Specialist Solutions Engineer - Managed Services

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Engage customers to understand business challenges, support gaps, operational pain points, and desired outcomes for managed services engagements.
• Lead discovery and scoping conversations for managed services covering combinations of infrastructure, cloud, Microsoft, networking, storage, backup/data protection, virtualization, VDI, service desk, and security operations.
• Design integrated, outcomes-based support models that include 24x7 monitoring and event management, incident/change/request handling, platform administration, and continual service improvement.
• Define service boundaries, inventory assumptions, onboarding activities, tooling requirements, and operational handoff needs, including monitoring integration, ITSM workflows, runbook development, and knowledge transfer.
• Build and refine client-facing proposals, service descriptions, pricing inputs, and solution summaries that clearly articulate what AHEAD will deliver and how the service creates lasting business impact.
• Collaborate with Managed Services delivery, Client Success Managers, project teams, and account teams to validate supportability, govern transitions, and align the presales design with operational reality.
• Present managed services solutions, answer technical and operational questions, and explain AHEAD’s delivery model, staffing approach, SLA/SLO framework, and governance cadence to clients and internal stakeholders.
• Identify opportunities to expand managed services relationships through renewals, cross-sell motions, new service towers, and platform adjacencies.

Technical Expertise:

• Experience working in a managed services or recurring-services presales environment across one or more of the following domains: 
• Infrastructure and cloud observability
• Network, virtualization, storage, and data protection operations
• Microsoft 365 suite
• Endpoint management and Service Desk operations
• Security services operations
• Broad understanding of managed infrastructure services such as network infrastructure, UCaaS, compute/OS, virtualization, VDI, and storage platforms.
• Familiarity with Microsoft 365 suite managed operations. 
• Ability to scope managed data protection, monitoring, and operational tooling services, including backup platforms, observability platforms, ITSM integration, dashboards, alerting, and automated escalation workflows.
• Ability to partner with service delivery, operations, architects, and adjacent practice teams to identify and build solutions for customers.
• Provide market and field input to management, pricing, packaging, and future managed services offerings based on live customer demand and solutioning experience.
• Participate in continued education to maintain and grow technical depth across managed services domains and vendor ecosystems.

Pre-Sales Expertise:

• Experience conducting discovery, whiteboarding, and solution design sessions that convert customer needs into configurable managed services engagements.
• Experience creating proposals, service briefs, solution estimates, inventory-based pricing, and supporting documentation for new managed services opportunities and renewals.
• Ability to identify, validate, and grow opportunities in high-potential accounts through consultative conversations and strong collaboration with sellers and specialists.
• Increase customer confidence through clear communications, professionalism, and well-defined service scope, assumptions, and onboarding plans.
• Preferred experience in pricing and scoping outcome-based or fixed-scope managed service designs.

Requirements:

• Must have a at least 5 years of experience selling, designing, supporting, or configuring enterprise infrastructure, cloud, or managed services solutions in a customer-facing role.
• Must have the ability to analyze existing and anticipated client requirements and promote consideration of companies’ solutions and services to meet the client’s requirements.  
• Demonstrated ability to work with and communicate with other team members.  
• Must have excellent communication, documentation, and customer facing skills.  
• A desire to learn and be a problem solver.

 

Education & Training:

• 10+ years of hands-on experience in IT. 
• 5+ years of experience in an Engineer, Consultant, or Solutions Engineering role.
• Industry-recognized certifications from relevant vendors or platforms are preferred.

Position Type & Expected Hours of Work:

• Position Type: Full-time, permanent position, 40 hours/week.    
• Position Location: Hybrid with up to 10% travel. 
• Travel Requirements: 
• Internal Company events and meetings 
• Vendor conferences and events 
• On-site Customer meetings and Marketing events