Solution Architect

SUSE is a global leader of enterprise open source software. By transforming community innovations into secure, sovereign and AI-ready solutions, SUSE empowers customers to escape vendor lock-in and regain control of their IT destiny. Through industry-leading Linux, Kubernetes, Edge and AI infrastructure solutions, SUSE delivers the flexibility to innovate everywhere-from the data center to multi-cloud and out to the edge. Only SUSE also manages many Linux and Kubernetes distributions.

At SUSE, Choice Happens because we prioritize community, interoperability and relentless innovation.

• As a Solution Architect you'll act as a trusted technical advisor for customers and partners, ensuring that SUSE's solutions align with their business and technical needs. The role will leverage specialised knowledge to consult with customers, supporting sales presentations, product demonstrations, proofs of concept, and technical requests. Ultimately, success will be helping customers invest in the right solutions from the SUSE portfolio, giving them a competitive edge.
• Engage with customers to understand both their technical and business needs - building valued relationships and developing as a trusted technical advisor.
• Conduct thorough assessments to identify gaps, opportunities, and challenges, ensuring that solutions are tailored to meet both immediate and future needs.
• Champion the technical validation process, including product demonstrations, technical presentations, managing proofs of concept (PoCs), addressing customer objections, and ensuring that the technical value of SUSE’s solutions is fully realised.
• Serve as the voice of the customer by actively gathering and communicating customer feedback and requirements, to SUSE's Product, Strategy, and Engineering teams. Ensure that customer needs are reflected in new product features, updates, and messaging, while facilitating regular feedback loops, and support escalations to ensure product improvements align with customer expectations and maximise value.
• Collaborate with Field and Specialist Sales, Partner Ecosystem, and Customer Success teams to create Account Plans to drive solution adoption and ensure customer satisfaction throughout the sales lifecycle.
• Contribute to the development of go-to-market strategies with regional sales teams, and participate in marketing efforts through presentations, blogs, technical speaking engagements, rodeo’s and booth demo’s.
• Support the analysis of competitor offerings and collaborate on developing strategies to differentiate SUSE solutions, identifying key advantages in specific use cases.
• Conduct research and draft responses to the technical segments of requests for information (RFIs), requests for proposals (RFPs), and requests for quotes (RFQs).
• Transfer knowledge to pre-sales peers and contribute to internal education through mentoring, peer training, and sharing insights on product innovations and technical solutions.
• Consistently maintain CRM hygiene by updating all activity, for each opportunity
  - Use Case, Success Criteria, Technical Close Status (TCS) and Next Steps in the technical close process.

• Experience in technical consulting, pre-sales engineering, or solution architecture, with a focus on enterprise software solutions.
• Practical skills with Linux systems, open-source software, and related infrastructure solutions, with experience in cloud computing and container technologies like Kubernetes.
• Proven ability to articulate complex technical solutions clearly and effectively to diverse audiences up to CXO level, translating technical concepts into business value and demonstrating how they align with customer objectives.
• Experience…