Career Opportunities Manager
Job Title: Solution Architect - Networking Specialist
Job Code: NW-01
This person is recognized as an expert Network Engineer with current 2010 certifications and has at least five years of consultant level experience using Cisco and/or ProCurve/3Com technologies in a large enterprise environment (hundreds to thousands of servers and over 10,000 users). This person performs on-site client consulting projects from both a Pre-Sales and Post-Sales perspective covering more than one of the following disciplines:
- Network design across LAN, WAN solutions (routers, core/edge switches, wireless and data centers)
- Network design encompassing Firewalls/VPN/SSL setup for disaster recovery, remote offices and VDI
- Strong product knowledge of Cisco and/or ProCurve/3COM; additional experience on Brocade IP Products (Foundry) and F5 Networks is a plus
- Networked Storage
- Converged Infrastructure and Server Consolidation
- Other disciplines may be required based on market trends
LOCATION
This position will primarily serve our Southern California client base and the desired candidate for this position would be based at our Irvine or San Diego office. Daily travel by car to our clients in Los Angeles County, Orange County and San Diego County is to be expected.
JOB DESCRIPTION
The balance between Pre-Sales tasks vs. Post-Sales will vary especially during your training period, but eventually it should stabilize between 80% Pre-Sales and 20% Post Sales. As a Solution Architect, we expect our SA staff to remain technically competent and to work closely with our delivery engineers, as a mentor and a trouble shooter. The SA will act as the engineering team leader and coach in the more complex installations, to make sure that each solution is delivered and implemented in the way it was designed and may be adapted as needed to provide the optimal solution for our clients.
Primary duties include the design, architecture and implementation of installations or upgrades of hardware and software products, technical assistance, client training and support of company product offerings, while always maintaining the Nth Corporate Culture (see Appendix A). You may be required to work at different times of the day, including nights and weekends, as needed and without prior notice. In this position, you will be expected to spend up to 80% of your time performing tasks at client sites or attending technical training sessions. This is a Salaried Exempt position.
Reporting Structure:
This position reports to the Solutions Architect Manager, who will be your primary supervisor.
In order to insure your success in the role as a current Solution Architect, our CTO will act as your mentor to insure that you are instructed in best practices to architect solutions, perform the duties of a Pre-Sales Engineer and learn all of the duties and responsibilities that are required for his position.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES, include, but not limited to, the following:
- Consults, Architects, Designs and Implements an Integrated Solution which meets client requirements.
- Be a champion for HP’s “Converged Infrastructure” story.
- Develops a Bill of Materials (BOM) and a detailed Scope of Work (SOW) on highly qualified sales opportunities from interactions with the client, as well as, other NTH Architects, NTH CTO and NTH Sales Team, for complex hardware and software solutions. Uses Sales Builder or other tools to develop detailed configurations.
- Leads complex technical projects from an engineering perspective under the guidance of NTH Project Management. Client projects may vary in length from a few days to long-term projects of weeks or even months.
- Provides on-site installation and troubleshooting services for clients, which may require working nights and weekends. Most client work will be focused on storage solutions, enterprise backup solutions and server consolidation & virtualization.
- Must be prepared to work in multi-platform environments with focus on HP Product Lines. Should have a strong expert understanding on at least one operating system along with a basic understanding of Microsoft Windows. Strong experience with multi-vendor Operating Systems (both Windows and multi-vendor Unix platforms) is highly desired and required to be successful in this position.
- Performs on-site post installation quality check, to ensure specifications as outlined in the SOW are met.
- Provide clients with up-to-date documentation of work completed on a daily basis.
- Proactively provides feedback, relating to hardware and software products or client issues, to other staff members. Knowledge sharing is critical to the team being able to provide the best value-add for our clients.
- Conducts formal and informal presentations of technical concepts to the clients as part of pre- and post- sale support efforts, as needed.
- Provides phone support for resolution of client problems relating to hardware and/or software issues, as directed by the Project Manager or Professional Services Manager. Acts as point of contact for questions posed by clients. This will include special contracted phone support services, under which our clients have purchased a block of hours.
- Carries company-issued cell phone and wireless Blackberry device. Makes best effort to always respond in a timely manner to calls and emails from the office during business hours and may be occasionally called after business hours.
