Solutions Architect - Service Provider (Req#1318)

Overview

*Candidates perferrably geographically located near Plymouth, MN.

The ePlus Service Provider Group (SPG) is seeking a highly skilled and motivated Solutions Architect to join our dynamic team, supporting telecommunications customers across the Northeast. This individual will serve as a trusted technical advisor to service providers, including telcos, cable operators, consortiums, electrical cooperatives, and municipalities. The ideal candidate will possess deep technical expertise in high-end routing and optical networking, with a strong focus on next-generation MPLS and optical transport architectures.

Key technologies include Segment Routing (SR-MPLS), Ethernet VPN (EVPN), Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM), and Reconfigurable Optical Add-Drop Multiplexers (ROADMs).

The Solutions Architect - Service Provider will be 1:1 aligned with a dedicated Account Executive, working together to engage customers, assess their current network environments, and define future-state designs. Responsibilities include customer presentations, onsite whiteboarding sessions, Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and platform selection, BOM creation, and drafting Statements of Work (SOWs) for professional services engagements.

This is a high-impact, customer-facing pre-sales role that blends deep technical guidance with strategic engagement to support and close complex, high-value business opportunities.

Your Impact

The essential functions of this position include:

Provide technical expertise/credibility to account team on designated focus area

Conduct customer presentations on ePlus value proposition and technical solution sets for assigned accounts and focus areas

Assist sales account managers with overall account planning, as it relates to technical aspects of hardware, software, and services opportunity development

Assist sales account managers with project management for complex presales engagements

Complete technical sections for RFP/RFI/RFQ responses for assigned accounts

Assist account teams with collecting customer business and technical requirements and determining ePlus recommended solution(s)

Develop solution architecture and detailed line-item configurations/bills of material (BOMs)

Develop proposal and/or presentation of recommended solutions

Assist with technical scoping/review for Statements of Work (SOWs) for assigned accounts

Function as liaison to end-user customer technical staff regarding solution and implementation specifics

Function as a liaison between the sales team and professional services organization to vet solution recommendations and to complete technical portions of the SOW, as appropriate

Function as technical liaison and ePlus ambassador with field OEM sales and technical teams

Assist sales management with mentoring of junior sales account managers as it relates to overall opportunity management and technical solution set

Conduct knowledge transfer with team members around solution updates, implementation lessons learned, etc., as relevant

Assist ePlus sales team in dealing with customer satisfaction issues surrounding technical aspects of a recommended solution its implementation or deployment, as needed

Assist in developing customer get-well plan, if applicable

Assist sales and services management in identifying candidate solution areas for ePlus development or investment

Complete training, per development plan, and maintain certifications in accordance with focus area

Assist Services Director with helping improve procedures and functions

Ensure appropriate coverage for in-process opportunities while out of office for training, vacation, PTO, etc.

Participate in weekly team planning conference calls

Complete administrative tasks (expenses, time reporting) in a timely fashion

Travel up to 50% may be required

Qualifications

Technical Expertise:

Extensive hands-on experience with one or more of the following high-end routing platforms (or other OEM equivalent), including:

Cisco ASR 9000 / 1000 Series, NCS 5500 Series

Juniper MX, PTX, and ACX Series

Nokia 7750 SR, 7950 XRS, and 7250 IXR Series

Ciena SAOS platforms

Strong background in optical networking technologies, specifically:

DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing)

OTN (Optical Transport Network)

ROADMs (Reconfigurable Optical Add-Drop Multiplexers)

Deep protocol-level knowledge, including:

BGP, MPLS, IS-IS, OSPF, and EVPN

Proven ability to integrate routing and optical technologies into cohesive network solutions

Practical experience designing and deploying large-scale networks for service providers

Solid pre-sales engineering background, with responsibilities such as:

Direct involvement in OEM and platform selection

Demonstrated success in developing Statements of Work (SOWs) for services engagements

Experience in 1:1 alignment with an Account Executive to drive strategic customer engagements

Professional Experience:

Technical proposal development

Solution prese…