Description The Pre-SalesTechnical Architect plays a meaningful role in both presales and in implementation setting customers up for Success by prescriptively shaping, scoping and solutioning and then leading the technical execution of large and groundbreaking engagements at our most strategic customers, or at times, jumping in to support implementation teams on targeted technical challenges. This person serves as a trusted technical advisor to Salesforce customers, providing mentorship to Sales & Professional Services teams on Salesforce capabilities and level of effort for implementation, bringing commonalities across each customer's implementations, and ensuring the highest levels of customer happiness. They are Salesforce platform guides who are accountable for the oversight of our technical and solution architects, quantifying business value and aiding the Salesforce Services team to deliver the expected outcomes of the engagement. They are internally and externally recognized as a business contributor, industry and product specialist.
Partnered with an Account Partner (Services Salesperson), the Pre-Sales Technical Architect leads both pre and post-sales activities, acting as the technical authority across the portfolio of products and engaging other SMEs across the organization to develop and articulate comprehensive implementation proposals; this can include developing technical solutions to customer missions/objectives, sizing the effort/team size/team makeup/duration, identifying critical technical challenges: integrations, usability, security, data migration and third party solutions. They are responsible for overseeing adoption and consumption of our technology, building and leading customer relationships, customer satisfaction, and service delivery, in concert with account leadership. This may include the following: Deep understanding of Salesforce solutions and clouds (higher education or state& local solutions highly preferred) Ability to scope Salesforce projects (and integration with ancillary technology stacks) Pre-Sales solutioning of multiple Salesforce clouds in conjunction with the Solution Engineers Bringing public sector expertise and perspective Ability to drive better outcomes through extensive platform expertise Create deep alignment with customer IT departments and partners Ensure project operational compliance Executive Relationship building Responsibilities:
Deliver high client satisfaction (CSAT) by consistently meeting/exceeding goals and metrics Correctly scope projects (people, skills, timeframe) to deliver on clients' requirements Ensure business value is realized (directly and indirectly) for each customer engagement that concludes with fully satisfied clients that are willing to be referenced for new potential clients Bring standard processes to each engagement through your deep platform expertise by providing the Professional Services team with Subject Matter Expertise related to the clouds being implemented Provide oversight and governance for project architecture on large multi-cloud implementations Jump in hands on to at-risk engagements to shore up solutions and help get projects back on track Positively impact client Services renewals (when applicable) by aligning customer success with professional services roadmap. Align closely with Account and Services Sales team by leading pre-sales activities such as the development of client-specific proposals, SOWs, staffing plans, engaging with other SMEs across the organization to gain consensus on an acceptable proposal as necessary Successfully lead multiple strategic clients simultaneously Recognized as a valuable and trusted advisor by our customers and other members of Salesforce and continue to build a reputation for excellence in professional services Inspire people to do the best work of their careers, being a multiplier, amplifying the knowledge and capability of the people around you while continuing to provide an inclusive workplace as one of Best Places to Work. Show continued professional growth and development Act as an advisor on sophisticated issues and engagements, exercising discretion and latitude in reaching critical goals. Lead cross-functional teams and mentors others Lead to a minimum billable utilization target Proactively mitigate and handle critical escalations and at-risk accounts; communicate effectively and appropriately with internal and external leaders and executives The ideal candidate will have:
A successful track record of working optimally in a highly matrixed and fast-growing organization. A skill in correctly sizing and scoping Salesforce projects. A passion and belief in the unique value of professional services in a cloud software company. The validated ability to develop customer relationships, understand their businesses, and develop a shared vision for accelerating their business success with Salesforce. The capability to recognize complicated customer and internal relationships and navigate win/win outcomes for multiple customers. The ability to partner with customer IT leaders and Salesforce partner leaders to align on the technical implementation of Salesforce and how it contributes to their overall enterprise architecture. Deep problem solving skills and the ability to help solve problems with minimal background and a fast ramp up.
Must Have Qualifications & Skills: 5+ years of direct experience delivering and/or overseeing solutions development on the Salesforce Platform. 10+ years' experience delivering consulting services, including team leadership and active involvement in selling professional services through technical solutioning expertise. 2+ years of sizing and scoping Salesforce projects. At least one of Salesforce Application or System Architect certifications Ability to travel; up to 25% Preferred Qualifications & Skills:
5+ years' operating in a pre-sales environment, shaping and scoping large and sophisticated implementation projects CTA (Certified Technical Architect) designation or on the path toward one with previous Technical Architecture experience highly preferred. Multiple Salesforce certifications in Architecture 5+ years of enterprise-level project or program management experience Demonstrated technical and/or functional aptitude, and ability to engage with architects or SMEs into pre-sales activities. Very strong written and verbal communication skills, executive level presence and experience in working in a client advisory role Demonstrated ability to influence a group audience, facilitate solutioning and lead discussions such as solution architecture tradeoffs, Road mapping, Enterprise Transformation strategy, and executive-level requirement gathering sessions Excellent strategy development and problem-solving skills as well as business development focus and experience (e.g., relative to new products, services, and go-to-market approaches), while possessing a broad level of technology understanding and substantial operational competence Delivery focused: Previous experience leading teams of architects to delivery complex Salesforce Solutions Excellent analytical & problem solving skills Validated ability to build strong working relationships across multiple functions/levels; adept at mediating conflict and fostering healthy dialogue BA/BS degree or foreign equivalent; Location is open to the United States
