Solutions Architect, Platforms (Presales)

Stripe; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 203,000 - 305,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Bonus or commissions

401(k) plan

Medical, dental & vision benefits

Wellness stipends

Job summary

Stripe is seeking a Solutions Architect/Presales Engineer to partner with C-level executives and technical decision makers, delivering consultative guidance and architecting transformative Stripe-based solutions.

You will translate business needs into technical strategies, craft end-to-end platform journeys, and collaborate with sales, product, and engineering teams to win and scale complex deals.

Qualifications

• 3+ years in customer-facing engineering roles (solution consultant/architect/sales engineer) for global software enterprise.
• Executive engagement with key decision makers and credibility at all levels.
• Strong group facilitation skills for customer meetings and strategic footing.
• Deep understanding of the software development lifecycle (SDLC) and API architecture.
• Excellent written and spoken communication; ability to explain complex concepts.
• Familiarity with Stripe Connect and platform payments integration.
• Knowledge of how ERP/CRM/ Billing systems interact in a platform stack.

Responsibilities

• Define customer strategy and identify new complex opportunities; accelerate adoption.
• Engage CIO/CTO/COO/others as trusted advisor; drive thought leadership.
• Design and apply Stripe solutions to customer challenges and create roadmaps.
• Lead strategy engagements and conduct in-depth customer discovery and demos.
• Expand Stripe footprint to new global markets and business units.
• Serve as Voice of the Customer to influence product and engineering teams.
• Coordinate pre-sales projects, proof of concept, and feasibility checks.

Skills

Executive engagement

Communication skills

APIs & SDLC understanding

Payments & Billing knowledge

ERP/CRM integration understanding

Time management

Tools

RESTful APIs

Stripe Connect

Job description

About Stripe

At Stripe, you have an unprecedented opportunity to put the global economy within everyone’s reach. Stripe is a financial infrastructure platform for businesses. Millions of companies—from the world’s largest enterprises to the most ambitious startups—use Stripe to accept payments, grow their revenue, and accelerate new business opportunities. Our mission is to increase the GDP of the internet, and we have a staggering amount of work ahead.

Who We Are

At Stripe, you have an unprecedented opportunity to put the global economy within everyone’s reach. Stripe is a financial infrastructure platform for businesses. Millions of companies—from the world’s largest enterprises to the most ambitious startups—use Stripe to accept payments, grow their revenue, and accelerate new business opportunities. Our mission is to increase the GDP of the internet, and we have a staggering amount of work ahead.

About The Team

The Solutions Architecture Team partners with our users to realize their full potential through the adoption of prescriptive solutions that drive their growth and success. We work with C-level executives, finance leaders, product design and engineering teams at large global brands and platforms who are building financial services solutions with Stripe. We work closely with Account Executives, Professional Services, Customer Success Managers, Partners, Technical Account Managers and Product Teams to develop and execute on the account strategy for Stripe’s platform prospects.

What You’ll Do

As a member of the team, Solutions Architects/Presales Engineer build highly consultative trusted relationships with C-level executives and technical decision makers in the customer’s organization to provide business and technical thought leadership, and become a trusted advisor in solving mission-critical business challenges. We architect business models with them so they can drive new monetization opportunities and growth.

Responsibilities

• Be a key member of the Platform account team with deep involvement in defining the customer strategy; Identify and close new complex opportunities, and accelerate solution adoption.


• Drive thought leadership and be a trusted advisor for key business and technical stakeholders including CIO, CTO, COO, CRO, CDO, Head of Product Engineering, and Head of Payments.


• Work to deeply understand the customer’s business objectives, and then design and apply Stripe’s solutions to their challenges. Develop and articulate the end to end customer transformation journey and create future roadmaps and architectures with deep 3rd party integrations in play.


• Conduct business analysis and background research on customers, industries, and competitors.


• Lead strategy engagements with users to align to business priorities, design solutions and secure the technical win by performing in-depth customer discovery, evangelizing the proposed solutions through executive briefings, readouts, presentations and solution demos.


• Expand Stripe’s footprint within existing accounts to new global markets and business units by introducing new capabilities and local payment methods.


