Senior Platform Architect (Presales)

Zendesk, Inc.; United States; Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Zendesk, Inc. is seeking a Senior Platform Architect to act as the technical strategist for our AI-powered Zendesk Resolution Platform. You will design next-generation service solutions, transforming traditional support centers into Autonomous Service Workforces.

You will also advise the enterprise sales team, drive proofs of concept, and help exceed new bookings, expansion, and customer retention targets. You will partner with sales engineers and product teams to showcase Zendesk headless

Qualifications

• 8+ years in enterprise solutions architecture or technical presales.
• Experience architecting generative AI solutions and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG).
• Advanced API, data modeling, MCP configurations.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic technical discussions with sales and executives.
• Design architectures for Zendesk AI platform and integrations.
• Deliver Proofs of Concept to win expansion opportunities.
• Guide pre- to post-sales handoff ensuring AI deployment success.
• Advise on headless capabilities and MCP integrations.

Skills

AI/LLM literacy

RESTful APIs

Cloud architecture

Security & compliance

Frontend technologies

Leadership communication

Pre-sales experience

SaaS/CX enterprise

Tools

MCP configurations

Job description

Job DescriptionPosition OverviewAs a Senior Platform Architect , you will serve as the technical strategist helping our largest enterprise customers and prospects unlock the full potential of the AI-powered Zendesk Resolution Platform . You will design and architect next-generation service solutions that drive measurable business outcomes, transforming traditional support centers into highly efficient, Autonomous Service Workforces .Simultaneously, you will act as a critical technical advisor to our enterprise sales organization, providing technical architecture guidance, driving proofs of concept, securing technical wins, and helping exceed new-bookings, expansion, and customer-retention targets.Main ResponsibilitiesStrategic Value & Executive AdvisoryExecutive Technical Value: Partner with sales engineers, account executives, and business consultants to lead strategic discussions and communicate complex architectures, solution designs, and the business value of AI to C-suite and director-level executives.ARR & Pipeline Impact: Serve as a high-impact technical overlay resource, driving ARR through automated resolutions by conducting strategic technical discovery, scoping, and successfully managing complex Proof of Concepts (POCs) for key expansion and cross-sell opportunities.Positioning Zendesk’s Headless Capabilities: Demonstrate the value of Zendesk’s headless capabilities and help customers embed Zendesk into workflows across and beyond the core platform, including through MCP and, where applicable, A2A integrations.AI & Platform ArchitectureAutonomous Service Deployment: Design and deploy multi-step, agentic workflows using Zendesk Agent Builder and Action Builder, helping customers reach and exceed an 80% automated resolution target.Ecosystem Integration & Connectivity: Architect modern integrations connecting the Zendesk platform to external AI platforms and enterprise applications. Design these connections using MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers, comprehensive APIs, and advanced Integration Platforms as a Service (iPaaS), while applying scalable enterprise integration patterns.Knowledge & Memory Engineering: Leverage Zendesk’s Context Graph, an operational memory layer, and Knowledge Graph connectors to integrate unstructured, federated enterprise data sources (e.g., SharePoint, Confluence, and Google Drive) into the customer’s AI ecosystem without data migration.Cross-Functional Leadership & DeliveryThe “Road to 80%” Methodology: Lead the critical technical handoff between presales and post-sales implementation teams, ensuring long-term AI deployment success, continuous quality assurance through AI Quality Scores, and ongoing expansion.Subject Matter Expert (SME): Act as the organizational authority on Zendesk platform security, global scalability, custom data models, and Zendesk Copilot implementations.Product Liaison: Partner directly with Product Engineering and Product Marketing to serve as a feedback loop, directly shaping the future roadmap of Zendesk’s AI architecture.Required QualificationsCore Experience & Business AcumenSolutions Architecture & Consulting: 8+ years of experience in enterprise systems or solutions architecture, technical presales, or professional IT consulting services.AI & Large Language Model (LLM) Literacy: Experience architecting and deploying generative AI solutions, prompt engineering, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) frameworks, and agentic AI reasoning systems.Modern API & Integration Proficiency: Advanced expertise with RESTful APIs, JSON, web services, database design, data modeling, and Model Context Protocol (MCP) configurations.Infrastructure & SecurityCloud Ecosystems & iPaaS: Deep familiarity with cloud environments (AWS, Azure, and GCP) and experience designing and orchestrating enterprise data integrations using iPaaS solutions.Enterprise Security & Compliance: Comprehensive knowledge of single sign-on (SSO), OAuth, data privacy frameworks, and token-based authentication for AI systems.Technical Web Stack: Solid understanding of frontend technologies and scripting languages, including HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, as well as modern SaaS application architectures.Soft Skills & LeadershipExceptional Communication: Proven track record of influencing senior stakeholders, translating highly technical AI concepts into business outcomes, and delivering high-quality technical presentations both on-site and remotely.Thriving in Fast-Paced Environments: Ability to prioritize multiple complex, concurrent transformation accounts while maintaining a proactive, can-do attitude.Desirable QualificationsEnterprise Software Implementation: Previous experience managing large-scale implementations of enterprise-class customer service software or ITSM platforms.Advanced Analytics & Business Intelligence: Experience utilizing advanced diagnostic analytics systems for root-cause and trend analysis.Modern Frontend Technologies: Familiarity with modern JavaScript frameworks such as React or Vue, plus familiarity with Node.js, to assist in custom application development.Practical experience using AI-augmented tooling (e.g., Claude Code, Cursor) to enhance daily productivity, scale technical output, and model AI best practices.Strong sales acumen and prior experience in a technical pre-sales or solutions architecture role within an enterprise SaaS or CX environment. Experience with platforms such as Salesforce Service Cloud, ServiceNow, Intercom Fin, or Freshworks is highly desirable.#LI-UK1The intelligent heart of customer experienceZendesk software was built to bring a sense of calm to the chaotic world of customer service. Today we power billions of conversations with brands you know and love.Zendesk believes in offering our people a fulfilling and inclusive experience. Our hybrid way of working, enables us to purposefully come together in person, at one of our many Zendesk offices around the world, to connect, collaborate and learn whilst also giving our people the flexibility to work remotely for part of the week.As part of our commitment to fairness and transparency, we inform all applicants that artificial intelligence (AI) or automated decision systems may be used to screen or evaluate applications for this position, in accordance with Company guidelines and applicable law.Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster global diversity, equity, & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment and employees at Zendesk are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We are an AA/EEO/Veterans/Disabled employer. If you are based in the United States and would like more information about your EEO rights under the law, please click here .Zendesk endeavors to make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities and disabled veterans pursuant to applicable federal and state law. If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to submit this application, complete any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participate in the employee selection process, please send an e-mail to [e-mail] with your specific accommodation request.