Job Description

Main Purpose
Specialist: Complex Solutions & Pricing responsible for the scoping of as well as the end-to-end architecture and design of solutions and managed services that are deemed complex or require bespoke customisation to meet the customer's need. The role primarily focusses on strategic customers for the assigned vertical segments within Large Corporates and State-Owned Enterprises. The inputs for these solutions are from RFXs (Request for: Information; Proposal or Quotation) from the market or BRS (Business Requirement Specification) from customers or partners e.g. OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer), System Integrator initiated. The role responsibility entails engaging with our customers to develop a sound understanding of their current business and technical challenges as well as their current strategies (both traditional and digital). These are all scoped and encapsulated in a problem statement. The architect also must ensure that they have a firm grasp of the macroeconomic environment for their assigned sales vertical segments - this understanding would include knowledge of (and is not limited to): -

• Industry or segment specific technologies and services;

• associated disruptive technologies; and

• existing and potentially new competitors within their industries.

These insights gained through engagement process enable the architect to become a trusted technology strategy advisor to their customers and ultimately get involved in their strategy co-creation process. This evolution of the Solution Architect role allows for the proactive (or reactive via RFX) creation of customised (bundled or ad-hoc created solutions independently or with partner ecosystems) managed services/solutions designed to meet their customer's bespoke business requirements. Additionally, the team will lead proof-of-concepts and pilots to prove/test recommended solutions and services in innovation centres or within customers environments. The intention is to design fully managed unique end-to-end solutions that are applicable to our strategic customers with the aim of ensuring their retention as Customers and grow wallet share for the assigned sales verticals. Given the roles knowledge of digital technologies and services, it endeavours to act as a thought leader for digital transformation and the launch of new digital services e.g. SD-WAN, SD-LAN, NFV.
Key Performance Areas
Architecture and Revenue Growth

• Contribute to interdepartmental, highly skilled technical analysis, responsible for all aspects of Complex Solutions designs from concept to development, implementation/integration, launch and on-going product management requirements.
• Provide technical leadership and project management for the development and support of Complex Solutions that will support the assigned Sales segment but offer support and cross skilling to other Sales Segments.
• Perform Assurance that all Complex Solutions offerings integrate and interoperate into the customer's environment/network.
• Supporting pre-Sales presentations, Bid Management, formulating business cases, and attend national/international industry conferences to actively participate in external standards/regulatory organizations/bodies primarily for the assigned Sales Segment.
• Participate with the Product teams and serve as a technical leader to assist in the development, implementation and integration of Complex Solutions and services.
• Drive the development and implementation of COMPANY short term vertical sales technology strategy, for the assigned Segment. Contribute to Complex Solutions design methodology and new technology roadmaps to develop bespoke products using relevant tools to rapidly deploy solutions.
• Support Sales to achieve their aspirational revenue targets for the specific customers / verticals.

Operations

• Support the growth of Complex Solutions proposals for the assigned Sales Segment and monitor their success and opportunities for enhancements by growing revenue wallet share.
• Improve the quality and success rate for complex and customer specific solutions and solution responses within defined timeframes.
• Recognises areas for internal improvement and suggest plans for implementation.
• Support the assigned Sales departments strategic objectives across all other departments, while ensuring all complex solutions are market leading. Regular meetings (weekly) and feedback from Sales on research and market opportunities.

Fulfilment and Assurance

• Ensure technical fulfilment and assurance of all aspects of complex solution design process with focus on the following:

• Feasibility accuracy for technical solutions
• Key decision maker for Go/No-Go decisions around RFX's for sales verticals
• Creation of a high-level business case and follow feasibility process to address short turnaround time for complex Bids/RFPs/RFIs.
• Review and final signoff on complex solutions RFX/BRS responses.
• Drive adhoc product development for complex client specific solutions per assigned Sales segment.
• Ensure managed service strategy design and fulfilment by investigating and onboarding partners required, to effectivity design, deploy and managed solutions.

