Senior Manager, Solutions Architecture - Vertical Solutions

NetApp, Inc.; United States; Remote; USD 287,000 - 372,000; Full time

Job summary

NetApp is seeking a technically credible people leader to manage our North America Vertical Solutions team of presales Solutions Architects specializing in S3 storage, StorageGRID, healthcare, imaging, and E-Series. This remote role travels across North America and partners closely with Client Executives and sales leaders.

As manager, you will balance hands-on coaching with strategic enablement, align specialist resources with opportunities, and drive bookings while maintaining technical

Qualifications

• Demonstrated people management experience (5+ years) leading technical presales specialists, Solutions Architects, or a comparable specialist Solutions Engineering organization.
• Experience coaching senior, highly autonomous subject matter experts is essential.
• Experience in customer-facing technical presales within enterprise storage or data infrastructure.
• Strong technical foundation in enterprise storage architectures and data management.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop experienced Solutions Architects, creating an environment of trust, accountability, collaboration, and continued professional growth.
• Set priorities and allocate specialist resources across North America based on customer requirements, revenue potential, and team capacity.
• Partner with Client Executives, Solutions Engineers, and sales leaders to determine when specialists can make the greatest impact.
• Guide the team’s contributions to technical discovery, solution architecture, sizing, configuration, validation, and customer presentations.
• Drive product bookings and performance against assigned business goals.
• Travel across North America to support customer meetings, partner engagements, field enablement, and strategic sales opportunities.

Skills

People management

Technical presales leadership

Enterprise storage

Job description

LOCATION

This is a remote opportunity with frequrent and at times heavy travel across North America.

JOB SUMMARY

NetApp is seeking a technically credible people leader to manage our North America Vertical Solutions team, a group ofexperienced presales Solutions Architects. These specialists bring deep expertise in S3 object storage and StorageGRID, healthcare EHR and Epic environments, medical imaging and PACS, video surveillance, and E-Series solutions. The team operates as a specialist overlay across sales segments throughout North America. Client Executives own customer accounts and territories, while their aligned Solutions Engineers provide day-to-day technical partnership. Vertical Solutions Architects complement those account teams with the specialized product, workload, and industry expertise needed to develop solutions, navigate complex requirements, and advance strategic opportunities.

