Sr. Solutions Architect - Datacentre

About the role

Since 1989, SHI International Corp. has helped organizations change the world through technology. We've grown every year since, and today we're proud to be a $16 billion global provider of IT solutions and services. Over 17,000 organizations worldwide rely on SHI's concierge approach to help them solve what's next. But the heartbeat of SHI is our employees - all 7,000 of them. If you join our team, you'll enjoy: Our commitment to diversity, as the largest minority- and woman-owned enterprise in the U.S. Continuous professional growth and leadership opportunities. Health, wellness, and financial benefits to offer peace of mind to you and your family. World-class facilities and the technology you need to thrive - in our offices or yours. Job Summary The Senior Datacentre Solutions Architect is responsible for the end-to-end architectural ownership, technical design authority, and governance of complex datacentre and hybrid cloud infrastructure solutions across compute, storage, data protection, networking, and resilience. Operating as a senior technical authority and trusted adviser, this role works with enterprise customers to define strategy, lead complex solution sales engagements, and deliver architectures that align business outcomes, technology maturity, and operational excellence. The Senior Solutions Architect also plays a key role in mentoring others, shaping standards, and influencing practice direction. Role Purpose The role of a Senior Solutions Architect is to: Provide customers with impartial, industry-leading architectural guidance , helping them define and execute datacentre and hybrid cloud strategies that deliver measurable business outcomes. Act as a technical leader and escalation point for complex or high-risk opportunities. Partner with Sales to open and expand high-value, strategic accounts , demonstrating credibility through depth of expertise and strength of architectural opinion. Lead solution engagements from inception through values-based design, governance, and handover into delivery .

Responsibilities

• Includes, but is not limited to:
• Customer & Commercial Engagement
• Work closely with customers, Account Managers, and Business Development Managers to qualify, shape, and lead complex opportunities , translating business requirements into robust technical architectures.
• Maintain accurate opportunity data within SHI's CRM to support forecasting, reporting, and pipeline governance .
• Identify and drive expansion and upsell opportunities , coordinating specialist resources from across SHI where required.
• Architecture Ownership & Design Authority
• Act as design authority for datacentre and hybrid cloud infrastructure solutions, ensuring alignment with customer objectives, operational capability, and architectural best practice.
• Own architectural decisions across multi-vendor environments and challenge designs where necessary to protect quality, resilience, and long-term value.
• Ensure solutions align with enterprise standards , security principles, and lifecycle considerations.
• VMware & Cloud Foundation Leadership
• Lead the architecture and design of VMware-based platforms , with strong emphasis on VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) as a strategic foundation for private, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments.
• Design and govern solutions incorporating vSphere, vSAN, NSX, and SDDC Manager , including integration with backup, DR, and operational tooling.
• Advise customers on VCF adoption strategies , migration paths, operating models, and roadmap alignment.
• Sizing, Modelling & Financial Awareness
• Perform detailed sizing, capacity planning, and performance modelling to ensure solutions meet functional, non-functional, and budgetary requirements.
• Produce TCO, ROI, and business case models , articulating the cost and value implications of architectural decisions across Capex and Opex.
• Documentation & Assurance
• Produce and assure high-quality technical and commercial documentation , including: RFP responses
• High-Level Designs (HLDs)
• Statements of Work (SoWs)
• TCO models and business cases
• Ensure documentation quality reflects senior-level ownership and attention to detail .
• Delivery Handover & Lifecycle Support
• Own the handover of designs into Professional Services , ensuring clarity, completeness, and alignment.
• Act as an architectural escalation point during delivery and transition into service where required.
• Internal Leadership & Collaboration
• Build strong working relationships across Sales, Professional Services, Partners, and the wider Solutions & Specialist Architect (SSA) community .
• Contribute to the definition, documentation, and adoption of architectural standards, patterns, and best practices .
• Mentor and support less-experienced architects and engineers within the practice.
• Partner & Vendor Engagement
• Maintain strong relationships with key technology partners (including VMware, Dell, HPE, Pure Storage, NetApp).
• Stay current with product roadmaps, reference archite

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