Solutions Architect

Vaco
$120000 - $170000 / Year
United States, New York, New York
Sep 24, 2026
Solutions Architect Job Type: Full-Time Position Overview Our client is seeking an experienced, customer-facing Solutions Architect with a background in a VAR, MSP, consulting, or IT services environment. This senior-level role will partner closely with sales teams and clients to design, scope, and position infrastructure, cloud, networking, cybersecurity, and managed services solutions. The Solutions Architect will lead discovery sessions, develop technical strategies, and serve as a trusted advisor throughout the customer lifecycle. The ideal candidate combines deep technical expertise with exceptional communication skills and a proven ability to build client relationships, drive solution adoption, and contribute to business growth. Key Responsibilities Technical Leadership & Pre-Sales Strategy Serve as the senior technical lead on strategic pre-sales engagements, orchestrating discovery, solution design, and presentations across multiple technology domains. Lead customer-facing architecture workshops and design sessions with both technical and executive stakeholders, including Network Engineers, Security Engineers, Architects, CIOs, CISOs, and IT leadership. Own the technical win strategy for complex opportunities involving networking, cybersecurity, SASE, Zero Trust, cloud, infrastructure, and managed services. Develop and deliver executive briefings, whiteboard sessions, technical assessments, and proof-of-concept demonstrations that align technology investments to business outcomes. Collaborate closely with account executives and sales leadership to support strategic pursuits and drive revenue growth. Solution Design & Documentation Architect comprehensive solutions across cybersecurity, enterprise networking, SD-WAN, cloud connectivity, hybrid infrastructure, and compute environments. Design solutions incorporating technologies such as Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFW), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR/XDR), SIEM/SOC, and identity-based security. Produce high-quality architecture diagrams, logical and physical network designs, technical recommendations, and executive solution overviews. Develop detailed Bills of Materials (BOMs), licensing structures, professional services estimates, and pricing documentation with a high degree of accuracy. Author Statements of Work (SOWs), scopes of services, implementation plans, and technical documentation that establish clear expectations and support successful project delivery. Support proposal development, RFP responses, and technical solution documentation as needed. Managed Services & Recurring Revenue Position and promote the client's managed services portfolio, including managed SASE, managed firewall, MDR/SOC services, NOC monitoring, cloud management, and other recurring service offerings. Build outcome-based business cases that demonstrate ROI, operational efficiency, risk reduction, and total cost of ownership benefits. Structure multi-year managed services agreements with appropriate pricing models, service-level expectations, and renewal strategies. Partner with delivery and operations teams to design managed service architectures that are scalable, supportable, and profitable. Help clients develop strategic technology roadmaps that leverage managed services as a long-term operational model. Vendor & Partner Engagement Maintain strong working relationships with strategic technology partners including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, Zscaler, CrowdStrike, Microsoft, AWS, Aruba/HPE, and other leading vendors. Leverage vendor resources, solution engineers, deal registration programs, business development managers, and partner incentives to support strategic opportunities. Stay current on emerging trends within SASE, Zero Trust, cloud security, networking, and managed services. Represent the organization at vendor partner summits, customer-facing events, technology briefings, and industry conferences. Required Qualifications 7+ years of overall IT experience, including 3+ years in a customer-facing Solutions Architect, Consulting Architect, Pre-Sales Engineer, or Senior Systems Engineer role within a VAR, MSP, consulting firm, or IT services organization. Demonstrated experience leading technical discovery, architecture design, solution development, and pre-sales engagements for complex networking and cybersecurity initiatives. Deep expertise in cybersecurity technologies, including: Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFW) Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR/XDR) Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Identity and Access Management (IAM) Strong knowledge of enterprise networking, including routing and switching, SD-WAN, LAN/WAN architecture, wireless networking, and network segmentation. Experience designing hybrid and multi-cloud environments across AWS, Microsoft Azure, and/or Google Cloud Platform. Proven ability to build business cases and technology roadmaps supporting managed services, recurring revenue programs, and digital transformation initiatives. Experience creating professional-quality solution designs, BOMs, SOWs, technical proposals, and RFP responses. Outstanding verbal and written communication skills with the ability to engage technical and executive audiences alike. Ability to present a Zero Trust architecture to a CISO as effectively as a financial justification to a CFO. Preferred Qualifications Experience designing and positioning SASE solutions including Zscaler (ZIA/ZPA), Palo Alto Prisma Access, Fortinet SASE, Cato Networks, Cisco Umbrella, and Cloudflare One. Familiarity with Zero Trust frameworks, including NIST SP 800-207 and Gartner Zero Trust principles. Experience positioning and selling managed security services such as MDR, managed SOC, managed firewall, and managed SASE offerings. Working knowledge of compliance and regulatory frameworks including NIST CSF, CIS Controls, SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and CMMC. Prior quota-supporting or KPI-driven pre-sales experience. Experience competing against or working for large national integrators and solution providers such as ePlus, Presidio, WWT, Ahead, NTT, or similar organizations. By submitting to this position, you are agreeing to be included in our talent pool for future hiring for similarly qualified positions. EEO Notice Vaco by Highspring is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race (including but not limited to traits historically associated with race such as hair texture and hair style), color, sex (includes pregnancy or related conditions), religion or creed, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, status as a veteran, union membership, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, political affiliation, or any other protected characteristics as required by federal, state or local law. Vaco by Highspring and its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries are committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, Vaco by Highspring and its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact HR@vaco.com. Vaco by Highspring also wants all applicants to know their rights that workplace discrimination is illegal. Representation Notice By submitting to this position, you agree that you will be giving Vaco by Highspring the exclusive right to present your as a candidate for the foregoing employment opportunity. You further agree that you have represented information about yourself accurately and have not affirmatively misrepresented your qualifications. You also agree to maintain as confidential, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any information you learn from Vaco by Highspring about the position and you will limit disclosure of information about the position only to the extent necessary to perform any obligations in furtherance of your application. In exchange, Vaco by Highspring agrees to exercise reasonable efforts to represent you through all solicitation, job screening and resume dispersal. For residents of Ontario, Canada: Based on Highspring's discussions with its Client, Highspring's understanding is that this position for employment is a current vacancy (either through Highspring as a contractor or with the client directly). Privacy Notice Vaco by Highspring and its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries ("we," "our," or "Vaco by Highspring") respects your privacy and are committed to providing transparent notice of our policies. California residents may access Vaco by Highspring HR Notice at Collection for California Applicants and Employees here. Virginia residents may access our state specific policies here. Residents of all other states may access our policies here. Canadian residents may access our policies in English here and in French here. Residents of countries governed by GDPR may access our policies here. Additionally, submissions to this position are subject to the use of AI to perform preliminary candidate screenings, focused on ensuring minimum job requirements noted in the position are satisfied. More details about Vaco by Highspring's use of AI can be found here (https://www.highspring.com/ai-use-notices/). Further assessment of candidates beyond this initial phase will be conducted by recruiters and hiring managers. Vaco by Highspring does not know and cannot opine on if its client's use of AI products in hiring. Pay Transparency Notice Determining compensation for this role (and others) at Vaco by Highspring depends upon a wide array of factors including but not limited to: the individual's skill sets, experience and training; licensure and certification requirements; office location and other geographic considerations; other business and organizational needs. With that said, as required by local law, Vaco by Highspring believes that the following salary range referenced above reasonably estimates the base compensation for an individual hired into this position in geographies that require salary range disclosure. The individual may also be eligible for discretionary bonuses.