Strategic Account Planning

• Evangelist and driving adoption of new technologies per assigned Sales segment and strategic customers.
• Provide direction for new technologies, services and business models particularly relating to new services e.g. SDN, NFV, Cloud, Digital Technologies (i.e. IoT, Blockchain, etc.) for strategic customers and within COMPANY.
• Research technology roadmaps, adoption and key vendor strategies and capabilities per assigned Sales segment.
• Formulate mappings and matrices of customer requirements to technology roadmaps per assigned Sales Segment.
• Serve as subject matter expert in support of technical white paper and case studies development for new bespoke innovative solutions.
• Co-creation of technology strategies with customers

Cross Functional Engagements

• Consultation with Strategy teams in understanding industry specific technology/digital trends including disruptive technologies and new business models.
• Consultation with Sales is critical to understand the assigned customer businesses, industries and segments, with the intention of defining future concepts and services i.e. SmartLogistics, SmartBanking, SmartPorts, SmartMining, SmartCities, etc.
• Collaborate with Product for service and solution creation, process integration, billing methodologies, business models and lifecycle management.
• Scoping, defining and approving business cases with Pricing team.
• Assisting Service Delivery in deploying and supporting these unique services to customer networks.
• Creating partner ecosystems for specified sales segments to define and support the end-to-end managed services portfolio.

Key Decisions

• Decides on best technology and service/product solutions to meet business requirements of customers, (all customers per assigned Sales segment).
• Decide if a customised solution is required.
• Be responsible for defining (internally or with a partner ecosystem), designing, architecting, implementing, testing and supporting (internally or with a partner ecosystem) the managed service/solution.
• Propose Go/No-Go decision for complex RFXs/Bids/Tenders per assigned Sales segment.
• Proposes Technology, vendor and preferred partner recommendation for complex and customer specific solutions per assigned Sales segment.
• Decides on specific devices to be used as part of the solution

Accountable for:

• Accountable for overall complex and customer bespoke solutions to ensure technical and commercial viability for the assigned segments within timeframes provided by customer / business.
• Creating Technology solutions and service strategies for Sales vertical segments i.e. transport, mining, financial, government, etc.
• Define, Architect and Design customer solutions either by bundling existing services or creating new/bespoke services/solutions. Creating end-to-end managed services to meet customer requirements.
• Support innovation and entrepreneurship for digital business transformation with business.
• Takes overall responsibility for integration of the service/solution designed into customer network

Job Requirements
Qualifications

• 3 or 4-year BSc Engineering or Computer Science degree or B-Tech, N6, NFQ 7 equivalent - Essential
• Industry Specific Certifications i.e. Cisco, Huawei, Microsoft, Metro Ethernet Forum MEF, etc. - Essential

Experience

• Technical experience in Telecommunication, Internet Service Provider, IT and Networking fields - 5+ Years - Essential
• Experience in technical field in System Integration, Product Management/development, telecommunications, IT, Solution Architecture, Pre-Sales engineering etc. - 5+ Years - Essential
• Solutions technical design experience (MPLS WAN, LAN, Unified Communications, Security, Hosting, Data Centre, Cloud, SDWAN, NFV, Carrier Metro Ethernet, Digital Technologies, etc.) - 3+ Years - Essential
• Solution design and architecture experience. - 2+ Years - Desirable
• Thorough understanding of vendors solutions and technologies. - Desirable
• Project Management experience including the development of project and simultaneously managing multiple projects - Desirable
• Experience in developing service delivery and management processes. - Desirable
• Creation of short term strategic technology plans. - Desirable

Knowledge Areas

• Understanding and scoping diverse customer business requirements over all segments and the ability to translate these requirements to define and architect bespoke solutions across technologies, products and services. - Essential
• Knowledge of complex customer solutions architecture, design and development for e.g. fixed mobile convergence, triple or quad play services, unified communications and Telephony, cloud services, Data centre services, SDWAN, NFV, Connectivity, Networking, Security etc. - Essential
• In-depth understanding of customer needs / wants / challenges / insights for all Sales segments i.e. Government, Financial, Mining, Health, Education, Transport, Carrier, etc. - Desirable
• Across Technology domains Architecture design coupled with implementation experience. - Essential

Skills

• Excellent interpersonal skills and Relationship management - Essential
• Very Good analytical and design skills. - Essential
• Very Good technical writing skills. - Essential
• Good presentation communication skills. - Essential
• Good organisational skills and time management - Essential
• Industry and Customer current affairs. - Desirable
• Ability to work under pressure with multiple projects and tight deadlines - Essential
• Pre-Sales technical scoping and design - Essential
• Project Management - Desirable
• Design thinking and Solutions Focused - Essential

Board/Memberships

• Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) - Desirable
• Industry Technology Certifications e.g. Security/Networking/Digital/Cloud/Applications - Essential

Skills Required