Network Customer Solutions Lead

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Network Customer Solution Architect to join our high-performance team that has a specific focus on National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces. In this role, you will be responsible for designing and developing network solutions tailored to meet DND/CAF requirements. You will collaborate with DND personnel and CAF service members to understand their operational needs and technical requirements, creating detailed technical proposals and solution blueprints.  Additionally, you will help to define the services required for architecting and deploying network solutions, providing technical leadership and guidance during the sales cycle including transition of solution design and knowledge of the customer’s needs to the engineering team for implementation.   

In this role you will:

• Bring a growth mindset and sense of urgency. 
• Bring people together by acting as a bridge between our team and DND/CAF. Share up-to-date insights on the latest solutions, formulate creative approaches to address business and technical challenges, present and host workshops with senior leaders, and translate technical jargon into layman's language and vice versa.   
• Challenge conventional thought by using your skills, insight, and experience to help DND/CAF see what it takes to do the right things versus simply doing things right. Confidently challenge their beliefs with well-researched, tailored insights to spotlight your innovative ways of generating solutions that maximize outcomes.   
• Your impact will increase our infrastructure revenue and gross profit, with specific emphasis on Cisco products and professional services, provide Cisco program, pricing, product, and promotion expertise in support of our sales organization.   
    

Who you will be working with:

• Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces, along with various defense contractors and adjacent organizations that help DND/CAF to achieve their mission 
• High-performance DND/CAF team members, who focus on solutions across the workplace, datacentre and cloud. 

What you will do:   

• Work in partnership with Account Director and team members to engage with DND/CAF directly, early in the sales cycle, where customers have a need to modernize their infrastructure and approach to connectivity.  
• Collaborate with key government personnel to understand their mandates, mission objectives and technical requirements.  
• Design and develop network solutions tailored to meet mission requirements.  
• Create detailed technical presentations and solution blueprints.  
• Define the services required for deploying these solutions.  
• Provide technical leadership and guidance during the pre-implementation phase ensuring that the services delivery team is fully briefed on the expected project outcomes.  
• Participate in assessments and audits of existing network infrastructures to ensure solutions you design meet the needs of DND/CAF.  
• Ensure solutions are scalable, secure, and aligned with industry best practices.  
• Stay updated with the latest technologies and industry trends.  
• Maintain relevant technical certifications in your focused specialization areas.  
• Collaborate with our partner field sales and solution architecture teams. 
• Build and maintain account and market penetration plans on assigned accounts  
• Quarterback opportunities from the point of assessing customer needs through closing deals and driving diversification  
• Engage pre-sales and internal support to provide outstanding, end-to-end service  
• Nurture strategic relationships with key partners and vendors 

What you bring to the table: 

• 7+ year’s experience with Cisco technologies, in directly selling or supporting as a presales resource, selling technology and or services in the public sector.  
• Extensive experience with Cisco networking, security and or collaboration technologies and solutions.  
• Strong understanding of network design, application platform and infrastructure architectures principles and best practices.  
• Comfortable having people-focused conversations around topics such as persona building, end user adoption, and change management 
• Experience aligning departmental mandates and initiatives with technology requirements. 
• An insatiable curiosity to learn more about new technologies and how they impact our customers' businesses 
• Proven track record of designing and implementing network solutions.  
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills.  
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.  
• Relevant Cisco certifications (e.g., CCNA, CCNP, CCIE) are highly desirable and if not currently certified, are committed to achieving relevant Cisco certifications and maintaining them as they evolve.  
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.  
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent relevant experience.  
• Knowledge of MEDDPICC is an asset 
• Active security clearance (secret or higher) is an asset 
• Bilingualism (English and French) is an asset 
• CAF veterans are strongly encouraged to apply. 
• Ability to travel up to 25% of the time