Fast Facts

The Principal Solution Architect at CDW leads technology strategy and consultative engagements to enhance customer experience, focusing on aligning business outcomes with technical solutions.

Responsibilities: Key responsibilities include evaluating customer business objectives, shaping account strategies, and mentoring sales teams while leading complex initiatives and solution designs.

Skills: Required skills include expert-level knowledge in customer experience platforms, consultative selling expertise, strong communication abilities, and project management capabilities.

Qualifications: Preferred qualifications include a minimum of seven years of pre-sales or technical architecting experience and a bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.

Location: The position is remote, based in Illinois, United States.

Compensation: $148000 - $170600 / Annually

Description

At CDW, we make it happen, together. Trust, connection, and commitment are at the heart of how we work together to deliver for our customers. It’s why we’re coworkers, not just employees. Coworkers who genuinely believe in supporting our customers and one another. We collectively forge our path forward with a level of commitment that speaks to who we are and where we’re headed. We’re proud to share our story and Make Amazing Happen at CDW.

Summary

The Principal Field Solution Architect (FSA) serves as a senior consultative partner in the pre-sales motion, aligning business outcomes with technology strategy. This role works closely with internal and external sales teams to shape account strategies, guide customer conversations, and influence solution direction. The Principal FSA evaluates customer business objectives, stakeholder expectations, competitive pressures, and existing technical environments to identify gaps, risks, and opportunities, and then defines actionable recommendations throughout the sales lifecycle. As a field-based role, the Principal FSA spends the much of their time onsite with CDW customers, leading discovery, facilitating strategic discussions, and positioning solutions as part of broader transformation initiatives. The Principal FSA builds and sustains executive-level relationships with sales leadership and customers, earning credibility as a trusted advisor who drives long-term growth. As a subject matter expert across multiple solution domains, the Principal FSA leads complex initiatives, mentors and coaches other FSAs, and collaborates with sales, partners, and customers to uncover and expand emerging opportunities. Additionally, the Principal FSA plays a key role in defining and advancing new solutions and technologies, enabling team success through proactive enablement, knowledge sharing, and the consistent application of best practices.

Key Areas of Responsibility

• Technology & CX Platform Leadership
• Demonstrates deep technical and consultative expertise and serves as the “go-to” authority both technically and strategically. Maintains expert-level knowledge across multiple Customer Experience (CX) platforms and related solution families, staying at the forefront of technology evolution and understanding implications for CDW’s offerings and customer outcomes.
• Go-to-Market & Solution Strategy
• Plays a lead role in executing go-to-market strategies for new solutions and offerings. Designs customer-centric solutions that align technical architectures with business objectives, constraints, and growth opportunities, often operating beyond standard approaches to meet diverse stakeholder needs.
• Solution Design, SOW, and BOM Development
• Owns the end-to-end presales solution design process, including the development of detailed Statements of Work (SOWs) and Bills of Material (BOMs). Defines and scopes professional and managed services that complement proposed hardware and software solutions, estimating required engineering effort, timelines, and dependencies.
• Design Quality & Standards
• Reviews peer solution designs for technical accuracy, quality, and alignment with best practices. Develops and maintains standardized templates and deliverables, including SOW frameworks, calculators, demo labs, scripts, and reusable solution artifacts to ensure consistent, high-quality delivery.
• Practice & Team Leadership
• Operates with a practice-first mindset, contributing to CDW’s overall technology leadership and market relevance. Provides leadership that enables the team to deliver solutions at scale and with excellence.
• Enablement, Training & Knowledge Sharing
• Communicates and trains teams on changes in technologies, procedures, solution implementations, and consultative approaches. Develops training materials for internal CDW audiences and promotes a culture of collaboration by organizing and contributing to shared knowledge bases.
• Coaching & Mentorship
• Coaches and mentors FSAs to strengthen technical depth, consultative selling capabilities, and sales effectiveness. Acts as a trusted resource for guidance on solution design decisions, product selection, and customer strategy.
• Talent Development & Hiring Support
• Conducts technical assessments and expertise evaluations during candidate selection. Assists managers with new-hire onboarding, leads shadowing assignments, and proactively supports new FSAs to accelerate productivity.
• Sales Strategy & Opportunity Expansion
• Advises sales teams prior to customer engagements and strategy sessions. Follows up on implemented solutions to identify expansion, cross-sell, and upsell opportunities aligned to customer roadmaps.
• Lifecycle, Financial & Roadmap Advisory
• Assists customers in understanding maintenance contracts, upgrades, and renewals, recommending the most cost-effective lifecycle approach. Incorporates financing options into proposals and helps customers plan against a three-to-five-year technology roadmap.
• Value Proposition & Competitive Positioning
• Clearly articulates the CDW ITS (Integrated Technology Solutions) value proposition to customers, account teams, and partners. Guides customers through technology comparisons across CDW portfolios and competitive solutions.
• Partner & Ecosystem Collaboration
• Maintains a regular operating cadence with multiple partners to plan and execute joint strategies. Leads opportunity mapping exercises, coordinates on-site partner engagements, and aligns stakeholders including AEs, ISAs, and Sales Leadership.
• Customer Engagement & Executive Presence
• Delivers compelling presentations and leads consultative sales discussions with credibility at the executive (C-level) level, in both small-group and large-format settings. Develops reusable presentation content for team use.
• Sales Tools, Demos & Assessments
• Develops assessments, demos, and sales tools used by FSAs to drive customer engagement and identify cross-sell opportunities. Enables sales and presales teams on how to effectively position and use these assets.
• Event Strategy & Market Engagement
• Initiates and designs customer and partner events in collaboration with Sales and OEMs, and creates repeatable event models that can be leveraged by other FSAs.

