Principal Solutions Architect

Coalfire; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 113,000 - 189,000; Full time

Job summary

Coalfire in Chicago seeks a Principal Solutions Architect to define value-based, compliant security solutions for clients. You will lead complex pre-sales across advisory and risk management, translating objectives into clear proposals and implementation paths.

Role requires strong strategic account skills, cross-team collaboration, and the ability to govern scope and delivery with executive stakeholders. Travel is 25–35% for workshops and briefings.

Qualifications

• Experience supporting enterprise pre-sales and solution development.
• Eight+ years in selling, delivering, or managing compliance/audit solutions.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical and business conversations for strategic client opportunities.
• Build trusted-advisor relationships with client stakeholders.
• Translate objectives into practical solution options and decisions.
• Manage pre-sales to delivery continuity and client handoffs.
• Support client negotiations and cross-sell opportunities.

Skills

Strategic account management

Pre-sales experience

Client advisory

Solution design

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

About Coalfire

Coalfire is on a mission to make the world a safer place by solving our clients’ hardest cybersecurity challenges. We work at the cutting edge of technology to advise, assess, automate, and ultimately help companies navigate the ever-changing cybersecurity landscape. We are headquartered in Chicago, Illinois with offices across the U.S. and U.K., and we support clients around the world.

But that’s not who we are – that’s just what we do.

We are thought leaders, consultants, and cybersecurity experts, but above all else, we are a team of passionate problem-solvers who are hungry to learn, grow, and make a difference.

Position Summary

The Principal Solutions Architect provides technical, business, and compliance expertise to define practical, value-based solutions for Coalfire clients. The role supports Compliance and Assurance solutions and works across Coalfire’s broader portfolio, including Advisory and Risk Management and Application and Offensive Security.

The Principal Solutions Architect leads complex technical sales pursuits from qualification through close, serving as a trusted advisor to clients and an integrator across Business Development, delivery, product, partnerships, and executive leadership. The role translates client objectives, regulatory obligations, technology realities, delivery dependencies, and commercial constraints into clear solution approaches, scopes, proposals, and implementation pathways. This person is expected to operate effectively in strategic accounts, including situations requiring ambiguity reduction, escalation management, scope governance, and coordinated action across multiple internal and client stakeholders.

What You’ll Do

Strategic Account and Client Advisory

• Lead technical and business conversations for strategic or complex client opportunities, including discovery, qualification, needs assessment, executive briefings, workshops, and solution validation.
• Build trusted-advisor relationships with key client stakeholders; understand their evolving priorities, risks, operating constraints, and decision process.
• Translate business objectives and compliance obligations into practical solution options, including assumptions, tradeoffs, sequencing, dependencies, and client decisions required to proceed.
• Support executive-level account strategy, customer escalation management, and coordinated internal response when solution, scope, delivery, or commercial issues place an opportunity or relationship at risk.
• Maintain continuity from pre-sales into delivery by clarifying intended outcomes, handoffs, open decisions, and success criteria with client and internal stakeholders.

Solution Architecture, Scoping, and Commercial Execution

• Serve as solution architect for complex client requirements, defining client-specific approaches across compliance, cloud, security, technology, and operating-model considerations.
• Drive pre-sales technical activities from opportunity identification through closing, including discovery calls, needs assessments, solution scoping, proof of concepts, pilots, and technical validation.
• Partner with Business Development, delivery, finance, and other internal teams to develop proposals, statements of work, pricing models, estimates, assumptions, and value narratives.
• Develop and present architecture diagrams, implementation roadmaps, solution demonstrations, presentations, RFI/RFP responses, and other technical validation artifacts that make complex decisions understandable.
• Support client negotiations by explaining solution rationale, scope boundaries, commercial assumptions, delivery approach, and the value of Coalfire’s recommendations.
• Identify and articulate opportunities for cross-sell and expansion across Coalfire service lines when they materially improve client outcomes.

