Senior Solutions Architect

About Nerdery and Being a “Nerd.” 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. We are looking for a Senior Solutions Architect join our team! We invite you to check out the details below and consider whether becoming a Nerd is the next step in your career journey. As a key contributor within Nerdery’s Cloud, Data, and AI Platforms (CDAP) business unit, the Senior (Sr.) Solutions Architect holds a pivotal role that significantly impacts our business trajectory. Central to this responsibility is a deep understanding of our customers' and prospects' business intricacies and pain points. The Sr. Solutions Architect's core task is to turn early-stage opportunities into well-qualified, de-risked, and accurately scoped solutions. They should surface the technical risks that threaten projects before they’re priced, and communicate the value of the solution in a way that builds customer confidence and momentum to close. This role requires a deeply specialized expert in the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) ecosystem. You will lead pre-sales efforts by crafting complex solutions using GCP technologies, with a particular emphasis on Data, AI, and Cloud Infrastructure use cases. This includes developing technical architectures, implementation plans, and detailed Statements of Work (SOWs). 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. Requirements: 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. What You'll Do: 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. What Skills Will Help You Be A Successful Nerd? 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. Are We the Right Fit For You? The best way to get the scoop on whether Nerdery is the right place for you is to chat with current Nerds. We would be delighted to have a conversation with you and share insight into what it’s really like to work at our organization and if it’s a place where you can thrive. Our interview process will provide you ample opportunity to talk with other team members and assess whether the role is a good fit for your next chapter. Take the first step and apply today – our Talent Advocates will then reach out to you to get the ball rolling! Physical Demands and Work Environment The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable Accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions. Sitting for extended periods: will spend significant time in meetings, presentations, and computer use. Occasional standing and walking: will need to move around during presentations and client interactions. Light lifting: may need to lift and carry laptops, presentation materials, or other light objects. Computer Use: Extensive use of a keyboard, mouse, and computer screen for extended periods. Ability to adjust focus between screen and documents. Public Speaking: requires frequent public speaking, including presenting technical solutions to clients. Reaching: Reaching for items on a desk, retrieving documents, or working with equipment is required. Lifting: Occasional lifting of light objects (e.g., laptops, peripherals) may be necessary. Office Environment: The work environment is primarily an office setting, with typical office equipment and noise levels. On-site demos: some work might involve on-site client visits and demonstrations, possibly requiring some walking and standing for extended periods. Disclaimer: Must be legally authorized to work within the country of employment without sponsorship for employment visa status. Nerdery is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal, state and local fair employment practice laws. Nerdery strictly prohibits and does not tolerate discrimination against employees, applicants or any other covered persons because of race, color, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, gender (including gender nonconformity and status as a transgender or transsexual individual), pregnancy, marital status, familial status, age, physical or mental disability, citizenship, past, current or prospective service in the uniformed services, genetic information, membership or activity in a local human rights commission, status with regard to public assistance or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state or local law. All employees, other workers and representatives of Nerdery are prohibited from engaging in unlawful discrimination. Nerdery will ensure that all employment practices are free of such discrimination. Such employment practices include, but are not limited to: hiring, promotion, demotion, transfer, recruitment or recruitment advertising, selection, layoff, disciplinary action, termination, compensation, benefits, selection for training, including apprenticeship and other terms and conditions of employment. Nerdery will also provide reasonable accommodation to applicants and employees with disabilities pursuant to all applicable laws. Nerdery will never request a chat interview. All interviews are conducted either in person or through Google Meets. Additionally, Nerdery exclusively uses email addresses ending with @‌Nerdery.com If you have questions about any correspondence you receive regarding an opportunity at Nerdery, please reach out to [email protected]. Compensation The base pay range for this role is $190,000 – $200,000 per year.