Presales Solutions Architect - Applications

Job description

What success looks like in this role: We are seeking a highly experienced Presales Solutions Architect - Application Managed Services (AMS) to lead solution design, customer engagements, technical proposals, and commercial modeling for enterprise application support, modernization, and managed services opportunities. This role will serve as a trusted advisor to customers, helping them optimize, modernize, manage, and transform their application landscape while aligning technology investments to business outcomes. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Solution Architecture & Design • Lead discovery workshops, application assessments, and requirements gathering sessions with business and IT stakeholders. • Analyze current-state application portfolios, support models, operational challenges, technical debt, and transformation opportunities. • Develop target-state architectures, service delivery models, governance frameworks, transition plans, and operational playbooks. • Present technical and business solutions to executive leadership, business stakeholders, and technical teams. • Translate technical capabilities into measurable business outcomes such as cost reduction, improved SLA performance, accelerated release cycles, enhanced user experience, and reduced operational risk. Cost Modeling & Financial Analysis • Develop comprehensive pricing models, effort estimations, TCO assessments, and ROI analyses for AMS engagements. • Build bottom-up estimates for support, enhancement, modernization, cloud transformation, and continuous improvement initiatives. • Conduct profitability, margin, and resource utilization analysis. • Create financial scenarios that demonstrate business value and savings opportunities. • Collaborate with finance and delivery teams to validate cost assumptions and ensure commercially viable solutions. Technical Proposal Development • Lead technical responses for RFPs, RFIs, RFQs, and strategic pursuits. • Develop executive summaries, solution narratives, service architectures, operating models, transition frameworks, and implementation roadmaps. • Create application support and delivery governance models, SLA frameworks, KPI scorecards, and reporting structures. • Partner with delivery, engineering, security, cloud, and consulting teams to ensure solution feasibility and alignment. • Utilize Gen AI tools (Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, GitHub Copilot) to accelerate proposal development, requirement synthesis, content creation, and solution documentation. • Develop persuasive value propositions that differentiate offerings and improve win probability. Application Modernization & Transformation Consulting • Assess application portfolios and identify opportunities for modernization, rationalization, re-platforming, re-engineering, and cloud migration. • Recommend transformation strategies using modern architectures, microservices, APIs, cloud-native technologies, DevSecOps, and automation frameworks. • Develop application lifecycle management strategies aligned with customer business goals. • Define modernization roadmaps balancing business priorities, risk, cost, and time-to-value. Delivery Partnership & Transition Planning • Collaborate with delivery organizations to ensure proposed solutions are executable and scalable. • Develop transition and knowledge transfer plans for new AMS engagements. • Support customer solution reviews, governance meetings, and deal transition workshops. • Participate in solution kickoffs to ensure alignment between sales commitments and delivery execution. • Continuously refine solution frameworks based on delivery feedback and customer outcomes. Practice Development & Thought Leadership • Contribute to AMS solution accelerators, reusable assets, proposal templates, and service offerings. • Support market intelligence, competitive analysis, and industry-specific solution development. • Mentor junior solution architects and presales consultants. • Stay current with emerging trends in AI-powered operations, Application Modernization, Cloud-Native Engineering, DevSecOps, and Digital Transformation. Business & Soft Skills • Strong executive presence with ability to engage CXO stakeholders. • Excellent presentation, storytelling, and workshop facilitation skills. • Strong consultative selling and customer advisory capabilities. • Ability to manage multiple strategic pursuits simultaneously. • Exceptional collaboration across sales, delivery, consulting, finance, and leadership teams. • Strong commercial acumen with understanding of pricing, margins, profitability, and risk management. • Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills. • Ability to translate complex technical concepts into business value narratives. Certifications & Nice-to-Haves • Azure Solutions Architect Expert / AWS Solutions Architect Professional • AI/ML certifications (Azure AI Engineer, AWS ML Specialty, etc.) • Experience in AI governance, Responsible AI frameworks • ITIL / Service management frameworks • Exposure to GTM strategy, pricing models, or business development • Prior experience in system integrators, consulting firms, or global delivery models #LI-SS1 You will be successful in t