Education Industry Solutions Architect

Are you ready to seize an opportunity to join**Microsoft's Industry Team focused on Education**? Are you ready to lead a virtual team of experts that will work with Microsoft's most established and innovative customers, advising and supporting their Executives with the planning and realization of key digital transformation initiatives?Do you have a**passion for Microsoft's technology & solutions, and are committed to accelerate our customers to a world of digital innovation and business transformation**? Do you want to**lead Microsoft into a new generation of industry solutions**? This could be your next great career adventure!The mission of the**WW Education Service Line **is to work with Microsoft's largest Education Customers to help them accelerate towards their Institution's goals, take advantage of the Digital Transformation, improve the business value from their Microsoft technology investments, and unleash innovation for their organization, their employees and customers.The**_Education Industry Solutions Architect_** is responsible for establishing growth for our Education customers, developing the strategy and the roadmap for a portfolio of industry solutions meeting customer business and mission requirements that align with industry trends and corporate goals. Role responsibilities include: development of customer executive relationships, presales process oversight, delivery quality improvement, and people management. The role is involved in business and technical risk management as well as the entire presales and delivery lifecycles, with broad focus on solution architect talent, consistent delivery, innovation, and technology alignment.**Responsibilities**:**Trusted Advisor**- Develops a network of internal/external relationships to build influence in addressing problems/ blockers and facilitating additional views on the matter of interest. 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. 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.- Understands competitor solutions and identifies how customer business value can be driven through Microsoft's offerings. Steers the customer/partner conversations to the benefits of the solution rather than the features and functionalities.**Thought Leadership**- Shares ideas, insight, and strategic, technical input with technical teams, internal communities across the field, and the larger virtual team across Microsoft using a thorough knowledge of specific Microsoft products and their context in the competitive landscape.- Participates in external architect community events.**Understanding Customer/Partner Technical Environment**- Gathers and propagates customer/partner insights from a broad range of stakeholders as well as the main business sponsor that will help shape and form both the definition and ongoing execution of the project.- Works with customer/partner stakeholders 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.- Uses evidence-based approach to function as 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.**Architecture Design and Deployment**- Leverages a structured approach to architecture projects using existing methodologies that make use of existing reference architecture and established architectural styles and design patterns. 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 cost-based and technology-based discussions to explain the architecture in terms of its build, deployment, and ongoing operational use