Senior Solutions Architect

Job Description

About Us

We are an innovative and fast-moving business focused on helping companies build better relationships with their customers. We take pride in the impact our work has on organizations, while also caring deeply about the experience of our employees and the culture we build together.

Zendesk helps companies improve customer engagement through powerful, scalable, and easy-to-use software solutions. Our products enable organizations to move faster, operate more efficiently, and deliver better customer experiences across every touchpoint.

We are looking for a Senior Solutions Architect to help expand our Services business in North America. This role will lead strategic scoping conversations with customers and prospects, covering technical architecture, solution design, implementation strategy, AI-enabled workflows, automation opportunities, and competitive differentiation throughout the sales cycle.

Job Overview

The ideal candidate is an experienced technical leader who can operate both as an individual contributor and as a mentor across teams. This person will own technical scoping, guide complex customer conversations, and partner closely with Sales, Services, Product, and Customer Success teams to design the right solution for each customer.

The Senior Solutions Architect will act as the technical bridge between Account Executives and prospective customers, owning the primary technical relationship during the sales and services process. This role requires the ability to engage with C-level executives, directors, technical stakeholders, and implementation teams to communicate the value, feasibility, and business impact of the proposed solution.

In addition to strong enterprise software and customer experience knowledge, the role now requires hands-on experience with AI technologies, including AI-assisted workflows, automation, agents, skills, prompt design, integrations, and practical use of AI tools to improve productivity, solution design, customer support, and implementation outcomes.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop a comprehensive understanding of customers' functional and technical requirements, ensuring alignment with their business objectives through the effective use of Zendesk functionalities.

• Partner with Sales to define technical strategies that support AMER pipeline growth and services revenue targets.

• Own the technical relationship with prospects and customers during the sales cycle, from initial discovery through proposal and closure.

• Design scalable customer experience, support, ITSM, automation, data, and AI-enabled solutions aligned with customer requirements.

• Identify opportunities to incorporate AI, automation, agents, workflows, and knowledge-based systems into customer solutions.

• Translate business requirements into technical solutions, architecture recommendations, implementation plans, and measurable business outcomes.

• Experience crafting contact center solutions and defining a Statement Of Work which includes precise scope, delivery timelines, costing, payment terms and other contractual items.

• Stay current on emerging AI technologies, agentic workflows, automation tools, API-driven architectures, and customer experience innovation.

• Configuring services and deploying resources in customer AWS accounts, using Amazon Connect, CloudFormation, Amazon Lex, DynamoDB, Kinesis, IAM, S3 and more.

• Lead technical projects involving multiplate development and architecture resources. 

• Mentor junior colleagues on best practices and new technologies. 

• Collaborate closely with members of the Zendesk Professional Services team, including Engagement Managers, Services Consultants, Developers, and Quality Assurance Analysts, across various customer engagements, serving as the lead technical solution designer.

• Lead or participate in design and configuration workshops with customers and partners to effectively architect solutions.

• Produce Technical Design Documents, Technical Guidance Documents, and specifications for custom applications or integrations within the Zendesk platform.

• Support the development and testing phases of custom solutions, working collaboratively with Zendesk Developers and Quality Assurance Analysts to address and resolve issues.

• Conduct technical training sessions, handovers, and knowledge transfer sessions to ensure continuity and understanding among stakeholders.

Qualifications & Experience:

• 8+ years hands-on experience building, migrating and deploying complex cloud-based Solutions.

• 8+ years of customer-facing experience, preferably technical architecture or consulting role.

• Proven ability to communicate technical value to C-level executives, directors, business stakeholders, and technical teams.

• Experience scoping, managing, and executing customer pilots, Proofs of Concept, technical workshops, and solution demos.

• Experience using  REST APIs and AWS Lambda (preferably Python) and integration with 3rd party systems via API

• In-depth knowledge of customer service software, ITSM, CRM, data warehousing, business intelligence, integrations, APIs, and customer experience platforms.

• Proven experience consulting, implementing and supporting AWS environments.

• Experience architecting integrations across CRM, Unified Communications, and contact center solutions.

• Strong problem-solving skills, including the ability to translate business needs into practical technical solutions.

• Advanced solution scoping capabilities, including the ability to use existing product capabilities while influencing future product development.

• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with multiple priorities and stakeholders.

• Willingness to travel when required for strategic customer engagements.

Educational Background:

• B.S. in Computer Science, related fields or commensurate work experience. A graduate degree is a plus.

• AWS certification at Associate level or equivalent.

Additional Skills (Preferred):

• Strong hands-on programming skills, experience developing solutions with code/scripting and comfortable with AWS Lambda would be beneficial.

• Familiarity with a backend programming language (Ruby, Python, C#, etc.) 

• Experience with Zendesk configuration and implementation processes.

• Familiarity with the Zendesk App Framework and technical capabilities (SSO, API, SDKs, etc.).

• Zendesk Support Administrator Expert Certification is a plus.

• Strong spoken and written English is a must, additional languages such as German, Spanish or French are favourable.

#LI-LM5

The US annualized OTE (On Target Earnings) range for this position is $206,000.00-$308,000.00 with a pay mix of 80/20 (base/commission). This position may also be eligible for bonus, benefits, or related incentives. While this range reflects the minimum and maximum value for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations, the offer for the successful candidate for this position will be based on job related capabilities, applicable experience, and other factors such as work location. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only (or OTE for commissions based roles), and do not include bonus, benefits, or related incentives.

The intelligent heart of customer experience

Zendesk 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 peopleandplaces@zendesk.com with your specific accommodation request.