Principal Architect (Presales and Bid Management)

DETASAD; Riyadh; On-site; SAR 300,000 - 600,000; Full time

Job summary

DETASAD seeks a Principal Architect to lead solution design, presales, and bid management for its cloud and ICT offerings in Saudi Arabia. You will shape winning proposals, architect scalable solutions, and coordinate cross-functional teams to win strategic deals.

The ideal candidate has 8–10 years in architecture and bid management, deep cloud and data center expertise, and strong stakeholder skills to drive business growth with DETASAD's cloud and partner ecosystems.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, IT, or related field.
• 8-10 years in solution architecture, technical presales, or bid management.
• Experience with complex ICT solutions and government tendering.
• Saudi ICT market and government tender experience preferred.

Responsibilities

• Design scalable, competitive solutions aligned with customer needs.
• Prioritize DETASAD Cloud and hyperscalers where required.
• Develop architectures, sizing, BoQs, and technical proposals.
• Lead customer workshops, presentations, and bid defenses.
• Coordinate bid activities with Sales, Product, and Business Lines.
• Identify risks, dependencies, and opportunities for cost optimization.

Skills

Solution architecture

Bid management

Presales

Cloud computing

Data centers

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering/IT

Master's degree preferred

Tools

MS Office

CRM

Job description

The Principal Architect leads solution design, presales, and technical bid activities to drive business growth. The role focuses on positioning DETASAD's own cloud services, followed by hyperscalers and integrated ICT solutions. The ideal candidate combines strong technical expertise, commercial awareness, and proven bid management experience.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Design scalable, competitive solutions aligned with customer needs.
• Prioritize DETASAD Cloud, leveraging hyperscalers where required.
• Develop solution architectures, HLDs, sizing, BoQs, and technical proposals.
• Lead customer workshops, technical presentations, and bid defenses.
• Position DETASAD's cloud, GPUaaS, AIaaS, cybersecurity, connectivity, and managed services.

Bid Management & Proposal Development

• Lead technical responses to RFPs, RFIs, and RFQs within deadlines.
• Prepare proposals, compliance matrices, BoQs, and licensing requirements.
• Coordinate bid activities across Sales, Product, and Business Lines.
• Identify technical risks, dependencies, and cost optimization opportunities.
• Ensure bid quality, governance compliance, and timely submissions.

Stakeholder & Partner Coordination

• Collaborate with Operations, Finance, Procurement, Legal, and partners.
• Engage OEMs for solution sizing, technical validation, and pricing.
• Ensure solution feasibility and structured handover to delivery teams.
• Develop reusable architectures, templates, and solution standards.

Important Requirements and Knowledge

• Strong communication, proposal writing, and presentation skills.
• Analytical, solution-oriented, and commercially driven mindset.
• Excellent stakeholder management and organizational skills.
• Ability to manage multiple bids under tight deadlines.
• Proficiency in MS Office and CRM; Arabic is an advantage.

JOB REQUIREMENTS

Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, IT, or related field; master's preferred.
• 8-10 years in solution architecture, technical presales, or bid management.
• Proven experience in complex ICT solutions and competitive RFPs.
• Saudi ICT market and government tender experience preferred.

Job Specific Skills/Competencies

• Cloud & Data Centers: Strong expertise in private/sovereign cloud, virtualization, compute, storage, backup, DR, and colocation. Ability to position DETASAD Cloud as the preferred offering, followed by AWS, Azure, and GCP.
• GPU Infrastructure & GPUaaS: NVIDIA GPUs, GPU virtualization, clustering, workload sizing, capacity planning, and GPUaaS models.
• AI-as-a-Service (AIaaS): AI/ML platforms, LLMs, Generative AI, RAG, MaaS, AI inference, and enterprise AI architectures.
• Enterprise AI: Predictive analytics, NLP, computer vision, automation, and cybersecurity AI.
• Enterprise Software: ERP/CRM (SAP, Oracle, Dynamics), ITSM, and system integration.
• Cloud-Native: Docker, Kubernetes, OpenShift, APIs, and microservices.
• Networking & Security: Enterprise networking, connectivity, cybersecurity, and managed services.
• Compliance: Knowledge of NCA, SDAIA, CST, NDMO, and KSA data residency requirements.
• Commercial Solutioning: BoQ/BoM, licensing, solution costing, vendor evaluation, and cost optimization.
• Travel: Occasional travel for customer meetings and industry events.