Senior Solutions Architect, Pre-Sales; Banner or Colleague Remote

About Ellucian

Ellucian powers innovation for higher education, partnering with approximately 3,000 customers across 50 countries, serving more than 21 million students. Ellucian's AI-powered platform, trained on the richest dataset available in higher education, drives efficiency, personalized experiences, and strengthened engagement for all students, faculty and staff. Fueled by decades of experience with a singular focus on the unique needs of learning institutions, the Ellucian platform features best-in-class SaaS capabilities and delivers insights needed now and into the future.

These solutions and services span the entire student lifecycle, including data-rich tools for student recruitment, enrollment, and retention to workforce analytics, fundraising, and alumni engagement. Ellucian's innovative solutions, vast ecosystem of partners and user community of more than 45,000 provides best practices leading to greater institutional success and achieving better student outcomes.

Ellucian is seeking an accomplished, customer-focused Senior Solutions Architect to join our Services Solutions team within Sales and lead the functional design of scalable, cloud-based SaaS solutions that shape the future of Higher Education.

In this role, you will serve as a senior functional partner in the pre-sales process, working with sales teams, institutional stakeholders, technical architects, and product and delivery leaders to understand institutional priorities, assess solution fit, define functional designs, and articulate business value that enables institutions to make informed technology decisions and drive student success.

You will lead cross-functional discovery and solution design initiatives across the Ellucian Student ecosystem, translating business processes and requirements into clear solution recommendations, customer deliverables, and implementation considerations. This consultative leadership role requires sound judgment, the ability to navigate ambiguity and functional trade-offs, and a strong partnership with technical teams to ensure proposed solutions are feasible and can transition successfully into delivery.

This is an ideal opportunity for an experienced solutions architect who combines deep functional expertise in the Ellucian Student ecosystem with consultative customer engagement, executive-level communication, and a passion for mentoring others. At Ellucian, we value innovation, continuous learning, and the power of technology to transform the student experience.

Functional Solutions Architecture:
Translate institutional goals and business requirements into functional solution designs that define recommended capabilities, scope, assumptions, and dependencies.

Pre-Sales Engagement:
Partner with Sales to lead customer discovery workshops, support RFP responses, and deliver solution presentations and demonstrations that communicate business value.

Solution Fit & Gap Analysis:
Assess customer requirements against Ellucian Student ecosystem capabilities to identify functional gaps, evaluate alternatives, and recommend practical approaches that address institutional needs.

Ellucian Functional Expertise:
Leverage deep knowledge of Banner and/or Colleague, SIS/ERP business processes, and Ellucian platform capabilities to develop accurate customer-facing solution documentation and deliverables.

SaaS Solution Design & Technical Alignment:
Define functional requirements for SaaS workflows, user experiences, extensions, and integrations while partnering with technical architects to validate feasibility and implementation considerations.

Cross-Functional Leadership & Mentorship:
Collaborate across Sales, Product, Delivery, and Engineering to lead multiple complex solution work streams, mentor less-experienced architects, and ensure a seamless transition from pre-sales solution design into implementation.

Experience: 8+ years of progressive experience with Ellucian functional capabilities, including 4+ years in a senior or principal consulting role. Experience in solutions architecture, pre-sales, or a comparable customer-facing functional role is an advantage. Deep functional experience with Banner and/or Colleague is preferred.

Higher Education & ERP Functional Knowledge:
Strong understanding of Higher Education institutional processes and the Ellucian Student ecosystem, with the ability to connect functional capabilities to customer objectives, operating…