Solutions Architect

Sword is a leading provider of business technology solutions within the Energy, Public and Finance Sectors, driving transformational change within our clients.  We use proven technology, specialist teams and domain expertise to build solid technical foundations across platforms, data, and business applications.  We have a passion for using technology to solve business problems, working in partnership with our clients to help in achieving their goals. About the role: Provide technical leadership and solution architecture across customer opportunities, from initial discovery through solution design, proposal and transition into delivery Lead customer workshops to understand business, technical and operational requirements and translate these into appropriate solution architectures Design secure, resilient and scalable Network and Security solutions, with a primary focus on Cisco and Palo Alto technologies Develop solutions covering Enterprise Networking, SD-WAN, SDA, SASE/SSE, LAN, Wireless, Network Access Control and Cyber Security Support broader Hybrid Cloud opportunities spanning Cloud, Hyperconverged Infrastructure, Compute, Storage, Backup and associated networking/security Produce and review solution documentation including high-level designs, statements of work, bills of materials, assumptions, risks and technical proposals Provide technical input into bids, tenders, customer presentations and vendor engagements Work collaboratively with Sales, Pre-Sales, Delivery, Managed Services, vendors and technology partners to develop commercially viable solutions Maintain awareness of emerging technologies, particularly AI and its application across networking, security, infrastructure and managed services Requirements Strong enterprise networking architecture and design experience, ideally across the Cisco portfolio Strong knowledge of Cisco technologies including Catalyst Switching/Wireless, SD-WAN, SDA, ISE and associated management platforms Good understanding of modern SASE/SSE and Zero Trust architectures Strong Palo Alto Networks knowledge, including Next-Generation Firewalls and ideally Prisma Access / SASE technologies Good understanding of enterprise security principles including segmentation, identity-based access, remote access, firewalling and secure network architecture Broad infrastructure knowledge covering Hyperconverged Infrastructure, virtualisation, compute, enterprise storage and backup technologies Good understanding of Public and Hybrid Cloud architectures, particularly Microsoft Azure and AWS Ability to understand dependencies between Network, Security, Cloud and Infrastructure and design solutions holistically rather than within individual technology silos Experience developing HLDs, technical proposals, BoMs and Statements of Work and presenting solutions to technical and senior customer stakeholders Strong customer-facing consulting, discovery and communication skills with the ability to…