Field Solution Architect, ERATE

What We Do

We calm the confusion of IT by guiding the connection between people and technology. If a customer is looking for a better way to manage their warehouse inventory, equip their workforce, or secure their data, we make it happen. All it takes is finding the right combination of tech hardware, software, cloud solutions, and support services. That’s what we do. We’re the IT Department’s IT Department.

Who We Are

Our team is made stronger by a multitude of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. It’s what makes Connection unique—what drives us to innovate and create technology solutions that stand apart from the crowd. We’d love for you to be a part of that fabric, to share your ideas and experiences with a team that thrives on fresh thinking, creativity, and helping others.

Why You Should Join Us

You’ll find supportive teammates and a rewarding career at Connection—plus great benefits. We take pride in supporting employees with a total rewards package that provides financial, emotional, and physical resources for you and your family.  Our compensation, 401k plans, medical insurance, and other benefits are progressive and competitive.  We value the importance of our employees’ emotional wellbeing. To support employees, we provide free therapy visits, mental health coaching and tools, and meditation resources. You’ll also enjoy a generous paid time off package that includes not only vacation and sick time, but also Wellness and Volunteer Time Off days. 

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time.

Connection is looking for a motivated, customer-focused technical professional to join our team as a Field Solution Architect supporting our Public Sector E-rate business. This is an excellent opportunity for someone in the Tampa, FL area who has foundational networking knowledge, preferably with Cisco technologies, and is ready to grow into a broader presales solution architecture role through training, mentorship, and hands-on customer engagement.

In this role, you will help support networking-focused opportunities for K-12, higher education, government, and other public sector customers. You will partner with Account Managers, Sales teams, vendor partners, and experienced technical resources to understand customer needs, document requirements, support solution recommendations, and learn how to deliver meaningful technology outcomes for customers using Connection’s broad solution portfolio.

This role will require understanding and experience with ERATE programs and policies as well as collaboration with services partners to execute ERATE projects.

• Support Public Sector networking opportunities by helping discover, qualify, and document customer requirements.
• Partner with Account Managers, Sales teams, vendor partners, and internal technical resources to support customer conversations and solution development.
• Assist with networking-focused recommendations involving switching, routing, wireless, security, and related infrastructure solutions.
• Ask thoughtful discovery questions to better understand customer environments, timelines, procurement requirements, funding considerations, and business outcomes.
• Participate in sales team calls, opportunity reviews, customer planning discussions, and internal enablement activities.
• Learn public sector and E-rate sales cycles, including eligible solution categories, documentation expectations, and customer funding considerations.
• Pursue assigned vendor training, technical sales certifications, and internal learning paths to continue developing your skills.
• Support customer-facing and internal events as a technical sales-support and enablement resource.

Because of the possibility for fraudulent job postings on many popular job boards, please be advised that Connection will never offer a position of employment without a complete interview process and communication with a “live person".  

• Experience and understanding of ERATE programs and policies
• Ability to manage services partners to collaborate on execution on ERATE opportunities
• An understanding of leading manufacturers routing and switching architecture.
• Ability to lead and conduct workshops and demonstrations.
• Experience with storage and virtualization products from leading manufacturers.
• Demonstrates an understanding of Converged Infrastructure concepts and the benefits that Cloud solutions provide.
• Working knowledge and/or familiarity with the following technologies would be helpful but Cisco Networking skills are required.
  • HP, Dell, Lenovo and Cisco Blade and Rack Servers systems and related storage products
  • Enterprise Storage Arrays - HP, EMC, IBM, Dell, NetApp
  • Converged and/or Hyper-Converged platforms
  • Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Software Defined Data Center (SDDC)
  • Cloud Solution Offerings and providers
  • VMware, Citrix, and Microsoft products
  • Microsoft Enterprise environment
  • Linux, UNIX or AIX Enterprise environment
  • Data Center consolidation and Cloud solutions
  • Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
• Verifiably successful professional Business-to-Business solutions selling experience with account planning skills and experience with up-sell and cross-sell strategies
• Excellent time management and prioritization with strong organizational skills
• Excellent oral and written communication skills with ability to prepare and deliver presentations which clearly and articulately demonstrate the value proposition.
• Advance negotiation skills.