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We are looking for a Solution Architect - Data & AI to join our Microsoft professional services Engineering and Architecture (EAG) team that is part of Industry Solutions Delivery (ISD), and lead AI transformation of our largest customers!

We are Microsoft Industry Solutions, and are passionate about delivering Microsoft’s mission: “to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more”. 

Microsoft Industry Solutions’ mission is to lead and serve Microsoft’s customers and partners as they realize their full potential through Microsoft software and services.  Microsoft Industry Solutions and its partners bring the deepest expertise of Microsoft solutions—from enterprise planning to deployment and support—that helps our customers innovate to strategic advantage in their respective industries.

The D&AI Solution Architect works with customer to deliver high ROI solutions with a focus on modern data platforms, analytics, machine learning & AI, as well as integrating with the wider focus areas of infrastructure, security and application design & delivery.

Responsibilities

This role will have a strong focus on infusing Data & AI workloads into Digital Transformation opportunities and ensuring the full ISD value proposition is positioned with these customers.  The roll will also drive high quality delivery outcomes and collaborate with Microsoft Product groups, Data Science teams and Account teams with the ultimate goal of supporting customer project success.

Responsibilities

Understanding Customer/Partner Technical Environment

• Gathers customer/partner insights from a broad range of stakeholders as well as the main business sponsor to shape and form both the definition and ongoing execution of projects. Identifies and evaluates industry trends (customer industry verticals, information technology [IT] industry). Adapts business models, plans, and solutions to insights.

• Works with customer/partner stakeholders (e.g., Enterprise Architects, Security Team, Development Team, Operations Team) and business sponsor to socialize both the business solution and the project approach to determine if changes are needed to the business solution. Where the cost of change is accepted by the customer, shares this feedback with the project team and the broader account team to make the necessary adjustments using mechanisms such as updating the solution approach and projected costs in presales and change requests in delivery. Contributes to Microsoft-centric operations and cadences to align with customer feedback.

• Uses evidence-based approach to represent the customer/partner as a customer advocate and share insights with Product Engineering teams and the business with a view to improving Microsoft technologies, products, services and offerings such that they can better meet customer/partner needs across a territory.

Architecture Design and Deployment

• Leverages a structured approach to Architecture Projects using existing methodologies (e.g., Waterfall, Agile, Iterative) that make use of existing reference architecture and established architectural styles and design patterns. Proposes and develops new solutions to scale across multiple customers/partners. Builds and maintains an architecture description document, an architecture decisions log, and a requirements/constraints traceability matrix to ensure the rationale for the business solution's Architecture is known and understood. 

• Defines and documents the architecture through an architecture description document, an architecture decisions log, and a requirements/constraints traceability matrix to communicate the value proposition of the business solution along with the project approach. Leads complex cost-based and technology-based discussions to explain the Architecture in terms of its build, deployment, and ongoing operational use to determine customer appetite for the business solution. Uses a business-value approach that values return on investment (ROI) and customer costs-savings over technical ease of execution. 

• Collaborates with the Project Manager to jointly drive project/technical governance of the design, build, and deployment of proof of concepts (POCs), pilots and production deployments, using enterprise architecture processes and ensuring quality control through peer review. Works with customers to understand and demonstrate business value (e.g., release of revenue, cost savings) that the business solutions realize.

• Works with the business sponsor and customer/partner stakeholders (e.g., Business users, Enterprise Architects, Security Team, Operations Team) to gather and ratify requirements and constraints. Manages and resolves complex ambiguity in the requirements and constraints and documents assumptions and implications where it cannot be resolved. Maintains the requirements/constraints traceability matrix to prove that solution components have a rationale/justification for inclusion in the architecture of the business solution. Drives development and execution of test plans to prove that each requirement/constraint has been implemented as expected by the customer. Where there are defects, works in close collaboration with the Project Manager and Customer to redress or accept and document the status of the test results. 

• Collaborates with the Account Team and/or Bid Team to understand the business solution/problem. Drives agreement, based on the customer’s priorities, requirements/constraints, approach, principles, concepts, and expectations. Builds and documents a realistically costed, advanced/complex Solution Approach with traceability of requirements, constraints, decisions, and tradeoffs that balances risk, technical credibility, and technical innovation to meet customer need, predominantly based on existing solution offerings and/or reference architecture. Jointly leads the implementation in close partnership with the Project Manager.

• Anticipates and identifies scenarios that could slow or impede pre-sales/delivery. Orchestrates the broader Microsoft team to address technical blockers and works with account/project team to resolve non-technical issues. Reports significant problems to Microsoft management and resolves escalations when needed. Plans a way forward in complex and ambiguous situations with an innovative approach and durable design. Delegates and leverages specialist skills of others to drive technical alignment across internal/external teams. Coordinates disparate approaches into a single plan of action for complex scenarios.  

• Works in close collaboration with the Project Manager and Account Team to identify, categorize, and communicate business and technical risks. Defines risk mitigation activities that are foundational to the project plan. Defines risk contingency plans for invocation should the risk occur. 

