SENIOR PRE-SALES SOLUTIONS ARCHITECT in Manchester

Location: Lowry Mill, Lees Street, Manchester, M27 6DB

Working pattern: Hybrid 3 days per week in the office

Salary: £60,000 - £69,000

Hours: Full-time, 37.5 hours per week

Reporting to: Head of Technical Services

ABOUT DATASPIRE

Dataspire partners with schools and multi-academy trusts to build dependable, high-performing technology environments. Our work helps schools operate securely and efficiently, while enabling teachers and students to make the most of technology.

We are looking for a Senior Pre-Sales Solutions Architect to lead the discovery, architecture and presentation of complex, strategic and multi-site opportunities. You will be a senior technical voice in customer meetings, tenders, framework bids and internal solution reviews. You will shape solutions spanning infrastructure, cloud, identity, network, cyber security, safeguarding, endpoint management, backup and operational readiness. This is an opportunity to make a meaningful difference in education while working at the intersection of customer strategy, technical architecture, commercial shaping and operational delivery.

THE ROLE

As Senior Pre-Sales Solutions Architect, you will own the technical direction of high-value and non-standard opportunities, ensuring solutions are compelling to customers, commercially balanced, deliverable by implementation teams and sustainable for systems operations. You will work closely with Sales, Implementation Services and Systems Operations, and will help improve Dataspire's architecture standards, reference designs and reusable solution patterns.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead complex discovery across multiple schools, sites, stakeholder groups and technical domains
• Design end-to-end solutions spanning network, cloud, identity, endpoint, security, safeguarding, backup, compliance and operational monitoring
• Apply Dataspire reference architectures and relevant DfE, NCSC and KCSIE guidance to solution design
• Lead the technical contribution to strategic bids, tenders, framework opportunities and high-value projects
• Produce high-quality solution documentation, including high-level designs, diagrams, scopes of work, assumptions, responsibilities, acceptance criteria and migration approaches
• Present recommendations confidently to senior leadership teams, governors, trust leaders and technical steering groups
• Adapt technical communication for non-technical decision-makers and technical specialists
• Work with Sales and Finance to shape commercially viable and competitively positioned solutions
• Validate delivery effort, dependencies, sequencing, migration plans and cutover feasibility with Implementation Services
• Work with Systems Operations to ensure every proposal is operationally ready, resilient, secure and supportable
• Identify design, delivery, operational and commercial risks early, recommending practical mitigations
• Peer-review solution designs, proposals, scopes and assumptions created by other members of the Solutions team
• Coach and mentor Pre-Sales Solutions Architects in discovery, design quality, documentation and presentation skills
• Improve reference architectures, solution standards, templates and the Dataspire solutions catalogue
• Challenge bespoke approaches where a repeatable, supportable standard solution would deliver a stronger customer outcome

TECHNOLOGIES YOU WILL DESIGN WITH

• Network and connectivity: HPE Aruba, Cisco Meraki and Ubiquiti
• Security and edge services: Smoothwall, Securly, Barracuda and Fortinet
• Servers and virtualisation: Windows Server, Hyper-V, VMware ESXi, vCenter, Dell EMC and HPE ProLiant
• Collaboration and productivity: Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace for Education
• Identity and access: Active Directory, Microsoft Entra ID, Azure AD and IAM Cloud
• Endpoint and device management: Autopilot, SCCM, Intune, Google Endpoint Management, JAMF, Lightspeed and MDM platforms
• Apple management: macOS, iPadOS, iOS and JAMF
• Storage and backup: SAN, NAS, Storage Spaces Direct and Redstor
• Remote access and communications: RDS, VPN, 3CX and Microsoft Teams
• Security, filtering, safeguarding and compliance technology aligned with DfE, NCSC, Cyber Essentials and KCSIE expectations

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

• Significant consulting, pre-sales or architecture experience across infrastructure, cloud, network, security or education technology
• Strong experience working in an MSP or similarly multi-customer technical environment
• Strong architecture capability, including the ability to apply design principles and reference architectures to end-to-end solutions
• Broad technical awareness across infrastructure and cloud, with particular depth in at least one key domain: network, cloud, identity, security or endpoint management
• Experience leading complex discovery and translating ambiguous customer requirements into clear, practical solutions
• Excellent presentation and stakeholder-management skills, including the ability to influence senior decision-makers
• Demonstrable experience contributing to proposals, bids, tenders, RFPs or framework submissions
• Strong commercial awareness, including solution shaping, risk management, pricing input and value articulation
• Excellent documentation skills, including solution designs, diagrams, scopes of work and proposals
• Confidence to challenge designs, assumptions and approaches constructively
• A collaborative leadership style, with the ability to coach colleagues and work effectively as part of one team

DESIRABLE EXPERIENCE

• Experience working with schools or multi-academy trusts
• Knowledge of DfE standards, NCSC guidance, KCSIE, Cyber Essentials or education safeguarding requirements
• Experience of design governance, reference architecture development or technical standards ownership
• Experience supporting framework opportunities and strategic public-sector bids
• Education-sector experience is beneficial but not essential. We are equally interested in candidates who bring strong pre-sales architecture and stakeholder-management experience, with an interest in helping technology improve educational outcomes.

WHAT WE OFFER

• Salary of £60,000 - £69,000
• Hybrid working, with 3 days per week in our Manchester office
• 32 days annual leave, including bank holidays
• An additional paid Christmas shutdown day
• Your birthday off
• On-site parking
• Optional branded workwear
• Employee Assistance Programme, including wellbeing, mental health, legal, financial and personal support
• Pluralsight licence and protected learning time
• Vendor-led training where relevant
• Monthly one-to-ones and a structured continuing professional development framework
• Clear progression towards Lead Solutions Architect, with responsibility for architecture standards, governance, reference designs and portfolio-level technical direction

WHY THIS ROLE MATTERS

The solutions you shape will influence how schools and trusts invest in, deploy and operate technology. You will help teachers teach with confidence, protect staff and students, and give education leaders reliable technology foundations for the future.

Dataspire is a Mental Health at Work Committed organisation and a Disability Confident employer. We are committed to creating a working environment where everyone feels supported, valued and able to perform at their best.