Microsoft Presales Architect - MA/NH/RI/CT/ME Area

Blue Mantis; Massachusetts; Remote; USD 190,000 - 205,000; Full time

Job summary

Blue Mantis seeks a Microsoft Presales Architect to bridge sales and delivery, translating client needs into Azure-focused designs. You will lead discovery, shape solution architectures, and present recommendations that balance technical depth with business value in a fully remote setup.

The role emphasizes security, governance, and operational best practices across Azure, Microsoft 365, and related services, with a focus on guiding customers through transformation, funding opportunities, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent experience.
• Strong Azure, Microsoft 365, and security architecture experience.
• Experience in pre-sales, solution design, and proposals.
• Experience with cost modeling and licensing for Microsoft solutions.
• Excellent communication and client-facing skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead discovery sessions to identify business challenges and requirements.
• Develop Microsoft-focused solution designs and cross-practice architectures.
• Present architectures linking design to business outcomes.
• Support proposals, RFP responses, and SOWs.
• Collaborate with sales and delivery teams to align scope and timelines.
• Incorporate security and governance best practices.

Skills

Azure architecture

Microsoft 365

Security governance

IT architecture

Cost modeling

Pre-sales

Regulatory & compliance

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field

Microsoft certifications (preferred)

Tools

Bicep

Terraform

Ansible

Job description

Department: Blue Mantis

Location: Remote

Compensation: $190,000 - $205,000 / year

Description

The Microsoft Presales Architect serves as a critical link between sales and delivery by translating client needs into actionable, scalable Microsoft-focused solutions. Operating at the intersection of business and technology, this role leads discovery, develops solution designs, validates feasibility, and presents recommendations that balance technical depth with business value. Beyond aligning needs, wants, and budget, the role influences each opportunity toward Microsoft funding and toward outcomes that grow the full customer relationship across CSP licensing, Professional Services, Managed Services, and Security.

This role is highly client-facing and requires strong communication skills to engage both executive and technical audiences while collaborating internally to support opportunity conversion and revenue growth. The ideal candidate brings strong Azure architecture expertise, broad fluency across the Microsoft ecosystem, and the ability to assess a customer’s current state and guide practical next steps within a broader Microsoft adoption and modernization journey.

This role must consistently incorporate security, governance, and operational best practices so customers understand not only what can be built, but what good looks like. We are looking for someone with the curiosity, drive, and ambition to grow with the practice.

Key Responsibilities

Client Engagement and Solution Design

• Work alongside sales teams to understand customer business goals, challenges, and current Microsoft maturity.
• Lead client discovery sessions to identify business challenges, technical requirements, constraints, risks, and readiness factors.
• Assess the customer’s current environment and align recommendations to the Microsoft Practice’s target transformation framework and operating model.
• Develop Microsoft-focused solution designs and cross-practice architectures that are secure, scalable, and aligned to delivery objectives.
• Present solution architectures in a way that connects technical design to business outcomes and clearly communicates the value of the Microsoft ecosystem.
• Collaborate with clients and internal teams to refine scope, assumptions, deliverables, and success criteria for proposed solutions.
• Guide customers toward practical next steps by helping them understand the architectural, operational, and security implications of current-state decisions.

Technical Leadership and Advisory

• Serve as a subject matter expert for Microsoft solutions across Azure, Microsoft 365, Security, Identity, Devices, Data, and related platform services.
• Bring deep technical credibility in Azure architecture, including migration, modernization, landing zones, governance, and hybrid integration.
• Demonstrate strong working knowledge of how Microsoft workloads across Azure, Microsoft 365, Security, Fabric, and AI-related services work together.
• Incorporate prescriptive security thinking into solution design, including identity, device, data, access, and workload protection considerations.
• Guide customers toward secure, supportable, and operationally mature solutions, especially where they need a clear best-practice approach rather than deep regulatory specialization.
• Recognize when specialist support is needed and collaborate effectively across internal and external subject matter experts.

Proposal Development and Opportunity Support

• Develop cost modeling and level-of-effort estimates, including licensing, Microsoft consumption considerations, partner solutions, and Professional Services or Delivery requirements.
• Estimate resources, costs, and timelines for proposed Microsoft-focused solutions.
• Prepare and deliver technical pitches, proposals, and Statements of Work.
• Support RFP responses by designing Microsoft-aligned solutions, answering technical questions, and aligning delivery resources.
• Document solution architectures and ensure consistency across proposals and implementations.
• Support account executives in technical presentations, demonstrations, and customer workshops.
• Influence opportunities to align Professional Services, Microsoft cloud adoption, and eligible Microsoft funding, shaping engagements to be fundable and defensible without presenting funding as committed before it is approved.
• Ensure pricing is accurate so revenue, margin, and discounting are right before a proposal reaches the customer.

