Job Description
Role Summary
The Deal Architect is a senior strategic leader responsible for shaping, designing, and governing complex multi‑million–dollar technology and managed services deals. This role is central to orchestrating end‑to‑end solutioning across technical, commercial, delivery, and contractual components of large strategic pursuits. With 18+ years of experience, the Deal Architect acts as the linchpin between customers, sales, delivery, and domain specialists—ensuring that the final solution is winnable, deliverable, cost‑optimised, and aligned with the customer’s business outcomes.
Key Responsibilities
1. Deal & Solution Architecture Leadership
- Lead the architecture of complex, multi‑tower solutions covering cloud, data, digital engineering, service management, platforms, and application modernization.
- Translate high‑level business requirements into integrated technical, service, and commercial solution frameworks.
- Govern solution integrity across technology, delivery, transition, pricing, and contractual streams.
2. Strategic Pursuit Ownership
- Own and orchestrate end‑to‑end solution development for major RFPs, RFIs, and sole‑source pursuits.
- Gate the progression of opportunities by evaluating strategic fit, solution feasibility, delivery risk, and commercial viability.
- Drive and document win themes, value propositions, differentiators, and commercial levers.
3. Cross‑Functional Orchestration
- Coordinate with Solution Architects, Technical Directors, Domain Advisors, Finance, Legal, Delivery, and Commercial teams.
- Ensure all pursuit artefacts (SOWs, pricing sheets, TOM, SLAs/XLAs, transition plans) align to a cohesive solution.
- Facilitate solution workshops, customer discovery sessions, and deep‑dive technical/operational interviews.
4. Financial & Commercial Architecture
- Shape pricing models including T&M, Fixed Price, Outcome‑based, or Managed Service constructs.
- Ensure commercial solutions reflect risk‑adjusted costing, transition/run budgets, and margin expectations.
- Challenge cost inputs, optimise delivery models (onshore/nearshore/offshore), and improve deal competitiveness.
5. Governance & Compliance
- Lead internal solution reviews, Red Team/Black Hat sessions, and CXO sign‑offs.
- Ensure alignment with enterprise frameworks, risk controls, security standards, and architectural governance.
- Validate compliance with customer‑mandated standards, due diligence requirements, and regulatory expectations.
6. Customer Engagement
- Act as a senior customer‑facing solution leader in orals, workshops, and commercial negotiations.
- Build executive‑level trust by articulating solution rationale, trade‑offs, delivery models, and roadmap visions.
7. Knowledge Leadership
- Mentor junior architects and presales contributors.
- Evolve solution patterns, playbooks, reusable assets, cost models, and value accelerators.
- Contribute to thought leadership and industry‑aligned solution frameworks.
Qualifications
Required Experience
Technical & Architectural
- End‑to‑end architecture expertise across Cloud (AWS/Azure), Data Platforms, Integration, Modern Applications, DevOps, and Enterprise IT landscapes
- Experience designing large-scale multi‑tower solutions including:
- Cloud migrations & managed services
- Digital transformation programmes
- Multi‑region delivery frameworks
- Service management & automation pipelines
- Security & governance overlays
Commercial & Financial
- Extensive experience building complex pricing models for multi‑year deals.
- Strong understanding of cost structures, resource models, rate cards, GP/NP levers, and risk buffers.
- Exposure to constructing managed service contracts with SLAs, XLAs, KPIs, and outcome‑based models.
Pre‑Sales & Pursuit Experience
- Proven track record working on competitive RFPs, framework renewals, and large strategic deals.
- Experience interacting with CxO stakeholders, procurement teams, and architecture governance boards.
- Ability to run deal strategy cycles, competitive analysis, and bid optimisation.
Cross‑Functional Skills
- Ability to orchestrate large virtual teams across sales, delivery, architecture, finance, and legal.
- Excellent communication, storytelling, and executive‑level presentation ability.
- Strong stakeholder management and negotiation capabilities.
Core Competencies
Strategic
- Enterprise‑level architectural thinking
- Business-case modelling & commercial optimisation
- Market, industry, and competitive insight
- Innovation & value engineering mindset
Technical
- Multi‑cloud architectures (Azure/AWS)
- Data, integration, and automation frameworks
- Modern engineering practices (CI/CD, DevOps, SRE)
- Security & compliance frameworks
Behavioural
- Executive presence and gravitas
- Structured problem-solving
- Collaborative leadership
- High resilience under bid pressure
- Ability to navigate ambiguity and derive clarity
Preferred Qualifications
- Bachelor’s / Master’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or related field
- Certifications: TOGAF, AWS/Azure Architect, ITIL, PMP/Prince2 (optional)
- Experience in consulting, system integration, or managed services environments
- Experience engaging with global delivery models
Additional Information
Why Version 1?
At Version 1, we believe in providing our employees with a comprehensive benefits package that prioritises their wellbeing, professional growth, and financial stability.
- Share in our success with our Quarterly Performance-Related Profit Share Scheme, where employees collectively benefit from a share of our company's profits
- Strong Career Progression & mentorship coaching through our Strength in Balance & Leadership schemes with a dedicated quarterly Pathways Career Development programme
- Flexible/remote working, Version 1 is tremendously understanding of life events and people’s individual circumstances and offer flexibility to help achieve a healthy work life balance
- Financial Wellbeing initiatives including; Pension, Private Healthcare Cover, Life Assurance, Financial advice and an Employee Discount scheme
- Employee Wellbeing schemes including Gym Discounts, Bike to Work, Fitness classes, Mindfulness Workshops, Employee Assistance Programme and much more. Generous holiday allowance, enhanced maternity/paternity leave, marriage/civil partnership leave and special leave policies
- Educational assistance, incentivised certifications, and accreditations, including AWS, Microsoft, Oracle, and Red Hat
- Reward schemes including Version 1’s Annual Excellence Awards & ‘Call-Out’ platform.
- Environment, Social and Community First initiatives allow you to get involved in local fundraising and development opportunities as part of fostering our diversity, inclusion and belonging schemes.
And many more exciting benefits… drop us a note to find out more.
Version 1 is an equal opportunities employer.
We are committed to building a diverse, inclusive and respectful workplace where everyone feels valued and able to thrive. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, identities and lived experiences, and we value the different perspectives people bring including those shaped by disability and neurodiversity.
We want every candidate to have a positive and accessible recruitment experience. If you need reasonable adjustments at any stage of the process, please contact your recruiter at Version 1. We will consider all requests carefully, respectfully and confidentially.
Paul.Steed@version1.com #LI-PS1
Company Description
Version 1 has celebrated 30 years in business and continues to be trusted by global brands to deliver technology and transformation solutions that drive customer success. Our deep expertise enables our customers to navigate the rapidly evolving technology landscape. We foster strong partnerships with global technology leaders including Microsoft, AWS, Oracle, Red Hat, OutSystems, Snowflake, ensuring that our customers are provided with the highest quality solutions and services.
We’re an award-winning employer reflecting how our employees are at the very heart of what we do:
- UK & Ireland's premier AWS, Microsoft & Oracle partner
- 4000+ strong, €450/£400m revenue business
- 10+ years as a Great Place to Work in Ireland & UK
- Best Workplace for Women in the UK & Ireland by GPTW
- Best Workplace for Wellbeing in the UK by GPTW
We’re a core values driven company, we hire people who share our values, and we reward those who display and foster them, it’s deeply embedded within our DNA. Invest in us and we’ll invest in you!.