- Troubleshoots and generates reports describing technical problems encountered and suggests solutions.
- Keeps accurate records and notes regarding all client projects, including timekeeping, documentation, project plans, trip reports and status reports.
- Provides own transportation and has a reliable vehicle, which is available at all times for immediate dispatch.
- Flexible with demands on time and able to deal with frequent and last minute scheduling changes.
- A “strong work ethic” with the ability to flex and extend efforts whenever a customer engagement or sales opportunity requires it. This position requires more than 40 hours of work per week plus occasional night and weekend work according to the customer's scheduling needs, in order to complete the requirements of the position.
- Able to work during Nth Generation’s core hours of operation, from 8:30am to 5:30pm. When not at a customer's site, must regularly be onsite at the assigned NTH corporate office during core hours of operation. Flexible to come in early and/or stay late, if there are last minute requirements to perform tasks.
- As business and operational demands dictate, additional duties may be assigned and expected to be performed.
- The expectation is for all Engineers working at a client site (75-miles from home) where the combined project and travel time will exceed 16 hours, the Engineer is expected to stay in a local hotel for the night. If, due to being under the weather, fatigued, etc. the employee (based on their own judgment) deems it necessary for safety’s sake to secure lodging rather than drive home that day, then the company will authorize the hotel stay. It is a good practice to pack an overnight bag at all times.
- As the company grows and expands its area of business be prepared to travel up to 60% of the time.
ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES, include, but not limited to, the following:
- Prepares equipment for Nth University and the in-house Demo Lab, as needed.
- Assists in documentation and writing the curriculum for Nth University, as needed.
- Provides instruction for Nth University classes and hands-on technical sessions, as needed.
- Assists the Integration team, in integrating and configuring systems, as needed.
- Assists the Professional Services and Technical Engineering teams with tech-edits, troubleshooting, configurations and research, as needed.
- Assists the System Admin Team in implementations, troubleshooting and upgrades of in-house hardware and software products, as needed.
TRAINING REQUIREMENTS
- Attends 2 or more weeks of technical training per year, which may be out-of-town or out-of-state.
- Attends ongoing training to keep current knowledge base on products we support.
- Maintains current certifications, and keep up-to-date on certifications for new products or services, as directed by Management.
QUALIFICATIONS:
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable an otherwise qualified individual with a disability to perform the essential functions.
Education and / or Experience
Advanced degree in Computer Engineering or related field or equivalent experience; Backup Systems, knowledge in Multiple OS, Server, Storage, and Enterprise Backup Solutions (EBS), and related certifications.
Skills, Knowledge and Abilities
- Able to exercise tact and diplomacy in dealing with clients.
- Ability to learn and retain knowledge of a wide variety of technical information requests, and responds quickly to information requests.
- Ability to organize and prioritize work assignments, travel schedules, and presentation requests in an unstructured environment.
- Highly developed communications skills for interacting with clients effectively. Can independently handle difficult client situations.
- Ability to maintain a courteous, professional manner with clients at all times and work well under stress.
- Ability to interface internally with all departments and externally with outside sales, clients, and partners.
- Ability to work effectively under remote supervision.
Language Skills
- Ability to have command of the English language and to be recognized as an excellent presenter.
- Ability to make public presentations that are technically sound, clearly understood and reach both technical and executive staff.
- Ability to read, analyze, and interpret common scientific and technical journals, financial reports, and legal documents.
- Ability to respond to common inquiries or complaints from customers, regulatory agencies, or members of the business community.
- Ability to write speeches and articles for publication that conform to prescribed style and format.
- Ability to effectively present information to top management.
- Ability to Develop, Create and respond to Technical Requests for Proposals (RFP’s)
- Ability to Design and Create Complex Server & Storage Assessment Documents as well as Disaster Recovery Plans.
- Mathematical Skills
- Ability to work with mathematical concepts such as probability and statistical inference.
- Ability to apply concepts such as fractions, percentages, ratios, and proportions to practical situations.
- Ability to apply information from data collection tools (such as Storage Essentials, DR Scout, etc) and create graphs and charts in Excel for Clients presentations and reports.
