Solution Architect (Pre-sales) - MES, IIoT & Digitalization

Base Automation Technologies; Chennai District; On-site; INR 2,500,000 - 5,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Base Automation Technologies in India seeks a Solution Architect with Ignition expertise to lead pre-sales, solution design and technical delivery for MES, SCADA and IIoT projects. You will define high-level architectures, integrations with PLCs, ERP and databases, and guide application teams while ensuring feasibility and scalability across multi-site deployments.

The role requires strong customer engagement, workshops and PoC demonstrations to translate business needs into actionable

Qualifications

• Experience in industrial software and automation, MES/SCADA/IIoT.
• Extensive Ignition project execution experience.
• Experience in requirements gathering, design, architecture, integration and commissioning.
• Experience in pre-sales, solution consulting or solution architecture.
• Experience leading customer workshops and plant-level discussions.

Responsibilities

• Lead customer workshops, interviews and plant walkthroughs.
• Design high-level MES, SCADA, IIoT architectures and data flows.
• Define solution components, deployment architecture and interfaces.
• Provide technical guidance to delivery teams without acting as primary developer.
• Prepare demonstrations, PoCs, and ensure proposals reflect the proposed solution.
• Support sales through opportunity lifecycle and technical negotiations.

Skills

Ignition platform

Industrial automation

Pre-sales

Solution consulting

Stakeholder communication

Tools

Ignition modules

OPC UA

MQTT

SQL databases

ERP integration

Job description

Role & responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

Customer Discovery and Consulting

• Lead customer workshops, interviews and plant walkthroughs.
• Understand manufacturing processes, existing systems, pain points and digital maturity.
• Gather and document business, functional and technical requirements.
• Analyse AS-IS and TO-BE processes, workflows and data flows.
• Translate customer requirements into practical MES, IIoT and digitalization solutions.
• Advise customers on implementation priorities and phased digitalization roadmaps.

Solution Architecture

• Design high-level functional and technical architectures for MES, SCADA, IIoT, historian, traceability, reporting and analytics solutions.
• Define solution components, deployment architecture, data flows, interfaces and infrastructure requirements.
• Architect solutions for areas such as production execution, OEE, downtime, traceability, quality, recipe management, historian, reporting and utilities monitoring.
• Define integrations with PLCs, SCADA, ERP, databases, MQTT brokers and third-party applications.
• Perform fit-gap analysis and differentiate between standard functionality, configuration, integration and customization.
• Identify technical risks, assumptions, dependencies, exclusions and customer responsibilities.
• Ensure proposed solutions are feasible, scalable and aligned with BASE Automations delivery capabilities.

Ignition Technical Leadership

• Develop high-level Ignition solution architectures, including standalone, redundant, distributed and multi-site deployments.
• Recommend appropriate Ignition modules and licensing.
• Define how Ignition will integrate with PLCs, databases, ERP systems, historians, MQTT brokers and third-party applications.
• Review the overall architecture and solution approach of Ignition projects when required.
• Identify major platform limitations, dependencies and implementation risks during pre-sales.
• Provide technical guidance to application and delivery teams without acting as the primary developer.

Demonstrations and Proofs of Concept

• Prepare and deliver customer-specific demonstrations of MES, SCADA, historian and IIoT solutions.
• Convert customer pain points into clear demo and PoC scenarios.
• Define PoC requirements, assumptions, success criteria and expected outcomes.
• Work with application teams to ensure demonstrations reflect the proposed solution.
• Present solutions clearly to CXOs, plant heads, IT, OT and engineering stakeholders.
• Handle technical questions transparently without overcommitting platform capabilities.

Estimation and Proposal Support

• Estimate project effort, software licences, infrastructure, integration and third-party components.
• Prepare high-level implementation schedules and bills of materials.
• Support proposals, RFPs and RFQs.
• Develop scope of work, solution narratives, architecture, assumptions, dependencies, exclusions, timelines and risks.
• Ensure the technical and functional accuracy of proposal content.
• Avoid vague scope, unsupported commitments and unnecessary customization.

Sales and Delivery Collaboration

• Support the Sales Head throughout the opportunity lifecycle.
• Participate in customer meetings, workshops, presentations and technical negotiations.
• Position solutions in terms of business outcomes rather than only product features.
• Ensure a structured handover from pre-sales to delivery.
• Communicate customer requirements, scope, architecture, assumptions and risks to the project team.
• Remain involved during the initial stages of strategic projects to reduce gaps between sold and delivered scope.

Knowledge Development

• Develop reusable discovery templates, solution architectures, estimation models and proposal content.
• Maintain demo scenarios and industry-specific use cases.
• Share knowledge with sales, application and delivery teams.
• Mentor junior consultants and support the future development of a Solution Architecture team.
• Stay updated on MES, IIoT, Ignition, industrial data platforms and manufacturing digitalization trends.

Required Experience

• 812 years of experience in industrial software, automation, MES, SCADA, IIoT or manufacturing digitalization.
• At least 45 years of meaningful project execution experience on the Ignition platform.
• Experience in requirements gathering, functional design, solution architecture, integration, testing and commissioning.
• Experience in pre-sales, solution consulting, technical consulting or solution architecture.
• Experience leading customer workshops and plant-level discussions.

Preferred candidate profile

Ignition

Strong working knowledge of:

• Ignition Perspective and/or Vision
• Gateway architecture
• Redundancy and distributed architectures
• OPC UA and PLC connectivity
• Tag Historian
• SQL database integration
• Reporting and alarm management
• MQTT and related modules
• ERP and third-party system integration
• Ignition licensing and module selection

MES and Manufacturing

Strong understanding of:

• Production planning and work-order execution
• OEE and downtime management
• WIP tracking and production reporting
• Product genealogy and traceability
• Quality inspection and non-conformance
• Recipe and parameter management
• Material consumption and inventory interfaces
• Historian, dashboards and manufacturing KPIs
• Maintenance and utility monitoring integration

Integration and Architecture

Working knowledge of:

• PLC and SCADA integration
• OPC UA and MQTT
• SQL databases
• REST APIs and web services
• ERP integration
• Cloud and on-premises architectures
• Virtualisation, high availability and redundancy
• IT/OT integration and industrial cybersecurity principles