Education and/or Experience Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent experience
• Seven-year minimum technical pre-sales or technical architecting experience
• Demonstrated subject matter expertise in specific technology

Required Qualifications

• Expert-level knowledge across multiple Customer Experience (CX) platforms, with the ability to position, design, and articulate integrated solutions aligned to customer business outcomes.
• Expert-level consultative selling skills, including leading discovery, uncovering business drivers, influencing stakeholders, and guiding executive-level decision-making.
• Maintains current knowledge of products, applications, technical services, market conditions, competitive landscape, and promotional trends through ongoing research, seminars, and online training.
• Proven success selling complex technology solutions and professional services, with demonstrated ability to align solutions to customer needs and value.
• Proven ability to engage, partner, and execute effectively with sales teams to drive territory goals and revenue outcomes.
• Demonstrated project management skills, including planning, coordination, and execution across multiple stakeholders.
• Ability to execute on territory objectives, sales metrics, and practice-level goals.
• Ability to adapt quickly to changing business priorities, coverage models, and customer requirements.
• Strong interpersonal, consulting, and presentation skills, with the ability to communicate complex concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including executive-level presentations and documentation.
• Strong passion for continuous learning, professional development, and mentoring others.
• Highly motivated, self-starting, and results-oriented with the ability to work independently.
• Creative and strategic thinker with a track record of proactively identifying opportunities to increase sales and customer value.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to evaluate complex situations and recommend effective solutions.
• Ability to communicate constructively and professionally with management, peers, and cross-functional teams.
• Demonstrated ability to understand, retain, and apply written and verbal instructions; organize and prioritize multiple tasks; exercise sound judgment; and operate effectively in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to travel as required to support customers, sales teams, and partner engagements.

Pay range: $ 148,000 - $ 170,600 depending on experience and skill set Annual bonus target of $35,000 subject to terms and conditions of plan Benefits overview: https://cdw.benefit-info.com/ Salary ranges may be subject to geographic differentials

We make technology work so people can do great things.  

CDW is a leading multi-brand provider of information technology solutions to business, government, education and healthcare customers in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. A Fortune 500 company and member of the S&P 500 Index, CDW helps its customers to navigate an increasingly complex IT market and maximize return on their technology investments. Together, we unite. Together, we win. Together, we thrive.

CDW is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regards to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other basis prohibited by state and local law. 

CDW is committed to fostering an equitable, transparent, and respectful hiring process for all applicants. During our application process, CDW’s goal is to get to know you as an applicant and understand your experience, strengths, skills, and qualifications. While AI can help you present yourself more clearly and effectively, the essence of your application should be authentically yours. To learn more, please review CDW's AI Applicant Notice.