• Act as the “Voice of the Customer” to bring insights, trends and opportunities to the leadership, product and engineering teams from the forefront and prioritized for delivery.


• Participate in sales forecasting, Quarterly Business Reviews and account/territory planning to strategically and tactically align for success.


• Act as a crucial part of the sales team, providing technical insight and solutions to prospective and existing platform users. Guide and provide technical expertise on Stripe and its benefits for both platforms and their customers.


• Showcase the capability of Stripe's platform in solving business problems, highlighting features, benefits, and potential customizations. This includes demonstrating how those benefits pass down to the customer's own user-base.


• Manage pre‑sales projects, coordinating proof of concept development, and feasibility checks. Ensure all solutions proposed are viable, beneficial to our potential clients, and also accommodating to their customers.

Who You Are

We’re looking for someone who meets the minimum requirements to be considered for the role. If you meet these requirements, you are encouraged to apply. The preferred qualifications are a bonus, not a requirement.

Minimum Requirements

• 3+ years of experience in a similar customer-facing engineering role such as solution consultant, solutions architect, or sales engineer, for a global software enterprise.


• Executive engagement skills and presence, with an ability to establish strong relationships with key decision makers and build credibility at all levels.


• Effective group‑facilitation skills and confidence in proposing and leading customer meetings to gain strategic footing and pursue opportunities.


• Thorough understanding of the software development lifecycle and API architecture.


• Outstanding spoken and written communication skills, presentation skills, and confidence in explaining complex concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.


• Develop a comprehensive understanding of Connect, Stripe's solution for enabling platform payments, exploring its various features, and integration methodologies.


• Gather an in‑depth understanding of Stripe's Payments and Billing systems and their applicability across diverse business models to beneficially cater to individual clients' and their customers' needs.


• Ability to understand how a wide variety of applications such as ERP, CRM, Billing, Tax and legacy systems interact with each other in a platform technology stack/ecosystem.


• Strong organizational and time management skills and the ability to juggle competing priorities while working with multiple strategic opportunities and customers.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience as a customer facing, domain expert in the payments space, presenting, and architecting solutions for platform customers.


• Prior experience driving technical sales with top-tier enterprise scale platforms and supporting them and their customer’s unique requirements


• Experience with integrating Stripe or other RESTful APIs into web applications.


• Experience in systems design, building and deploying complex applications.


• Experience in helping customers adopt and consume software in a cloud model.


• Passionate about learning and actively seeks out knowledge


• Ability to work independently and confidently to develop a path forward with customers under ambiguous circumstances.


• Strategic and creative thinker who can proactively identify challenges and maintain a positive approach when facing difficult obstacles.


• Strong collaboration skills to work seamlessly with extended teams to support our users.

In‑office expectations

Office-assigned Stripes in most of our locations are currently expected to spend at least 50% of the time in a given month in their local office or with users. This expectation may vary depending on role, team and location. For example, Stripes in Stripe Delivery Center roles in Mexico City, Mexico, Bengaluru, India, and Dublin, Ireland work 100% from the office. Also, some teams have greater in‑office attendance requirements, to appropriately support our users and workflows, which the hiring manager will discuss. This approach helps strike a balance between bringing people together for in‑person collaboration and learning from each other, while supporting flexibility when possible.

Pay and benefits

The annual US base salary range for this role is $203,400 - $305,000. For sales roles, the range provided is the role’s On Target Earnings ("OTE") range, meaning that the range includes both the sales commissions/sales bonuses target and annual base salary for the role. This salary range may be inclusive of several career levels at Stripe and will be narrowed during the interview process based on a number of factors, including the candidate’s experience, qualifications, and location. Applicants interested in this role and who are not located in the US may request the annual salary range for their location during the interview process.

Additional benefits for this role may include: equity, company bonus or sales commissions/bonuses; 401(k) plan; medical, dental, and vision benefits; and wellness stipends.

We look forward to hearing from you. At Stripe, we're looking for people with passion, grit, and integrity. You're encouraged to apply even if your experience doesn't precisely match the job description. Your skills and passion will stand out—and set you apart—especially if your career has taken some extraordinary twists and turns. At Stripe, we welcome diverse perspectives and people who think rigorously and aren't afraid to challenge assumptions. Join us.