Cloud Presales Architect

The Company:

A global telecommunications provider operating in markets across Africa and the rest of the world is looking for a Cloud Presales Architect. The company has been providing ordinary South Africans with excellent services and values the individual contributions of its team members. Candidates can expect to form part of an elite team operating at the cutting edge of their relevant technologies. 

The Role:

• Collaborate with Sales, Account Management, and Service Delivery teams to design solutions and architectures that meet clients’ business needs.
• Develop and conceptualise technical solutions that address customer requirements and balance business returns and value to clients.
• Contribute to the development, review, and analysis of the Cloud Products and Services roadmaps to ensure they align with client requirements.
• Serve as the primary technical point of contact for customers, providing guidance on security, cost, performance, reliability, operational efficiency, and best-practice architectures.
• Design pre-sales Cloud product-specific architecture within approved operational limits and product specifications.
• Prepare and deliver technical presentations and demonstrations to existing and potential clients, explaining Cloud Product and Services offerings.
• Lead the technical design and build of custom solution elements to meet client business requirements.
• Provide pre-sales technical support and expertise by examining client infrastructure, architecture, system capabilities, and business challenges.
• Own the proposed Cloud solution and transition the implementation to the Delivery team.
• Collaborate with Cloud Products and Alliances teams to leverage partnerships for complex solutions outside of the organisation’s expertise.
• Engage with customers to discuss their cloud planning activities and influence and shape their cloud strategy for digital transformation.
• Work collaboratively with the Cloud Enterprise Architect to create the best solution designs to deliver maximum customer value.
• Provide input into account management plans and go-to-market plays for all clients across segments and regions.
• Identify, develop, and close key sales opportunities with sales specialists and account managers.
• Collaborate with sales specialists and account managers to understand customers’ business challenges and propose outcomes leading to a professional services engagement.
• Build and maintain continuous technical relationships with corporate customers and partners to ensure high levels of satisfaction.
• Develop and design high-quality technical responses to RFPs/ RFQs and RFIs that meet customer requirements in a timely manner and deliver all technical tender requirements.
• Provide technical input on pricing for tenders and proposals.
• Maintain visibility of forecasting and sales pipeline to influence potential deals.

Experience:

• Completion of a minimum of a 3-year diploma in an ICT discipline is required.
• Fluency in the language of the country is a must-have, with at least a basic command of English.
• A minimum of 2 years of experience in a pre-sales role, serving clients within a business solutions environment, is essential.
• Possess a deep understanding of cloud computing products and services.
• Must have experience in engaging with and providing Telecom solutions to senior stakeholders within large enterprise client accounts.
• Experience working in a medium-sized organisation is a requirement.