Practice Development

• Generates new and/or improvements to existing intellectual property. Connects gaps and patterns across business and technology areas to drive changes. Identifies which ideas should be culled, with consideration for scale across customers. Drives the re-use of intellectual property and recommends practices in both pre-sales and delivery. Participates and contributes to internal/external communities. 

Trusted Advisor

• Develops a network of internal/external relationships with senior-level decision makers to build influence in addressing problems/blockers and facilitatingadditional views on the matter of interest. Acts as an advisor to external stakeholders. Provides direction to facilitate relationships between others. Stays up to date on Microsoft’s technologies, products, and services in order to communicate Microsoft's mission, strategy, and capabilities.

• Uses evidence-based arguments that articulate complex concepts in a simple manner to respectfully challenge Microsoft and customers/partners when a decision or course of action will not produce optimal results.

• Leverages strategic expertise to encourage alternative approaches where applicable. Serves as the "technical conscience" to challenge the status quo and unrealistic expectations. Proactively resolves conflicts and seeks resolution to balance the overall outcome. Drives consensus where possible and leads decisions to resolve conflict when needed.

• Leads the adoption of Microsoft solutions technologies based on understanding of competitor solutions and how customer business value can be driven through Microsoft's offerings. Differentiates Microsoft's solutions in customer/partner conversations to influence the industry-wide direction for specific architecture(s).

Thought Leadership

• Leads virtual teams around technologies and customer/partner challenges by sharing ideas, insight, and strategic, technical input with technical teams, internal communities across the field, and the larger virtual team across Microsoft using knowledge of Microsoft architectures and their context in the competitive landscape.

• Participates in external architect community events (e.g., conferences, seminars, technical meetups, Webcasts, blogs, hackathons) and shares learnings with internal team. Acts a mentor to junior colleagues by educating them on technical and non-technical concepts and sharing best practices. Demonstrates deep industry knowledge and drives recognition for Microsoft solutions through presentations and engagements with external audiences.

Business Understanding and Impact

• Leverages subject matter expertise to analyze problems and issues facing projects to uncover, manage, and/or mitigate factors that can influence final outcomes across product lines. Partners with business team to drive strategy and recommend improvements. Raises opportunities to look for new work opportunities, project and engagements and different contexts to use existing work. Establishes, applies, and teaches standards and best practices. Contributes to the development of the project plan for the Data Science portions and identifies risks, assumptions, issues, and dependencies to meet the customer requirements and comply with their constraints. Leads the Data Science portions of customer conversations to define data-based strategies to achieve the customer's business outcome. Effectively handles customer escalations and steers "Red Status" projects back to "Green." Communicates changes needed to Product Engineering using Field Feedback mechanisms.

Coding and Debugging

• Promotes efficient, readable, extensible code/model that spans multiple features/solutions. Contributes to the code/model review process by providing feedback and suggestions for implementation and improvement.

• Develops expertise in proper modeling, coding, and/or debugging techniques such as locating, isolating, and resolving errors and/or defects.

• Leads a project team in the gathering, integrating, and interpreting of data/information from multiple sources in order to properly troubleshoot errors.

• Provides feedback on non-optimized features/solutions back to product group, and explores potential for new features. Leverages expert-level proficiency of big data software engineering concepts, such as Hadoop Ecosystem, Spark, CI/CD, Docker, Delta Lake, MLflow, AML, and REST API Consumption/development. Expert-level proficiency in big data software engineering concepts.

Other

• Embody our culture and values

Qualifications

Qualifications

Subject Matter Expertise in many of the following Areas:

• Machine Learning production implementations and design patterns.

• Azure Open AI LLM usage and RAG patterns

• Modern Data Strategy frameworks and Architectures

• Ability to leverage solution building blocks: Microsoft Fabric, Azure Synapse, Azure SQL, Azure Machine Learning, Azure AI Services, Azure Databricks, Python, .Net / Azure frameworks, Azure Data Factory.

Awareness of Data & Analytics Compete insights – Redshift, Snowflake, Teradata, SAGE Maker, Big Query, Hadoop (CDH)

Awareness of core OSS AI DL frameworks – PyTorch, Tensorflow

Required/Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or related field AND 8+ years experience in technology solutions, practice development, architecture, consulting, and/or technology domain (e.g., Security)

• OR Master's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or related fieldAND 6+ years experience in technology solutions, practice development, architecture, consulting, and/or technology domain (e.g., Security)

• OR equivalent experience.

Additional or Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or related field AND12+ years experience in technology solutions, practice development, architecture, consulting, and/or technology domain (e.g., Security)

• OR Master's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or related fieldAND 8+ years experience in technology solutions, practice development, architecture, consulting, and/or technology domain (e.g., Security)

• OR equivalent experience.

• 6+ years technical sales experience.

• 6+ yearsproject management experience.

• Technical or Professional Certification in Domain (e.g., Security).

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. Consistent with applicable law, all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations (https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/accessibility.html) .