As manager, you will combine technical leadership, business judgment, and thoughtful people management to help an established team of experts deliver results. You will prioritize specialist engagement, strengthen relationships across the sales and partner ecosystem, and connect the team’s work to product bookings, customer outcomes, and broader business goals. This role requires a leader who has worked in technical presales and managed presales specialists within enterprise storage, data infrastructure, or a closely related technology environment. You should be comfortable leading highly experienced subject matter experts, creating clarity through change, and balancing immediate deal support with proactive business development and enablement.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Lead, coach, and develop experienced Solutions Architects, creating an environment of trust, accountability, collaboration, and continued professional growth. Respect individual expertise and autonomy while providing clear expectations and meaningful support.
• Set priorities and allocate specialist resources across North America based on customer requirements, opportunity complexity, revenue potential, and team capacity. Balance reactive deal support with proactive engagement that builds future business.
• Partner with Client Executives, Solutions Engineers, and sales leaders to determine when and how specialists can make the greatest impact. Help account teams build customer confidence, strengthen competitive positioning, and advance complex sales cycles.
• Guide the team’s contributions to technical discovery, solution architecture, sizing, configuration, technical validation, and customer presentations. Draw on individual specialists for deep domain expertise while maintaining the technical credibility to challenge assumptions and remove obstacles.
• Drive product bookings and performance against assigned business goals. Review pipeline, engagement, and business results to identify gaps, focus resources, and advocate for the capacity and support the team needs.
• Expand engagement with sales districts and account teams through account planning, technical workshops, webinars, and field enablement. Help sellers and Solutions Engineers recognize relevant use cases, engage the right customer stakeholders, and position specialized solutions.
• Support new customer acquisition and expansion by connecting specialist expertise with account strategies. Ensure opportunities developed through specialist or partner relationships are coordinated with the appropriate account owners.
• Build and strengthen relationships with independent software vendors, systems integrators, technology partners, and internal partner teams. Support joint solution development, technical alignment, and customer engagement across the team’s industry and product focus areas.
• Partner with product management, engineering, and other internal stakeholders to resolve challenges and share customer, partner, and field feedback.
• Maintain accurate CRM records, dashboards, and engagement metrics. Make the team’s contributions visible through reporting on opportunity influence, bookings, enablement, partner engagement, and customer outcomes.
• Build team confidence and morale through consistent communication, recognition, and coaching. Help employees navigate organizational change, address barriers, and understand how required training and operational responsibilities connect to broader priorities.
• Travel across North America to support customer meetings, partner engagements, field enablement, and strategic sales opportunities.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Demonstrated people management experience (5+ years)leading technical presales specialists, Solutions Architects, or a comparable specialist Solutions Engineering organization. Experience coaching senior, highly autonomous subject matter experts is essential.
• Prior/Recentexperience in a customer-facing technical presales role within enterprise storage, data infrastructure, or a closely adjacent technology environment, with direct involvement in complex customer engagements and sales cycles.
• Strong technical foundation in enterprise storage architectures, data management, and infrastructure supporting business-critical applications. Ability to assess solution strategies, guide technical discussions, and help teams resolve complex challenges.
• Relevant expertise in one or more of the team’s focus areas: S3 object storage and StorageGRID or comparable platforms; healthcare infrastructure and EHR/Epic environments; medical imaging and PACS; video surveillance; or enterprise block storage and E-Series. Deep expertise across every area is not required, but the ability to lead specialists across these domains is essential.
• Proven ability to lead an overlay organization through influence and collaboration, aligning specialist resources with account teams while maintaining clear responsibilities and shared business objectives.
• Track record of helping teams advance opportunities through technical discovery, solution design, validation, and clear communication of customer value.
• Ability to establish credibility with technical practitioners, customer executives, sales leaders, and partners, translating complex technical concepts into business-relevant discussions.
• Experience working with technology partners, independent software vendors, or systems integrators to support joint solutions, enablement, and customer opportunities.
• Strong business judgment and operational discipline, including experience prioritizing resources, evaluating pipeline and performance, and communicating a technical team’s business impact.
• A thoughtful leadership approach grounded in trust, clear communication, accountability, and employee development, including the ability to sustain engagement through change.
• Experience with NetApp solutions or comparable enterprise storage and infrastructure technologies preferred.
• Willingness to travel across North America based on customer, partner, and business needs.

Compensation:
The target salary range for this position is 287,300 - 371,800 USD. The salary offered will be determined by the candidate's location, qualifications, experience, and education and may be outside of this range. The range is based on 'On Target Earnings’ (OTE) representing the total potential earnings, which is the sum of the base salary and potential commission earned when performance targets are achieved. Final compensation packages are competitive and in line with industry standards, reflecting a variety of factors, and include a comprehensive benefits package. This may cover Health Insurance, Life Insurance, Retirement or Pension Plans, Paid Time Off, various Leave options, employee stock purchase plan, and/or restricted stocks (RSU’s). These offerings are subject to regional variations and governed by local laws, regulations, and company policies. We will provide detailed information about the specific benefits for your region during the recruitment process.

At NetApp, we embrace a hybrid working environment designed to strengthen connection, collaboration, and culture for all employees. This means that most roles will have some level of in-office and/or in-person expectations, which will be shared during the recruitment process.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

NetApp is firmly committed to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and to compliance with all federal, state and local laws that prohibit employment discrimination based on age, race, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, disability or genetic information, pregnancy, protected veteran status, and any other protected classification.

Why You'll Thrive at NetApp

At NetApp, you won't wait for the perfect moment—you'll make it. The early planning, the extra thought, the bold idea that turns good into great: That's how our people operate and how we continue to push the boundaries of data infrastructure.

NetApp is the trusted partner for organizations transforming data into opportunity. As the only enterprise-grade storage service natively embedded in Google Cloud, AWS, and Microsoft Azure, we empower customers to run everything from traditional workloads to enterprise AI with unmatched performance, resilience, and security.

Our culture

We celebrate mold breakers, bold thinkers, and problem solvers. We reward initiative, impact, and ownership. We provide flexibility so you can balance professional ambition with your personal life. Here, differences are not just welcomed—they drive everything we do.

If you're ready to innovate, rise to the challenge, and own every moment - make your next move your best one.

AI Disclosure

For select roles, some stages of our hiring process may use artificial intelligence tools to help evaluate applications and candidate selection. These tools support—rather than replace—human decision-making.