Principal Core Solutions Engineer

Key Responsibilities and Essential Job Functions :

• Attend qualified sales conference calls and, when required, in person meetings (limited travel required) to design solutions for new prospects and existing customers. 

• Drive the technical side of solution selling through uncovering customers key business drivers/pain points during discovery, matching those needs to individual products.  Present a cohesive solution that satisfies all requirements, tailored to the business/technical/executive participants engaged in each stage of the discussion. 

• Assist in uncovering buying criteria and authority.  Seek buy-in from key technical decision makers and confirm value propositions. 

• Support sales teams nationally by providing technical solution drawings and designs, along with narratives that support our recommendations. 

• Support sales teams nationally by participating in discovery and design conversations for services expansions for existing customers. 

• Analyze and complete complex contract renewals.  Investigate the then-current solution to determine if an existing customer environment is sufficient for customer's current need. 

• Keep current on all product offerings and industry trends and technologies.

• Create complete and accurate documentation to deliver to implementation teams upon successful closing of an opportunity.  

• Provide regional datacenter tours when necessary. 

• Supply information transfer to post sale resources. 

• Provide ad hoc implementation support where necessary. 

• Assist in training and further developing the skillset of existing and newly-hired Solutions Engineers. 

• Act as an initial point of escalation and provide technical and process assistance to other Solutions Engineers. 

• Assist in the development and maintenance of process and technical documentation. 

• Assist with and/or lead SE-aligned project-based work (SKU migrations, product EOL’s, facility closures, etc.) 

• Perform other duties as required and assigned. 

Required Qualifications:  

• A bachelor’s degree in an IT related industry or equivalent preferred.

• A minimum of 7 years of experience in industry relevant sales, consulting and/or solutions engineering. 

• A highly-developed and demonstrated ability to design & confidently present complex solutions to senior level executives (incl. C-suite), as well as technical audiences. 

Preferred Qualifications:

• Must be technical, team oriented, and have a documented path of success and contribution to a growing business in managed IT services field .

• Must have the ability to grasp complex technical issues and contracts, and clearly and simply translate them into current solutions that address and the underlying business needs.

• Solid understanding of multi-tier highly available web applications and architecture methodologies within existing architectures, with the ability to match the correct solution to a given application and make recommendations towards upgrades where appropriate . 

• Must be detail oriented, organized, driven, and have excellent communication skills.  

• High-energy individual with a positive attitude, good teamwork skills and ability to have excellent customer rapport.  

• Persistent but pragmatic: willing to be flexible and adaptable to change.  

• Thorough knowledge of data center infrastructure components 

• Strong working knowledge of x86 enterprise server hardware and operating systems such as Windows & Linux.

• Strong working knowledge of SAN’s and designing storage to meet both performance and size requirements.  

• Strong working knowledge of Firewalls, Load Balancers, Switches .

• Strong working knowledge of IT and data center security best practices.

• Strong working knowledge of cloud platforms and hypervisor technologies (eg: VMware, AWS, Hyper-V, Azure, Google Compute Platform) .

• Understanding of DR best practices, with the ability to connect specific technical solutions to business impact in a failover scenario.  

• Credible – customers and prospects feel the SE truly understands their needs and can understand their questions and offer plausible colocation solutions.   

• Self-directed, self-motivated, and accomplishment-oriented – possesses the drive and determination to succeed.  

• Quick on feet – can address the challenges presented during sales conversation and turn around solutions and documentation quickly.   

• Easily adaptable to a fast-paced business environment.

• Working knowledge of leading AI models, including the ability to identify opportunities to leverage AI to increase efficiency and construct effective prompts and queries. 

Physical Requirements:

• Ability to work in an office environment.

• Ability to work remotely when required with sufficient workspace, cell phone connectivity, and an adequate Internet connection. 

• Basic physical requirements for computer skills: Ability to use the computer keyboard and mouse for extended periods of time . 

• Some afterhours networking and customer interaction may be required.

• Travel 10% of the time. 

Base Pay Range: Annualized salary range offered for this position is estimated to be $160,000 - $180,000. However, the actual pay range depends on each candidate’s experience, location, and qualifications.  

Variable Pay: This role is eligible for commission. The expected annual commission range is $50,000  - $75,000, based on achievement of targets and other performance indicators.

This position has the following safety hazards: