Position Title: Principal Solution Architect
Job Summary:
The Principal Solution Architect is a hybrid role that combines advanced Solution Architect responsibilities with Product Management ownership for Managed Services. This role is primarily customer-facing and is accountable for identifying, designing, and closing managed services deals while also owning product strategy, roadmap execution, pricing, and service definition in partnership with Go-To-Market (GTM) leadership. This position supports sales cycles end-to-end, develops Statements of Work, and ensures offerings remain competitive, scalable, and aligned to customer needs and market trends.
The role carries a quota tied to Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) and gross profit (GP) targets and serves as the connective tissue between sales, delivery, engineering, and leadership to ensure predictable, high-quality managed services outcomes.
Essential Functions:
- Customer Engagement & Pre-Sales Architecture
- Engage directly with customers to understand business objectives, technical requirements, and operational challenges and translate them into managed services solutions.
- Lead discovery workshops, assessments, and solution definition sessions focused on cloud, analytics, data center, digital workplace, and cybersecurity technologies.
- Build, position, and present managed services value propositions, diferrentiators, pricing models, and delivery approach to executive IT leaders.
- Own the architecture and financial structuring of managed services engagements, ensuring solutions are technically sound, deliverable, and profitable.
- Develop and deliver compelling presentations, proposals, SOWs, and responses to RFPs.
- Sales Partnership & Quota Ownership
- Hold a quarterly and annual MRR target aligned to managed services revenue goals.
- Partner with Account Executives to create account strategies, identify whitespace, and proactively build pipeline.
- Forecast managed services revenue accurately and maintain CRM hygiene.
- Serve as the subject-matter expert for managed services in customer meetings, QBRs, and executive briefings.
- Guide deal strategy, objection handling, and competitive positioning to accelerate close rates.
- Product Strategy & Lifecycle Ownership
- Own the product lifecycle for managed services offerings, including requirements gathering, roadmap execution, pricing models, packaging, feature definition, and service improvements.
- Collaborate with GTM leadership to validate market demand, competitive positioning, and financial modeling for new and existing services.
- Define KPIs and metrics that measure service performance, customer adoption, and profitability of managed services offerings.
- Identify automation, tooling, analytics, and delivery improvements that strengthen operational maturity and customer experience.
- Act as the voice of the customer to ensure offerings evolve with market and technology trends.
- Internal Enablement & Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Train Account Executives, Solution Architects, and practice teams on managed services offerings, differentiation, processes, and qualification criteria.
- Build and continuously update internal sales enablement content, discovery guides, product sheets, and playbooks.
- Collaborate with delivery, engineering, operations, security, and finance to ensure alignment across the service lifecycle.
- Serve as a technical advisor during new customers onboarding or escalations when product knowledge is required.
- Support intake and evaluation of new managed services capabilities, including third-party integrations and tooling enhancements.
Required Skills/Abilities/Competencies
- 7-10+ years in Solution Architecture, Product Management, Managed Services, or related hybrid technical/business roles.
- Strong understanding of enterprise IT technologies across cloud, server, storage, network, cybersecurity, and digital workplace.
- Proven success in pre-sales architecture with revenue or quota responsibility.
- Ability to design, price, and articulate managed services solutions that drive measurable business outcomes.
- Experience creating or influencing product strategy, roadmaps, pricing models, and service definitions.
- Strong communication, negotiation, storytelling, and executive presentation skills.
- Ability to manage multiple deals, work cross-functionally, and operate effectively in fast-paced sales cycles.
- Strong analytical skills with the ability to evaluate requirements, financial models, KPIs, and market trends.
- Excellent organizational skills, attention to detail, and the ability to prioritize work with minimal supervision.
Education and Experience:
- Experience with automation frameworks, analytics platforms, or managed services tooling.
- Familiarity with ITIL, service design principles, and operational governance models.
- Ability to simplify complex technical offerings into clear business value propositions.
Physical Requirements:
- Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
- Must be able to lift up to 15 pounds at times.
