Technical Solution Architect - Data Center Networking & WAN routing

HPE Networking simplifies networking through innovative, software-defined products and solutions for cloud, AI, and data center environments. HPE Networking develops industry-leading technologies that are ever more software-defined, helping to answer the most challenging issues in connectivity. Digital transformation is everywhere, with technologies such as Multi-Cloud, Cybersecurity, Automation, IoT, AI, Machine Learning, and 5G driving the next waves of innovation.

Technical solution architects are part of the HPE Networking GTM team and have the primary responsibility to partner with sales specialists, sales engineers, account managers, PLM and engineering to drive technical sales activities, with a particular focus on those opportunities involving new products and emerging technologies.

Technical solution architects possess in-depth, hands-on expertise with HPE’s products, solutions as well as other open-source or 3rd party technologies which complement HPE’s vision for networking. Technical solution architects have an excellent knowledge of the broader industry and act as a trusted advisors to our customers, educating them on evolving trends in networking and how HPE’s products and solutions can help them achieve their business goals.

For this specific role we’re looking for an exceptional technical leader and evangelist to support HPE’s customer engagements around Enterprise solutions, with a special focus on data center networks and WAN routing.

The technical solution architect will build and maintain close relationships with existing and potential customers - with the aim to become a trusted advisor / consultant from the initial engagement to a successful closing of the opportunity. This role requires deep technical expertise, experience, creative problem-solving, and strong customer engagement skills to influence and shape breakthrough deals and innovative use cases.

If you have over-the-top technical capability and curiosity; if you can influence both technical and business partners by translating business goals and challenges into technical solutions while differentiating HPE from competing solutions; if your interpersonal and high-impact presentation skills evoke passion and confidence; if you’re a born problem-solver that loves to get into the details and have a burning desire to answer the hard problems in a constantly evolving, results-oriented industry - HPE Networking is the place for you!

What You’ll Do:

• Act as a technical architect early in complex sales cycles, working independently or with Sales Engineers, to translate business needs into scalable technical solutions for both new and existing data center and/or WAN routing opportunities.

• Act as a trusted adviser to, and build and maintain close relationships with, (i) HPE sales engineering, sales specialist and account management teams that support our customer base, (ii) HPE channel partners, and (iii) HPE cooperate functions such as Product Line Management and Engineering.

• Support sales engineering teams with understanding customer requirements, providing guidance in the design of solutions, delivering technical deep-dive presentations and demonstrations, contributing to Proof-of-Concept tests, presenting/training at seminars, and assisting with tender responses.
• Become a go-to expert and trusted advisor for the HPE sales engineering community on HPE’s product portfolio and automation solutions, as well as the wider industry trends and competitive solutions, in your area of focus.
• Influence technical strategy within HPE Networking by building, maintaining and disseminating thought leadership in networking innovations and industry trends.
• Speak at internal and external conferences, HPE networking and innovation days, HPE Tech Jams, Network Operator Groups and other industry events.
• Mentor and provide technical leadership to junior technologists and sales engineering teams., All legitimate job opportunities will come through official company channels, and candidates are responsible for verifying the credentials of any third party claiming to represent the company. Any reliance on fraudulent communication is at the individual’s own risk, and HPE disclaims legal liability for any resulting damages. If you suspect recruitment fraud, do not share personal information or make any payments and report the incident to your local authorities immediately.

• Proven track record of working in a customer-facing pre-sale’s role selling networking equipment or end-user experience in design / architecture / vendor selection.
• Exceptional hands-on skills and/or and the ability to support complex proof of concept tests with potentially new products and emerging technologies.
• Excellent inter-personal skills are critical as you will work in virtual, multi-national teams, with little supervision, and diverse demands from many stakeholders.
• You must be able to have a credible (technical) interaction with Enterprise and Service Provider Engineering teams about the industry, technology, and HPE products and solutions in Data Center and WAN technologies to a very detailed technical Level.
• Outstanding communication skills with the ability to communicate to a variety of audiences, both internal and external, and at all levels, from deeply technical to executive level technical decision-makers. English verbal and written/presentation skills are mandatory, other major European language skills are an advantage.
• Comfortable with extensive international travel to visit with customers, partners and account teams.

Technical knowledge you need to have:

• In depth understanding of customer’s business objectives and application of Enterprise Datacenter/Private Cloud and WAN routing solutions across various customer segments and verticals.
• Proven track record in designing Data Center and WAN architectures including EVPN/VXLAN, CLOS fabrics, and underlay designs.
• Expert level knowledge and deep hands-on experience with routing protocols such as of TCP/IP, BGP, ISIS, OSPF, Multicast, Layer-2/3 VPN’s, Carrier Ethernet, MPLS traffic engineering (RSVP, SR-TE, SRv6), SDN overlays (EVPN/VXLAN, MP-BGP), Network Fabrics and DCI solutions.
• Familiarity with major networking silicon, hardware platforms and related software (e.g., Juniper/HPE, Nokia, Arista, Cisco, etc.).
• Outstanding knowledge of network management, service provisioning, automation, network monitoring and telemetry interfaces such as Netconf/REST APIs, YANG, OpenConfig, gRPC and how these apply to modern Data Center and WAN routing architectures is essential. Experience with HPE management solutions such as Apstra, Routing Director or equivalent competitive products is an advantage.
• Experience with programming/scripting (Python, APIs, JSON etc.) to enable solution integration and automation.
• Extensive knowledge of Containers and Container related technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes, as well as familiarity with Linux operating systems.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is the global edge-to-cloud company advancing the way people live and work. We help companies connect, protect, analyze, and act on their data and applications wherever they live, from edge to cloud, so they can turn insights into outcomes at the speed required to thrive in today’s complex world. Our culture thrives on finding new and better ways to accelerate what’s next. We know varied backgrounds are valued and succeed here. We have the flexibility to manage our work and personal needs. We make bold moves, together, and are a force for good. If you are looking to stretch and grow your career our culture will embrace you. Open up opportunities with HPE.