Senior Pre Sales Technical Architect

AHEAD builds platforms for digital business. By weaving together advances in cloud infrastructure, automation and analytics, and software delivery, we help enterprises deliver on the promise of digital transformation.
At AHEAD, we prioritize creating a culture of belonging, where all perspectives and voices are represented, valued, respected, and heard. We create spaces to empower everyone to speak up, make change, and drive the culture at AHEAD. 
We are an equal opportunity employer, and do not discriminate based on an individual's race, national origin, color, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, marital status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law, whether actual or perceived. 
We embrace all candidates that will contribute to the diversification and enrichment of ideas and perspectives at AHEAD. 

Senior Pre Sales Technical ArchitectThe Pre-Sales Technical Architect (TA) assists Ahead account managers through formal technical presentations and technical design assistance of Ahead’s solution and service offerings to existing and prospective customers. The TA owns all technical aspects of a sales campaign and hand off to the consulting team; maintaining strong relationships with our customers.
As a Pre-Sales Technical Architect (TA) you are a thought leader within the Engineering organization, responsible for designing, architecting, and, at times, consulting for Ahead clients. Ahead is focused on core data center technologies including storage, networking, compute, virtualization, and data center management / automation. Your goal as a TA should be to build skills, relationships, and industry credibility across more than one of these segments to drive product and consulting sales.
You will work in partnership with one or more sales representatives to help build a cohesive account strategy for each existing and prospective client. As part of this strategy, you will help sales representatives identify potential technologies and vendors to partner with in a given account and assist in driving this strategy throughout a given campaign.
Time management and prioritization are essential attributes of a successful TA. Your goal is to evolve into the technical thought leader for each of your clients. In this capacity you will work to define strategy, compare and contrast alternative approaches, and build key relationships, as well as size and configure products. Positioning and leveraging subject matter experts and inside consultants is a necessity to scale your effectiveness within accounts.
Education is critical to your success at Ahead. You are expected to continually educate not only yourself, but also our clients and your co-workers.  
Roles and Responsibilities:Possess deep data center expertise (multiple layers of the stack)Present at Technical Briefings and Lab Demonstrations with customers and partners to showcase AHEAD’s valueConsidered a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in one or many technologies for the team to leverageRecognized by the partner community to own technical sales campaigns without their supportQualify and position consulting engagements and servicesProvide coaching and mentoring to team resources in order to enhance their solution knowledge, technical acumen, and pre-sales skills setsQualify sales opportunities in the teams of customer technical requirements, decision making process and funding and decides if we should move forward with the campaignPrioritize opportunities and efforts assigned to the POD based on maximizing total impact on team productivity and profitDrive engagement conversions to additional services/solutionsProvide feedback to improve internal efficienciesWork with Solution Practice Managers to provide input and suggestions for new solutions and offeringsPresent regularly at AHEAD events, user groups, conferences, and forumsLead Solution Verification/BOM Review process for the POD
Qualifications:Bachelors degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent6-10 years Pre Sales and Data Center experience is requiredProfessional communication, presentation, analytical, and problem-solving skills.Experience working as a technical lead in a pre-sales sales campaignExtensive knowledge of one or more of the following data center solutions: storage, networking, compute, virtualization, data center management / automation, and securityAbility to work under critical conditions and influence others to achieve resultsStrong interpersonal skills with excellent presentation skillsMust be independent, self motivated, a self starter and possess a good working attitudeAble to work well within a team and partner environmentCustomer focused and results driven 

Why AHEAD:
Through our daily work and internal groups like Moving Women AHEAD and RISE AHEAD, we value and benefit from diversity of people, ideas, experience, and everything in