Solution Architect

Job Description

Location: Hybrid In NYC Office

Department: Pre-Sales Engineering

Division: Engineering

Reports to: Manager, Solution Engineering

Job Status: Full-Time

Work Shift: *8:30 AM – 5:30 PM EST

Travel: Up to 40% (client sites, executive briefings, vendor events)

Position: Senior Solutions Architect (Pre-Sales Engineering )

About BlackHawk Data

BlackHawk is a technology solutions and managed services company competing in the same market as ePlus, Presidio, NTT, WWT, and Ahead — and growing faster. We combine the technical depth of a boutique consultancy with the vendor relationships and financial strength needed to win complex, multi-tower deals.

Our customers are mid-market and enterprise organizations that need a trusted advisor, not a transactional vendor. They face increasingly complex decisions around cybersecurity posture, cloud adoption, network modernization, and operational efficiency. You will be the person who helps them find the path forward.

The Opportunity

We are looking for an experienced, customer-facing Solution Architect who has already done this work at a VAR, MSP, or IT services firm — and wants to do it somewhere with fewer constraints and more impact. This is a senior individual contributor role with the authority to lead design sessions, scope full projects, build managed services proposals, and shape how BlackHawk's cybersecurity and infrastructure practice evolves.

You will work alongside our sales team as their primary technical partner on strategic accounts, driving outcomes that matter: securing environments, modernizing networks, migrating to cloud, and building recurring managed services relationships. Your success is measured not just by technical quality but by revenue contribution, client retention, and the trust you build as an advisor.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership & Pre-Sales Strategy

• Serve as the senior technical lead on strategic pre-sales engagements, orchestrating discovery, solution design, and presentation across all technology domains.
• Lead customer-facing design workshops and architecture sessions with both technical (network/security engineers, architects) and executive (CIO, CISO, VP IT) stakeholders.
• Own the technical win strategy for complex, multi-tower opportunities involving networking, cybersecurity, SASE, Zero Trust, cloud, and managed services.
• Develop and deliver compelling executive briefings, whiteboard sessions, and proof-of-concept demonstrations that translate technology into business outcomes.

Solution Design & Documentation

• Architect comprehensive solutions across cybersecurity (Next-Gen Firewall, SASE, ZTA, endpoint, SIEM/SOC), enterprise networking, SD-WAN, cloud connectivity, and compute infrastructure.
• Produce high-quality network architecture diagrams, logical and physical designs, and solution overview documents suitable for C-level and technical audiences.
• Build detailed Bills of Materials with full line-item accuracy, licensing structures, professional services hours, and margin integrity.
• Author Statements of Work (SOWs) and project scopes that set clear expectations and protect BlackHawk's delivery team.

Managed Services & Recurring Revenue

• Position and sell BlackHawk's managed services portfolio — including managed SASE, managed firewall, MDR/SOC services, NOC monitoring, and cloud management — as the preferred operational model for clients.
• Build outcome-based business cases for recurring and managed services engagements, demonstrating ROI, risk reduction, and operational efficiency against DIY alternatives.
• Structure multi-year managed services agreements with appropriate SLAs, pricing models, and renewal incentives.
• Partner with the services delivery team to design managed service architectures that are operationally viable and profitable.

Vendor & Partner Engagement

• Maintain deep working relationships with BlackHawk's key vendor partners including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, Zscaler, CrowdStrike, Microsoft, AWS, Aruba/HPE, and others.
• Leverage vendor resources — SEs, deal desk, BDMs, MDF — to support and accelerate strategic opportunities.
• Stay current on the SASE and Zero Trust product landscapes including Zscaler, Prisma Access, Fortinet SASE, Cato Networks, and Cisco Umbrella/SD-WAN.
• Represent BlackHawk at vendor partner summits, technology briefings, and customer-facing events.

Internal Collaboration & Growth

• Mentor junior and associate SAs, sharing design patterns, BOM best practices, and client engagement techniques.
• Contribute to BlackHawk's solution playbooks, standard architectures, and reference designs.
• Identify gaps and emerging opportunities in BlackHawk's portfolio and recommend new vendor partnerships or service offerings.

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years of overall IT experience, including 3+ years in a customer-facing pre-sales Solution Architect, Consulting Architect, or Senior Systems Engineer role at a VAR, MSP, or IT services firm.
• Demonstrated experience leading technical discovery, architecture design, and pre-sales engagements for complex networking and cybersecurity solutions.
• Deep technical expertise in cybersecurity — including Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), endpoint detection and response (EDR/XDR), SIEM, and identity-based security.
• Strong working knowledge of enterprise networking: routing and switching, SD-WAN, LAN/WAN design, wireless (802.11ax/Wi-Fi 6), and network segmentation.
• Experience architecting hybrid and multi-cloud solutions (AWS, Azure, GCP) including cloud networking, security controls, and governance.
• Proven ability to build and present outcome-based business cases for managed services, recurring revenue programs, and multi-year technology roadmaps.
• Experience authoring technical documentation including solution designs, BOMs, SOWs, and RFP responses at a professional quality standard.
• Polished executive communication skills — you are equally comfortable presenting a Zero Trust architecture to a CISO and a cost justification to a CFO.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with SASE platforms: Zscaler (ZIA/ZPA), Palo Alto Prisma Access, Fortinet SASE, Cato Networks, Cisco Umbrella, or Cloudflare One.
• Hands-on familiarity with Zero Trust frameworks (NIST SP 800-207, Gartner ZTA) and their practical implementation in enterprise environments.
• Experience positioning and selling managed security services (managed SOC, MDR, managed SASE, managed firewall).
• Background in or exposure to compliance frameworks: NIST CSF, CIS Controls, SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, or CMMC.
• Prior quota-bearing or KPI-tied pre-sales experience at a firm competing with ePlus, Presidio, WWT, Ahead, NTT, or similar.

Certifications

Required (or obtainable within 6 months with BlackHawk support):

• Cisco CCNP Security, CCNP Enterprise, or equivalent professional-level certification
• Palo Alto PCNSE, PCSAE, or Prisma Certified
• Fortinet NSE 6/7 or Zscaler ZCCA-IA / ZCCP-IA

Highly Desired:

• CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional)
• AWS Solutions Architect – Professional or Azure Solutions Expert
• Cisco CCIE Security or Enterprise (or in-progress)
• Zscaler Zero Trust Certified Architect (ZTCA)

What We Offer

• A seat at the table: you will directly influence BlackHawk's go-to-market strategy, portfolio decisions, and practice direction.
• Competitive total compensation benchmarked to senior SA roles at ePlus, Presidio, and WWT — with an uncapped performance bonus tied to pipeline and closed revenue contribution.
• Equity consideration for candidates who demonstrate exceptional impact and growth potential.
• Full certification sponsorship, training budget, and access to vendor partner enablement programs.
• Vendor demo lab access, evaluation hardware, and cloud sandbox environments to support POC and client demonstration activity.
• A fast-moving, founder-accessible culture where decisions get made quickly and great ideas get implemented.
• Medical, dental, vision, 401(k) with employer match, flexible PTO, and remote-flexible work arrangement.
• The opportunity to build something: a growing practice, a winning team, and a book of business that is yours.