Scope, Delivery, and Risk Governance

• Establish and maintain clarity on scope, responsibilities, technical boundaries, prerequisites, dependencies, assumptions, and change-control requirements for complex pursuits and engagements.
• Partner with delivery teams and client stakeholders to align solution design with operational realities, delivery capacity, implementation sequencing, and support-model expectations.
• Surface risks, issues, and unresolved decisions early; facilitate the right conversations and documentation to enable timely resolution.
• Help define practical responsibility models, governance mechanisms, and operating approaches where multiple Coalfire teams, client teams, platforms, vendors, or business units are involved.
• Protect delivery quality and commercial integrity by distinguishing committed scope from future-state concepts, optional services, and changes requiring formal approval.

Partner and Ecosystem Collaboration

• Support partner relationships that strengthen client solutions, including technology partners, subcontractors, and complementary service providers.
• Coordinate with partner teams when their products, licensing, capabilities, support, or commercial models materially affect a client solution or outcome.
• Incorporate partner capabilities into solution strategy while maintaining clear accountability for Coalfire’s scope, recommendations, and client commitments.

Thought Leadership and Market Development

• Contribute to thought leadership, sales collateral, technical content, workshops, webinars, and client-facing materials that position Coalfire’s expertise and solutions.
• Maintain working knowledge of relevant markets, customer challenges, regulatory frameworks, technology trends, and competitor activity within assigned focus areas.
• Help identify and shape new offerings, solution plays, and go-to-market approaches based on recurring customer needs, delivery experience, and market opportunity.
• Contribute to additional projects and responsibilities as needed that support team priorities and organizational goals.
• Travel is expected for client workshops, executive briefings, industry events, and strategic account support; anticipated travel is approximately 25–35%, subject to business needs.

What You’ll Bring

Coalfire seeks candidates with demonstrated success supporting complex enterprise pre-sales and solution-development work. Successful candidates combine technical depth with strong commercial judgment, client-facing communication skills, and the ability to align diverse stakeholders around a practical path forward.

Candidates should have experience that enables them to:

• Articulate Coalfire’s value in Global Assurance, compliance, security, cloud, and related solutions.
• Lead or materially support enterprise discovery, solution design, proposals, pricing, and client-facing technical discussions.
• Partner effectively with sales, delivery, product, finance, and external partners.
• Manage ambiguity, competing priorities, and high-visibility client situations without losing sight of scope, delivery feasibility, or customer outcomes.
• Position Compliance and Assurance solutions alongside Coalfire’s broader portfolio in cross-sell motions.

Experience selling, delivering, or managing compliance and audit solutions is vital. Qualified candidates should have at least eight years of relevant experience supporting well-known frameworks, which may include:

• ISO 27001/27002
• PCI DSS
• FedRAMP/FISMA
• CMMC
• GDPR
• SOC
• CCPA

Bachelor’s degree from a four-year college or university, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant work experience.

Bonus Points

Subject-matter expertise in data privacy, U.S. and global regulations, and common compliance frameworks is preferred. Relevant certifications may include:

• CISSP
• CRISC
• CISA/CISM
• CGEIT

$113,000 - $189,000 a year

The salary range listed is a reasonable estimate of the base compensation range for this role based on national salary averages. The actual salary offer to the successful candidate will be based on job-related education, geographic location, training, licensure and certifications and other factors. You may also be eligible to participate in annual incentive, commission, and/or recognition programs.

Why You’ll Want to Join Us

At Coalfire, you’ll find the support you need to thrive personally and professionally. In many cases, we provide a flexible work model that empowers you to choose when and where you’ll work most effectively – whether you’re at home or an office.

Regardless of location, you’ll experience a company that prioritizes connection and wellbeing and be part of a team where people care about each other and our communities. You’ll have opportunities to join employee resource groups, participate in in-person and virtual events, and more. And you’ll enjoy competitive perks and benefits to support you and your family, like paid parental leave, flexible time off, certification and training reimbursement, digital mental health and wellbeing support membership, and comprehensive insurance options.

At Coalfire, equal opportunity and pay equity is integral to the way we do business. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran. Coalfire is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. To request reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, contact our Human Resources team at [e-mail].