Senior Solutions Architect

This role will serve as a strategic bridge between technology and business, adeptly crafting tailored solutions that cater to customer needs and set our delivery teams up to execute successfully. This role necessitates a unique blend of technical proficiency, customer-centricity, and strategic finesse. As the primary Solutions Architect within this fast-moving business unit, you will self-direct your work across multiple concurrent opportunities, supported by established solutioning processes and tooling, with structured review from the Engineering, CX, and legal teams., Success in this role is measured by velocity: rapidly producing well-researched, de-risked first-pass solutions and SOWs that move opportunities to close faster - primarily Data, AI/ML, and GenAI solutions on Google Cloud.

Opportunity Qualification & Discovery

Lead client discovery and qualification from the earliest opportunity calls - serving as the technical front line who helps qualify deals, identifies core requirements, and builds customer confidence in Nerdery early.

Manage multiple concurrent opportunities with rigor - keeping requests, follow-ups, and deliverables on track within our solutioning process.

Ask the questions that change scope: surface technical red flags early - identity, connectivity, data quality, legacy constraints - so discovery happens once, not in repeated rounds.

Propose and lead pre-sales Solutions Workshops to sharply define business problems and shape solution options.

Assess clients’ existing workloads and environments to identify opportunities for optimization, modernization, or migration to GCP.

Solution Design & Scoping

Design end-to-end solutions tailored to each customer’s business requirements (including budget and timeline), user needs, and technical constraints.

Architect large-scale Data, AI, and Cloud Infrastructure solutions spanning the breadth of GCP - from data platforms to GenAI and agentic systems.

Develop rough-order-of-magnitude estimates early in an opportunity to validate budget and approach with the customer before investing in detailed scoping.

Own the first-pass solution and estimate for each opportunity - form a defensible point of view quickly, refine it through structured review (engineering, CX, and legal), and engage Nerdery SMEs to pressure-test complex or high-risk designs.

Create detailed implementation backlogs and expertly crafted SOWs - with explicit assumptions where information is incomplete, so scopes are de-risked before they’re priced.

Sales Partnership & Customer Engagement

Partner directly with Account Executives and Partnerships leadership to shape deal strategy, qualification, scoping, and pricing, owning the technical side of each pursuit from first conversation through signed SOW.

Advise clients across the Google Cloud portfolio - from data and analytics (BigQuery, Looker) to AI/ML and GenAI (Gemini Enterprise, agentic solutions) - as a trusted technical guide.

Present solutions clearly and compellingly - linking technical capabilities to tangible business benefits that drive customer decisions.

Represent Nerdery within the Google partner ecosystem - building relationships with Google field teams and applying partner incentive programs where they strengthen a deal.

Opportunity Handoff

Define the staffing profile each scope implies - roles, skills, and capacity - and partner with delivery to confirm feasibility before commitments are made.

Facilitate a smooth transition from sales to implementation - orienting delivery teams to the solution design, key assumptions, and open risks.

Market & Partner Engagement

Stay current across GCP’s evolving portfolio - especially AI/ML and GenAI - as well as emerging technologies and competing platforms (AWS, Azure).

Participate in and contribute to marketing and business development activities.

Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent experience

4-6 years of experience working specifically with Google Cloud Platform (GCP) technologies as a client-facing Solutions Architect

8-10 years of overall experience in solutions architecture, technical pre-sales, or technical consulting (inclusive of the GCP experience above), including real implementation experience building and shipping cloud solutions. You’ve lived the consequences of a bad scope, and it shows in the questions you ask.

Proven track record of supporting sales teams in closing deals, with demonstrated consultative selling skills.

Demonstrated success operating as the primary technical solutioning resource for a team or business unit - self-directed, but effective within structured review.

Expert-level GCP solution architecture across Data, AI/ML, and GenAI (e.g., BigQuery, Dataflow, Composer, Vertex AI, Gemini, agent frameworks), with working breadth across core infrastructure (networking, IAM, Cloud Run, GKE).

Excellent communication skills with the ability to build rapport with both customers and internal teams

Daily fluency with AI tools, including terminal-based agentic tools (e.g., Claude Code) - we’ve built AI-assisted solutioning workflows and expect you to use and help sharpen them.

Highly organized, with a track record of managing many concurrent opportunities inside defined processes - you keep your own pipeline clean without being chased.

Able to push back - on customers and on sellers - while keeping the relationship warm.

Preferred

GCP certifications: Professional Cloud Architect, Professional Data Engineer and/or Professional Machine Learning Engineer.

Experience working within the Google Partner Ecosystem and knowledgeable about partnership incentives models (DAF/PSF).

Prior experience as the primary or lead Solutions Architect for a team, product line, or business unit, owning pre-sales solutioning.

Familiarity with public sector compliance and security frameworks (for example FedRAMP, StateRAMP, and CJIS) and data residency requirements, and how they shape solution architecture.

Familiarity with AI-augmented and agentic software delivery approaches that apply AI tooling across the SDLC to accelerate solutioning and delivery., Strong communication skills: Able to effectively explain technical decisions to non-technical stakeholders.

Process improvement: Experienced in identifying process pain-points and taking ownership of refining processes to completion.

Collaborative Problem Solver: Able to take initiative to understand a problem and make critical decisions to solve for next actionable steps

Client interaction: Comfortable interacting with clients, including light client management, conducting technical demos, and collaborating closely with technical stakeholders from the client.

Risk assessment and communication: Proven ability to clearly communicate the risks, complexity, and timeline impacts of newly added product features or scope., Must be legally authorized to work within the country of employment without sponsorship for employment visa status.

Nerdery is a digital product consultancy. Much more than consultants, we’re allies and guides on our clients’ digital journey - helping them to grow their business and delight their customers through intuitive, thoughtfully designed technology. As true partners, we prepare our clients for the opportunities in front of them, help them achieve their goals, and quickly deliver value for their customers. We do this by solving problems in creative ways across strategy, design, and technology.

At Nerdery, we’re not defined by our job titles but by the impact we make. You’ll work directly and closely with some of the world’s best brands to help create innovative digital products that serve everyone. As Nerds, our insight, innovation, and expertise are celebrated, and our growth is not only encouraged but expected. Being a Nerd means stepping up and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. We’re curious, fearless (well, not totally fearless - there are heights and spiders, after all), and always our authentic selves.