Senior Consultant: Cloud Pre-sales at MTN Ghana

The Senior Consultant: Cloud Presales is responsible for the architecture of Cloud solutions for existing and prospective customers, working closely with Senior stakeholders in the customer and various Leadership team and Executives within MTN, including Commercial, Product and Delivery teams throughout the sales cycle, to ensure that proposed technical solutions address the customer’s needs. The solution sets will span across the capabilities of MTN and its partners.

Job Context

MTN is entering a new phase in its lifecycle where operational and commercial excellence has become critical for success. The urgency for change has become more heightened amidst increased competitive intensity across all markets in which MTN operates.

The MTN Centre Of Excellence (COE) function must therefore ensure the successful delivery in context of:

• Rapidly changing ICT environment
• Achievement of top quartile operating efficiency and effectiveness through scale and common processes
• Driving growth through business intelligence and standardization to maximize business impact
• Management of customer and supplier expectations
• Constant dynamics and local challenges in the economic, regulatory and legal environments
• Fluid complexities of client expectations and demands
• Highly Legislated / Regulated environment requires compliance and adherence to industry standards and benchmarks.
• OEM Partner status is critical for the success of the business and key driver for success

Key Deliverables

• Translate the customer requirements into working solutions
• Input into business cases to understand costs, risk and benefits of solutions
• Follow all relevant steerco and approval practices for customer solutions
• Obtain business approval through set forums on new innovations required for customer-specific solutions
• Deliver on Customer POCs and ensure testing criteria is clear and agreed upon
• Sponsorship and mentorship for key deals within the environment of junior architects
• Commercial Acumen must be used to deliver solutions that fit within the customer budgets
• Understanding the customers key challenges and financial parameters to solution a winning proposal
• Provide input to the strategic direction of technology investments to assist in the development of the enterprise architecture and maximise the return on technology investment.
• Review, interpret and respond to detailed Business Requirements Specifications (BRS) to ensure alignment between customer expectations and current or future ICT capability.
• Translate business requirements into technical architecture specifications and models, solution design, process diagrams and concepts of operation.
• Estimate costs and input into a business case to justify the ROI for the solution, considering infrastructure, licenses, development and support.
• Present business cases to Senior Management (TFLS, TCOE, COE ICT and Commercial) for approval, funding and prioritization.
• Gain organisational commitment for all Solution Elements, as well as evaluate and select all technologies required to complete customer solutions considering functionality, data, security, integration, infrastructure and performance.
• Work in cross-functional teams to define, deliver and support the design and development of technology solutions that are fit for purpose, meet the business requirements and objectives and are in alignment with the agreed enterprise architecture, corporate ICT standard and business operational standards
• Ensure Proposed customer Solutions are deliverable within customer timelines, customer budgets and relevant governance according to process and procedures.
• Work closely with cross-functional team members to deliver the solution for the customer implemented in the most efficient and cost-effective manner while ensuring the solution is complete, operable, conforms to business processes and meets the business needs with the agreed quality of service.
• Document and maintain the organisation's solution proposals to customers; make recommendations for improvements and/or alternatives.
• Participate from time to time in the supplier selection process, evaluating usefulness and cost of products and making appropriate recommendations.
• Review new and existing solutions design projects and procurement or outsourcing plans for compliance with standards and architectural plans.
• Keep abreast of Solutions architecture current and future trends and innovations.
• Maintain current OEM certifications and where required obtain new certifications as an when required
• Work collaboratively with a global team to create and execute research into the feasibility of customer specific solutions whilst following MTNs internal governance.
• Act in an advisory capacity to management and team on Solution architecture.
• Contribute to the development, review and analysis of the Cloud Products and Services roadmaps to ensure alignment with client requirements.
• Own the technical relationship with customers and provide prescriptive guidance on security, cost, performance, reliability, operational efficiency and best-practice architectures.
• Design Cloud product-specific pre-sales architecture within approved operational limits, as per product specifications.
• Prepare and deliver technical presentations and demonstrations, explaining and expounding on Cloud Product and Services offerings, to existing as well as prospective clients.
• Lead the overall technical design and build of the custom elements of the solution to meet client business requirements.
• Provide pre-sales technical support and expertise in response to client requirements, by examining client infrastructure, architecture, system capabilities and business challenges.
• Own the proposed Cloud solution and transition the implementation to the Delivery team.
• Work with Cloud Products and Alliances teams to leverage partnerships for complex solutions that may be outside of MTN’s expertise.
• Interface with customers to discuss their cloud planning activities in order to influence and shape their cloud strategy and enable their digital transformation.

Business Development

• Provide input into the account management plans and go-to-market plays for key identified clients across segments and regions.
• Work with sales specialists and account managers to identify, develop and close key sales opportunities.
• Collaborate with sales specialists and account managers to deep-dive into customers’ business challenges, so as to collaboratively propose and pre-qualify a particular set of outcomes that would result in a formal professional services engagement.
• Build and maintain continuous technical relationships within corporate customers and partners to ensure high levels of satisfaction.
• Develop and design high quality technical responses to RFPs/ RFQs and RFIs that meet customer requirements in a timely manner. Deliver all technical tender requirements and provide support with regards to presenting solutions.
• Provide technical input on pricing for tenders and proposals.

Governance and Risk Management

• Maintain alignment to the Group sales and pre-sales architect processes.
• Comply with relevant MTN policies and procedures.

Role Dependencies

• Active support from the Head of Cloud & Service Architecture
• Understanding of the MTN business strategy
• Understanding of the ICT COE technology, business and regulatory context
• Timely decision making and reporting
• Alignment of ICT COE and Group strategy initiatives

Education:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Software Engineering or related field
• Relevant Cloud certification
  • Azure, AWS or Google Solution Architect or
  • Azure, AWS or Google Solution Architect Expert
• Business and Commercial Acumen
• Fluent in language of country with full command of English French (an advantage)

Experience:

Minimum of 10 years’ experience in Information technology and Presales

• Prior professional services / consulting background
• Worked across diverse cultures and geographies advantageous
• Experience working in a large organization
• Experience in global/multinational enterprises, coupled with working in emerging markets
• Experience in guiding customer ICT strategy in large organisations