Data and AI Architect, Senior Manager

1026 Avanade Inc. Company; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 177,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Avanade seeks a Senior Manager to lead origination and pre-sales solutioning for agentic AI on the Microsoft stack. You will steer C-level conversations, architect scalable proposals, and coordinate cross-functional teams from Accenture, Avanade, and Microsoft to deliver transformative outcomes.

You’ll guide reference architectures and POCs, ensuring secure-by-design solutions, governance, and risk management across the enterprise AI lifecycle.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 10 years in consulting/technology.
• 5+ years leading pre-sales solutioning or architecture for cloud/data/AI programs, ideally on Microsoft.
• Minimum of 3 years hands-on architecture or supervision with Microsoft Foundry, Azure OpenAI, Azure AI Search, Copilot Studio, Microsoft Fabric.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end pursuit leadership for agentic AI opportunities: discovery, value hypothesis, solution blueprint, estimation, risk posture, and governance.
• Craft crisp, board-level narratives that connect business problems to agentic AI outcomes.
• Define reference architectures for agentic workflows, orchestration, retrieval, guardrails, and observability on Azure.

Skills

Executive storytelling

Deal shaping

C-level communication

Team leadership

client engagement

mentored cross-functional teams

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

Azure OpenAI Service

Azure AI Foundry

Copilot Studio

Azure ML

Job description

You Are:

A Senior Manager who is part strategist, part consultant, and part hands‑on practitioner. You’re as comfortable in the boardroom as you are in a whiteboard session with architects. You shape complex deals, craft executive‑ready narratives, and lead multidisciplinary teams to turn agentic AI concepts into secure, production‑ready solutions on the Microsoft stack. You thrive at the intersection of client value, technical depth, and storytelling. The Work As a Microsoft-specialized Agentic AI Senior Manager in AMBG, you will lead origination and pre‑sales solutioning for high‑impact opportunities, steer C‑suite conversations, and provide technical leadership across the Microsoft AI platform.

You’ll create compelling visions and roadmaps, architect solution approaches (from POV to pilot to scaled deployment), and orchestrate cross‑functional teams from Accenture, Avanade, and Microsoft to win and deliver transformative outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

Deal Shaping & Pre Sales Solutioning Own end‑to‑end pursuit leadership for agentic AI opportunities: discovery, value hypothesis, solution blueprint, estimation, risk/RAI posture, and commercial constructs; partner closely with AMBG sellers and Microsoft field teams. Translate business strategies into technical architectures using Microsoft 365 Copilot, Dynamics 365 Copilots, Copilot Studio, Azure AI Foundry (Azure AI Studio), Azure OpenAI Service, Azure AI Search, Azure AI Agent Service, Azure ML, and Microsoft Fabric. Build defendable, scalable proposals and SOWs; align solution scope, staffing model, and delivery approach to client outcomes and risk profile. C-level Storytelling & Executive Advisory Craft crisp, board‑level narratives that connect industry problems to agentic AI outcomes; use data‑backed storytelling to secure executive sponsorship and funding. (Aligned to Senior Manager executive communication expectations.) Facilitate exec workshops to shape transformation agendas, operating models, value cases, and governance for Copilots and autonomous agents. Technical Leadership & Architecture Define reference architectures and patterns for agentic workflows (planning, reasoning, tools, memory), orchestration, retrieval (RAG), evaluation, guardrails, and observability on Azure. Guide teams building POCs and accelerators with Copilot Studio (low‑code) and Azure AI Foundry (pro‑code), including Prompt Flow‑based evals, content safety, and end‑to‑end MLOps/GenAIOps. Ensure secure‑by‑design solutions across identity, data, Responsible AI, compliance, and lifecycle governance for enterprise deployment. Delivery Readiness & Scale Create phased roadmaps (POV → pilot → scaled rollout), acceptance criteria, KPIs, and value tracking to realize outcomes post‑sale. Coach and upskill cross‑functional teams (strategy, industry, data/AI, Modern Work, Security) to deliver repeatable outcomes and reuse accelerators. Ecosystem Orchestration Operate as one with Accenture, Avanade, and Microsoft—co‑innovating, co‑selling, and co‑delivering; align to Microsoft programs and co‑funding where appropriate. Travel may be required for this role. The amount of travel will vary from 05% to 100% depending on business need and client requirements.

Here’s What You Need:

Minimum of 10 years in consulting/technology, including 5+ years leading pre‑sales solutioning or architecture for cloud/data/AI programs, ideally on Microsoft. Minimum of 10 years of experience and ability to craft solution options, estimates, delivery models, and risk mitigations; collaborate with deal teams on pricing, T&Cs, and governance. Minimum of 3 years of hands‑on architecture or supervision experience with Microsoft Foundry, Azure OpenAI Service, Azure AI Search, Azure AI Agent Service, Azure ML, Prompt Flow/evaluations, and Microsoft Fabric; fluency in when to use Copilot Studio vs. pro‑code approaches. Minimum of 10 years of experience leading multi‑disciplinary teams across strategy, industry, data/AI engineering, and change management; strong coaching and “lead‑from‑the‑front” ethos Bachelor's degree or equivalent (minimum 12 years) work experience. (If Associate’s Degree, must have minimum 6 years work experience) Professional Skills Requirement Practical knowledge of Responsible AI, identity, security, data governance, and deployment guardrails for enterprise AI. Strong, C-level communicationand consulting skills and ability to engage business and technology stakeholders. Ability to lead large, multidisciplinary technical teams. Structured,value-driven,problem‑solvingmindset.

Bonus Points If:

• You’ve led end‑to‑end agentic AI business process transformations.
• You’ve shipped Copilot Studio solutions and Azure AI Foundry agents in regulated industries (FS, H&PS), including content safety, evals, and monitoring.
• You bring industry POVs (e.g., Fabric‑enabled data modernization → agentic workflows → function transformation) and can connect them to measurable business KPIs.

Compensation

Avanade offers a market competitive suite of benefits including medical, dental, vision, life, and long‑term disability coverage, a 401(k) plan, bonus opportunities, paid holidays, and paid time off.

• California - $176,800 - $217,550
• Cleveland - $164,000 - $194,750
• Colorado - $164,000 - $194,750
• District of Columbia - $183,200 - $217,550
• Illinois - $176,800 - $209,950
• Maryland - $183,200 - $217,550
• Massachusetts - $183,200 - $217,550
• Minnesota - $176,800 - $209,950
• New York / New Jersey - $194,400 - $230,850
• Washington - $183,200 - $217,550

Benefits Information

U.S. Employee Benefits | Avanade Information on benefits is here.

At Avanade, we advance the world through the power of people and Microsoft. Join us to shape your skills and the future with bold ideas and innovative solutions. Our partnership with Microsoft and Accenture empowers you to unlock your full potential. Working at Avanade offers the chance to build a career path that suits your skills and interests and the freedom to be your authentic self. We are committed to your growth, well‑being, and success. This is where passion meets opportunity, technology meets humanity, and every challenge is a chance to make a genuine impact on colleagues, clients, and communities. Together, we do what matters.