priorities, assess solution fit, define functional designs, and articulate business value that enables institutions to make informed technology decisions and drive student success.

You will lead cross-functional discovery and solution design initiatives across the Ellucian Student ecosystem, translating business processes and requirements into clear solution recommendations, customer deliverables, and implementation considerations. This consultative leadership role requires sound judgment, the ability to navigate ambiguity and functional trade-offs, and a strong partnership with technical teams to ensure proposed solutions are feasible and can transition successfully into delivery.

This is an ideal opportunity for an experienced solutions architect who combines deep functional expertise in the Ellucian Student ecosystem with consultative customer engagement, executive-level communication, and a passion for mentoring others. At Ellucian, we value innovation, continuous learning, and the power of technology to transform the student experience.

Where you will make an impact

• Functional Solutions Architecture: Translate institutional goals and business requirements into functional solution designs that define recommended capabilities, scope, assumptions, and dependencies.
• Pre-Sales Engagement: Partner with Sales to lead customer discovery workshops, support RFP responses, and deliver solution presentations and demonstrations that communicate business value.
• Solution Fit & Gap Analysis: Assess customer requirements against Ellucian Student ecosystem capabilities to identify functional gaps, evaluate alternatives, and recommend practical approaches that address institutional needs.
• Ellucian Functional Expertise: Leverage deep knowledge of Banner and/or Colleague, SIS/ERP business processes, and Ellucian platform capabilities to develop accurate customer-facing solution documentation and deliverables.
• SaaS Solution Design & Technical Alignment: Define functional requirements for SaaS workflows, user experiences, extensions, and integrations while partnering with technical architects to validate feasibility and implementation considerations.
• Cross-Functional Leadership & Mentorship: Collaborate across Sales, Product, Delivery, and Engineering to lead multiple complex solution workstreams, mentor less-experienced architects, and ensure a seamless transition from pre-sales solution design into implementation.

What You Will Bring

• Experience: 8+ years of progressive experience with Ellucian functional capabilities, including 4+ years in a senior or principal consulting role. Experience in solutions architecture, pre-sales, or a comparable customer-facing functional role is an advantage. Deep functional experience with Banner and/or Colleague is preferred.
• Higher Education & ERP Functional Knowledge: Strong understanding of Higher Education institutional processes and the Ellucian Student ecosystem, with the ability to connect functional capabilities to customer objectives, operating models, and desired outcomes.
• Customer & Executive Engagement: Demonstrated success leading discovery sessions, functional workshops, executive briefings, and solution design presentations, with the ability to explain complex functional concepts and business outcomes clearly to diverse audiences.
• Functional Analysis & Solution Design: Demonstrated ability to assess complex institutional requirements, identify functional dependencies and trade-offs, and develop practical solution recommendations that balance customer objectives with product capabilities and implementation considerations.
• SaaS & Technical Fluency: Working understanding of enterprise SaaS platforms, integrations, APIs, extensions, identity and access considerations, and data flows sufficient to collaborate effectively with technical specialists.
• AI & Innovation: Familiarity with AI applications in Higher Education and AI-assisted tools for solution design, with awareness of security, privacy, governance, and responsible AI usage.
• Leadership & Collaboration: Demonstrated ability to operate independently, exercise sound judgment, influence stakeholders without direct authority, and build alignment across diverse teams while navigating complex customer engagements and competing priorities.
• Bonus Skills: Experience supporting institutional transformation initiatives, cross-product solution design, or complex multi-system environments involving Ellucian and third-party applications.

What makes #Ellucianlife

• Comprehensive health coverage: medical, dental, and vision
• Flexible time off
• Thrive Flex Lifestyle Account (LSA) that allows you to contribute towards your health, financial or learning interests
• 401k w/ match & BrightPlan - to help you save for the future
• Parental Leave
• 5 charitable days to support the community that supports us
• Telemedicine
• Wellness
  • Headspace Care (mental health)
  • Wellbeats (virtual fitness classes)
• RethinkCare & Wellthy– caregiver support
• Diversity and inclusion programs which provide access to internal employee resource groups
• Employee referral bonuses to encourage the addition of great new people to the team
• We Foster a learning culture with:
  • Education Assistance Program
  • Professional development opportunities

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