Microsoft Ecosystem Advisory

• Position Microsoft solutions as part of a broader ecosystem rather than isolated tools or one-time projects.
• Help customers connect tactical initiatives such as email migration, security hardening, device management, Azure adoption, and governance work to a broader Microsoft operating model.
• Articulate the business and operational value of Microsoft platform integration, including simplification, reduced tool sprawl, stronger governance, improved signal sharing, and better user experience.
• Support Microsoft co-sell and field collaboration on appropriate accounts by engaging effectively with Microsoft sellers, specialists, and account team stakeholders.
• Structure opportunities so CSP licensing, Microsoft-funded engagements, Professional Services, Managed Services, and Security build on each other and grow overall revenue with the customer.

Collaboration and Delivery Alignment

• Partner with delivery teams to validate scope, resource requirements, assumptions, and feasibility.
• Conduct internal handoffs to delivery, clarifying architecture decisions, dependencies, risks, and customer expectations to ensure continuity.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to improve consistency in how Microsoft solutions are positioned, scoped, and handed off.
• Work closely with sales leadership, practice leadership, and delivery stakeholders to ensure recommendations align with business priorities and execution realities.

Continuous Improvement and Knowledge Sharing:

• Contribute reusable assets, reference architectures, discovery inputs, and solution blueprints to the pre-sales function.
• Apply the practice’s standard offerings, reference architectures, and pricing guidance, and share field feedback that improves them.
• Stay current with Microsoft technologies, funding motions, solution plays, and industry best practices, sharing insights with colleagues and customers.
• Provide mentorship and training to junior members of the broader go-to-market teams.
• Participate in internal review meetings, debriefings, and retrospectives to improve pre-sales processes, solution quality, and handoff consistency.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

Technical Skills

• Strong background in enterprise IT architecture with particular emphasis on Microsoft cloud and hybrid solutions.
• Deep expertise in Azure architecture, including infrastructure, networking, identity integration, governance, migration, modernization, and platform services.
• Strong working knowledge across adjacent Microsoft domains such as Microsoft 365, Entra, Intune, Defender, Purview, Fabric, and Power Platform.
• Proficiency in designing cross-solution Microsoft architectures that span multiple technology domains and business outcomes.
• Familiarity with cost modeling, licensing, Microsoft consumption considerations, and delivery resource planning.
• In-depth understanding of infrastructure-as-a-service, platform-as-a-service, and software-as-a-service models.
• Strong understanding of enterprise networking and security technologies, especially as they relate to Microsoft cloud adoption and hybrid environments.
• Strong understanding of modern security architecture principles, including identity-centric security, conditional access, endpoint management, data protection, governance, and secure workload design.
• Familiarity with regulatory and compliance frameworks such as GDPR, HIPAA, and SOC 2, while being able to apply practical best-practice guidance even when customers are not operating in heavily regulated environments.
• Familiarity with automation and Infrastructure-as-Code tools such as Bicep, Terraform and Ansible.
• Experience with Microsoft solution architectures for midmarket and enterprise customers across industries such as healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, legal, retail, and related sectors.

Business and Soft Skills

• Strong client-facing presentation and communication skills.
• Ability to align Microsoft technical solutions with business challenges and value drivers.
• Ability to assess customer maturity and translate current-state reality into practical next steps within a broader Microsoft transformation journey.
• Ability to articulate the advantages of the Microsoft ecosystem clearly to both executive and technical audiences.
• Proven experience supporting pre-sales engagements and proposal development.
• Excellent problem-solving abilities and strong solution design judgment.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities simultaneously.
• Experience with pipeline management and CRM tools.
• Capable of working independently and as part of cross-functional teams.
• Ability to cultivate and nurture strong relationships with key client stakeholders to foster trust.
• Strong judgment in balancing ideal-state architecture with delivery practicality, customer readiness, and commercial realities.
• Curiosity and ownership, including the confidence to challenge a request when a better path exists for the customer.

Education and Certifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field, or equivalent experience.
• Microsoft certifications are strongly preferred, particularly those aligned to Azure architecture, Microsoft 365 administration, endpoint management, and security.

Strong preference for candidates holding one or more of the following

• Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate
• Microsoft Certified: Azure