Federal Principal Presales Architect - Washington DC - FS Poly

Federal Presales Architect needed for a Direct Hire opportunity with SOC's client to work onsite in Washington D.C.
*Candidate must hold TS/SCI w/Full Scope Polygraph
The Federal Principal Presales Architect supports high-profile federal and intelligence customers in the DMV. They're looking for someone who can engage executives, architect enterprise solutions across hybrid cloud, AI, storage, compute, and networking, and partner with sales teams to drive major modernization efforts.
Responsibilities:

• Lead and facilitate in-depth technical discussions with clients and account teams to build strong relationships, assess business needs, and evaluate existing environments.
• Develop and present strategic technology recommendations that support customer transformation initiatives. Articulate solution value propositions, highlights key differentiators, and creates high-level solution designs by aligning technologies to customer business and technical requirements.
• Orchestrate cross-functional account team collaboration to define technical strategy, providing the guidance and partner engagement necessary to deliver comprehensive solutions tailored to complex business requirements.
• Contribute to the Account Business Planning process by applying a technical lens to industry developments and the customer's technical landscape to drive account approach.
• Monitor the account pipeline and nurture existing opportunities through successful closure while strategically identifying growth potential within the customer base.
• Remain ahead of industry trends by engaging with professional communities, attending key events, and contributing to domain-specific advancements.
• Continuously advance knowledge of core and adjacent technologies to stay at the forefront of industry trends and evolving market developments.
• Mentor peers, account managers, and partners, serving as a subject matter expert, promoting best practice sharing and collective growth.
• Serve as a bridge between customers and global business units. Provide actionable feedback regarding key customer requirements, market trends, gaps, and unmet needs.
• Maintain a comprehensive awareness of the evolving competitive landscape, including emerging players and disruptive start-ups.
• Engage effectively with C-suite executives, VPs, and line-of-business leaders to drive strategic technical alignment.

Qualifications:

• Location: Northern VA, Washington D.C. area or Maryland
• TS/SCI w/Full Scope Polygraph required at time of hire
• Due to the requirements of this role and that it will be supporting a Federal customer, this requires US citizenship.
• 8+ years of technical experience in Enterprise IT with a focus on technical consulting and solution selling.
• 5+ years of work with AI, cloud software (open source, containers, virtualization, system management) and hardware (server, storage, networking).
• Enterprise IT architecture frameworks and project management methodologies and certifications are helpful but not required.

• Experience leading solution configurations and overall architecture design and delivering complex, large-scale, end-to-end technical solutions that align with business objectives and budgetary requirements.
• Demonstrated technical proficiency and hands-on experience across a diverse suite of products, solutions, and tools directly relevant to enterprise-level architecture and solutions - High-performance computing, hybrid cloud architectures, and data center technologies (including server, storage, and networking components).
• Exceptional ability to translate complex technical concepts into business-value propositions for technical decision makers and executive stakeholders. Balancing championing our strategic viewpoint with respectfully questioning and challenging proposed solutions.
• Capable of delivering live product demonstrations and technical walkthroughs to customers, partners, and internal stakeholders, ensuring a clear articulation of solution value and functional capabilities.
• Proficient in white-boarding, objection handling, and formal presentations; utilizes persuasive storytelling to effectively emphasize our value propositions to key stakeholders.
• A proven ability to identify technical growth opportunities within existing accounts and partner with account teams providing technical guidance to identify account expansion areas and navigating complex requirements to ensure successful deal conversion.
• Knowledgeable in the Account Business Planning process, synthesizing deep insights into industry trends and the customer's unique technical environment to shape long-term strategy.
• Skilled in at orchestrating cross-functional collaboration across company and partner resources to build comprehensive, revenue-generating solutions, with the organizational savvy to mobilize subject matter experts and specialized talent for superior customer outcomes.
• Proven track record of providing high-level technical mentorship, fostering the professional growth of peers, and championing a culture of knowledge-sharing across the organization.

Preferred Qualifications

• Preferences for technical customer sales experience and related certifications, such as AWS Certified Solutions Architect, Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect, and/or Google Cloud Architect.
• 2+ Industry standard relevant technology certifications or equivalent experience is highly preferred
• Degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Data Science, Cybersecurity, Science/Analytics, Engineering (or equivalent practical experience).

• Familiarity with solution portfolio, including software, services, and specialized domains, is preferred. The ability to architect these offerings into cohesive, workload-optimized solutions for strategic industry initiatives is a plus.
• Federal procurement knowledge preferred.

Employment Pre-requisites
The following requirements must be met to be eligible for this position: successful completion of a background investigation, and drug urinalysis.
SOC, a Day & Zimmermann company, is an Equal Opportunity Employer, EOE AA M/F/Vet/Disability.
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