Solution Architect - Advisory and Pre-Sales

Doha, Qatar

ABOUT OUR CLIENT
Our client is an established Qatar-based technology services provider working with government and large enterprise organisations across cloud, cybersecurity and managed IT services. Talent Leaders is managing this search on a confidential basis.

THE ROLE
You will lead the team that sits between the client and the sales function. Your team works out what a customer actually needs, designs the solution, builds the business case and takes it through to sign-off. You will be in front of clients and senior stakeholders, you will own the quality of technical proposals going out of the door, and you will be measured on deals won and revenue growth.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Solution advisory and design
- Run discovery with clients to understand their business, current IT estate, pain points and compliance obligations
- Turn business needs into requirements, solution scope, roadmaps and business cases
- Design tailored solutions across hybrid and multi-cloud, data centre, infrastructure, cybersecurity and managed services, using the company portfolio and partner technologies
- Define the solution risk approach and secure stakeholder agreement and formal sign-off
- Make sure designs stay intact as they move from presales into delivery and operations

Presales and deal support
- Work with Sales and Bid Management to qualify opportunities, research and nurture leads, and hand qualified leads to sales
- Own the technical content of RFP, RFI and RFQ responses, including solution description, benefits, costing inputs and timelines
- Lead solution workshops and deliver technical and executive presentations to C-level audiences
- Act as a trusted advisor to clients through the full sales cycle and help close deals

Portfolio and partners
- Work with Service Portfolio Management, Service Design and Strategic Alliances to shape new offerings based on market demand
- Manage technical relationships with vendors and technology partners

Team leadership and management
- Lead, coach and develop a team of Solution Architects towards sales and revenue targets
- Contribute to department strategy, goals and annual budget, and track performance against them
- Manage day-to-day operations, maintain documented policies and procedures, and recommend improvements

REQUIREMENTS (MUST HAVE)
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, IT, Engineering or equivalent (a relevant postgraduate degree such as an MCA is accepted)
- 10+ years in technical or solution architecture covering enterprise applications, IT infrastructure, databases and middleware
- At least 5 years designing complex distributed environments, including private, public and hybrid cloud, automation and cybersecurity
- Proven presales record with a system integrator, managed services provider or technology vendor: discovery, solution design, costed proposals and RFP responses
- Experience leading or mentoring architects or presales engineers
- Strong techno-commercial judgement and the ability to explain value to both technical and business audiences
- Excellent written and spoken English
- Currently resident in Qatar, available immediately or on short notice

STRONG ADVANTAGE
- Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert, AWS Solutions Architect Professional or equivalent cloud certification
- TOGAF or another enterprise architecture certification
- Security architecture experience such as Zero Trust, SIEM and SOC services, ZTNA, PAM, DLP and EDR
- Working knowledge of Qatar National Information Assurance (NIA) and NCSA cybersecurity requirements
- Track record on Qatar government or semi-government programmes
- Exposure to AI infrastructure, GPU platforms or managed AI services
- Arabic language skills (Preferred)