Solutions Architect - Service Provider (Req#1051)

Overview Candidates MUST BE geographically located within the Northeast region of the United States (Preferred Location: Boston, MA)* The ePlus Service Provider Group (SPG) is seeking a highly skilled and motivated Solutions Architect to join our dynamic team, supporting telecommunications customers across the Northeast. This individual will serve as a trusted technical advisor to service providers, including telcos, cable operators, consortiums, electrical cooperatives, and municipalities. The ideal candidate will possess deep technical expertise in high-end routing and optical networking, with a strong focus on next-generation MPLS and optical transport architectures. Key technologies include Segment Routing (SR-MPLS), Ethernet VPN (EVPN), Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM), and Reconfigurable Optical Add-Drop Multiplexers (ROADMs). The Solutions Architect - Service Provider will be 1:1 aligned with a dedicated Account Executive, working together to engage customers, assess their current network environments, and define future-state designs. Responsibilities include customer presentations, onsite whiteboarding sessions, Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and platform selection, BOM creation, and drafting Statements of Work (SOWs) for professional services engagements. This is a high-impact, customer-facing pre-sales role that blends deep technical guidance with strategic engagement to support and close complex, high-value business opportunities. Your Impact The Essential Functions Of This Position Include Provide technical expertise/credibility to account team on designated focus area Conduct customer presentations on ePlus value proposition and technical solution sets for assigned accounts and focus areas Assist sales account managers with overall account planning, as it relates to technical aspects of hardware, software, and services opportunity development Assist sales account managers with project management for complex presales engagements Complete technical sections for RFP/RFI/RFQ responses for assigned accounts Assist account teams with collecting customer business and technical requirements and determining ePlus recommended solution(s) Develop solution architecture and detailed line-item configurations/bills of material (BOMs) Develop proposal and/or presentation of recommended solutions Assist with technical scoping/review for Statements of Work (SOWs) for assigned accounts Function as liaison to end-user customer technical staff regarding solution and implementation specifics Function as a liaison between the sales team and professional services organization to vet solution recommendations and to complete technical portions of the SOW, as appropriate Function as technical liaison and ePlus ambassador with field OEM sales and technical teams Assist sales management with mentoring of junior sales account managers as it relates to overall opportunity management and technical solution set Conduct knowledge transfer with team members around solution updates, implementation lessons learned, etc., as relevant Assist ePlus sales team in dealing with customer satisfaction issues surrounding technical aspects of a recommended solution & its implementation or deployment, as needed Assist in developing customer get-well plan, if applicable Assist sales and services management in identifying candidate solution areas for ePlus development or investment Complete training, per development plan, and maintain certifications in accordance with focus area Assist Services Director with helping improve procedures and functions Ensure appropriate coverage for in-process opportunities while out of office for training, vacation, PTO, etc. Participate in weekly team planning conference calls Complete administrative tasks (expenses, time reporting) in a timely fashion Travel up to 50% may be required Qualifications Technical Expertise: Extensive hands-on experience with one or more of the following high-end routing platforms (or other OEM equivalent), including: Cisco ASR 9000 / 1000 Series, NCS 5500 Series Juniper MX, PTX, and ACX Series Nokia 7750 SR, 7950 XRS, and 7250 IXR Series Ciena SAOS platforms Strong background in optical networking technologies, specifically: DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) OTN (Optical Transport Network) ROADMs (Reconfigurable Optical Add-Drop Multiplexers) Deep protocol-level knowledge, including: BGP, MPLS, IS-IS, OSPF, and EVPN Proven ability to integrate routing and optical te