Certificates, Licenses, Registrations
- CCNA in more than one of the following areas
- Routing and Switching
- Design
- Network Security
- Service Provider
- Storage Networking
- Voice
- Wireless
- CCIE in any of the above disciplines
- CCDE
- HP Master ASE Certification (HP ProCurve Campus LANs [2010])
- APC – HP Virtualization Solutions [2010]
- APC -- HP Proliant Server Solutions [2009]
- APP – HP Enterprise Solutions [2010]
- Drivers License
- Please refer to attached Certification and Training Specifications for your list of custom requirements.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential function of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable an otherwise qualified individual with a disability to perform the essential functions.
Position requires manual dexterity to perform word processing and computer-related tasks. Able to see, hear and talk. Able to lift 50lbs regularly. Able to drive an automobile.
WORK ENVIRONMENT
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential function of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable an otherwise qualified individual with a disability to perform the essential functions. Up to 80% of time is spent in the field, performing client consulting.
Certification and Training Specifications
The ideal candidate will have a Cisco / ProCurve / 3Com Credential
This certification requires you to be recognized as a expert in large enterprise IT infrasture design and implementation. You will also be required to obtain appropriate certifications from HP on their enterprise products.
Certification: Master ASE – HP ProCurve Campus LANs [2010]
Availability: 13 October 2009
Overview:
This certification validates that a networking professional who already has expert knowledge in Cisco networking understands the differences between Cisco and HP ProCurve and is proficient in working with the ProCurve product line.
Target Audience:
HP partner, employee or customer technical professionals who design, implement or support sophisticated networking solutions
Summary of Requirements:
The candidate for this certification must already possess 1 prerequisite third party certification and must successfully complete 1 core requirement exam. In addition, the training course is highly recommended.
Prerequisite 1:
Choose 1 of 7 Cisco third party certifications
- Cisco Certified Design Expert (CCDE)
- Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) Routing and Switching
- Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) Security
- Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) Service Provider
- Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) Storage Networking
- Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) Voice
- Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) Wireless
Core Requirements:
Exam HP2-Z04: Building HP ProCurve Campus LANs Recommended Training:
Course 00114022: HP ProCurve Campus LANs, Rev. 9.41
Delivery Format: Web-based training (WBT)
Typical Duration: 4 hours
Why earn this certification:
If you have already developed the expert-level technical knowledge and skills to work with Cisco networking solutions, you can build upon this foundation to learn to work with HP ProCurve products and solutions – thus increasing your customer engagements and sales.
The training course covers the HP ProCurve product line; the terminology similarities and differences between ProCurve and Cisco; basic switch, wireless and WAN configuration and management; building the network; and obtaining ProCurve information and software. With this knowledge and your Master ASE certification, you can recommend, design and implement ProCurve networking solutions to meet customer requirements.
You can expect to gain expertise in:
- Configuration and management of HP ProCurve switches
- Multiple Instance Spanning Tree (commonly referenced as 802.1s)
- Link Aggregation Protocols
- 802.11 Wireless Technologies
- IPv4 RIP and OSPF Routing
- AAA Security Implementation and Function
- IPv4 Multicast Protocol Operation
- 802.1Q Virtual LANs
- DHCP Snooping and ARP Protection
- Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP)
APPENDIX A
NTH Corporate Culture
- Has a positive “can do” attitude with clients and co-workers. Takes ownership of problems and thinks outside of the box, to find creative solutions, quickly resolve problems and help clients maintain a consistently high degree of uptime.
- Works quickly and efficiently to solve problems.
- Does not take unnecessary risks when performing tasks. Always operates in a professional and courteous manner. Always strives to be a model citizen and truly believes in the motto “The Customer is Always Right!”
- Always goes the extra mile to get the job done completely. Does not cut corners or put off documentation or paperwork and understands that teamwork and sharing knowledge is essential to both the company’s and one’s own personal success. Cheerfully assists others when asked, even if outside of the job description.
- Collaborates well with other employees and client staff. Speaks up when necessary to make sure that proper procedures are followed by all workers and ethical business practices are adhered to at all times.
- Projects a positive, friendly attitude, and does not complain to clients, vendors, partners and co-workers. Contributes to the morale of those around and does not put oneself or another’s physical safety in jeopardy.
Please Email your resume (in Word format preferred) to careers@nth.com. Please include job title and job code in the subject line.
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