Cloud Solutions Architect

Come join the Silk Squad! Silk is a Sequoia-backed company headquartered just outside of Boston, in Needham MA.  

The Solution Architect works with Silk Enterprise Sales Representatives to generate new business, grow existing accounts and ensure customer satisfaction. He/she will provide customer facing technology expertise across a breadth of enterprise applications and architectures during pre-sales activities and will work with the customer success team to help grow existing accounts and support new opportunities within the install base.  

The Solution Architect at Silk will serve as a thought leader and evangelist for Silk’s products. They will advise on deployment architectures and handle in-depth technical questions during sales meetings and calls with the goal of building long-term business relationships and becoming a trusted advisor.

The role requires applying an advanced knowledge of solutioning principles and technical product expertise to a variety of highly technical sales opportunities. Successful candidates will have high business acumen, be adept at articulating the value proposition of the product, aligning it to each unique set of customer challenges, and clearly communicating the business benefits that can be achieved. 

How you will make an impact:

• Provide technical pre-sales and post-sales support for all aspects of Silk products for prospective and existing customers.
• Articulate value proposition, present technical product information, and build value throughout the sales process to all departments of the customer's organization in support of the selection of Silk.
• Provide technical product expertise, advise on deployment architectures, handle in-depth technical questions, and respectfully challenge customer assumptions and objections.
• Participate in customer facing meetings and gather deeper-level technical requirements during the sales process to define scope, design the solution and estimate levels of effort as required.
• Develop and maintain deep knowledge of Silk platform and the Public Cloud.

Additional responsibilities:

• Plan and manage the execution of product Trials and Proof of Concept exercises with prospects.
• Develop and Deliver product demonstrations as needed.
• Design solution according to Silk and technology vendor’s best practices.
• Drive the creation of Proposals, Statements of Work, Architecture Diagrams and RFP responses.
• Develop Total Cost of Ownership exhibits and Business Value Assessments.
• Assist with pricing of the solution based on requirements. This includes working with price lists, bundles, and obtaining approvals for discounting, deviations.
• Provide technical advisory services relating to implementation, configuration and performance.
• Perform necessary research on third-party technologies, tools, and applications introduced during the pre-sales process.
• Serve as a positive, dynamic team-player that displays the best work ethic, creative problem-solving skills, positive attitude, and proactive approach.
• Create influence above and beyond the SA role and lead with impact across multiple Silk teams. 
• Provide product feedback and align internal stakeholders to improve products and offerings.
• Develop deep relationships with Silk Sales and Customer Success teams to provide advanced strategic account planning and generate additional business opportunities.
• Contribute to sales process improvement, including developing knowledge bases, creating sales tools and mentoring other Solution Architects.
• Engage process owners to continually improve customer experience throughout pre-sales and implementation. 
• Participate in demand generation activities such as webinars, blogs, conferences.
• Represent the company with the highest standards and preparation at assigned events or other forums.
• Achieve and maintain relevant certifications and necessary credentials.

You will enjoy this role if you have

• A proven record of accomplishment in storage, database and cloud technologies and concepts in addition to being comfortable in the dynamic atmosphere of a technical organization with a rapidly expanding customer base. 
• Organizational and analytical skills and can eliminate sales obstacles through creative and adaptive approaches, while also handling multiple projects.
• Cloud and Database certifications are desired. 
• Deep knowledge and experience with Cloud and Enterprise Compute, Network, Security and Storage architectures   
• Professional knowledge of and relationships within the Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud ecosystem
• Expertise with Oracle and/or MSSQL database operations, architectures, and performance
•  Knowledge of storage technologies, data services and data protection are an advantage  
• Capabilities in building and presenting technical content in a clear, compelling and engaging manner; excellent written, oral and presentation skills  
• Excellent communication and interpersonal relations skills, good team player  

Other Qualifications

• Hands-on experience in Enterprise IT operations - preferred   
• Proven extensive technical knowledge with the ability to quickly learn new concepts.
• Proficient in assisting sales team in identifying areas of overt and latent pains within Prospects.
• Record of success working through technical challenges within enterprise organizations.  
• Advanced understanding of the tools of the solutioning trade (Salesforce, Proposal Tools, Technology Sizing Tools).
• Ability to prioritize and balance multiple simultaneous deals, training, and other initiatives through highly effective time management.
• Ability to work autonomously, manage your time, and make judgments that are in the best interest of the client and Silk.
• Success in dealing with ambiguity (internal and external) and working collaboratively with other departments and organizations to solve challenging problems.  
• Builds extensive networks to help facilitate lead generation, with an emphasis on technical influencers.
• Ability to travel, range varies from 20% to 40%. 
• Five plus years of technical pre-sales experience working with Enterprise customers in hybrid or cloud environments