Cloud Solution Architect - Johannesburg at Microsoft

Qualifications

Required/Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree OR Master's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Business, or related field AND extensive years experience in information technology (IT) consulting/support, systems administration, network operations, software development/support, technology solutions, practice development, architecture, consulting, and/or Microsoft Business Applications technologies.
• Relevant experience in a customer-facing role (e.g., internal and/or external)
• Relevant experience working as a lead technical solution architect.
• Language: English (required); fluency in a local language in your region esp Arabic is a plus.

Additional or Preferred Qualifications

• Functional or technical certification in one or more Microsoft Dynamics 365 apps (expert level) OR relevant experience working as a lead functional consultant.
• Knowledge of Success by Design methodology OR relevant experience working on business value projects as a business value consultant.

Technical Qualifications/Experience:

• Dynamics CE Cloud Solution Architects should be experienced in implementing, operating, tuning and troubleshooting Dynamics CE/CRM systems, ideally in multiple industries.
• Experience with advanced Dynamics 365 CE modules configuration and management (Customer Service, Sales Hub are must have. Other modules experience is nice-to-have).
• Experience with advance Dynamics deployment topologies including multiple server environments; network load balanced deployments; claims and IFD configurations with ADFS a plus.
• Dynamics experience should include investigations narrowing down general issues to specific root causes.
• Familiarity with Dynamics deployment installation and configuration; including planning, technology prerequisites and installation steps.
• Knowledge of other Power Platform components is appreciated (Canvas Apps, PVA, Power BI, Power Automate, etc.)
• Knowledge of ALM and CI/CD strategies related to Dynamics development and deployment a plus along with knowledge of ADFS, Exchange, Exchange Online and setting up Server-based authentication with D365 CRM.

Responsibilities

Customer Centricity:

• Gather customer insights to map solutions and services with customer business outcomes leveraging Microsoft Business Applications expertise.
• Identify opportunities to improve customer solutions and position services to help customers to achieve their objectives.
• Help accelerate solution delivery and adoption through Value Based Deliveries and repeatable Intellectual Property (IP).
• Support customer skilling by delivering technical discussions, workshops, etc. that enable operational health and cloud readiness.
• Contribute to customer satisfaction by providing a positive customer experience.
• Provide feedback from customers to the relevant MS teams, including Product Groups, to enable continuous improvement.

Business Impact:

• Consumption (Cloud & Support) growth: Develop opportunities to drive Customer Success business results by providing expertise/guidance to technical and business decision makers to ensure they understand Microsoft's Business Applications value proposition and are enabled to generate value from their investment in the Microsoft technology via solution optimization, performance efficiency and organizational/operational excellence in alignment with the Customer Success Account Manager or other Account Team members.

 Resolution of Customer Blockers:

• Anticipate and identify resolutions to issues blocking go-live or broad usage of projects by leveraging technical/functional/project management subject matter expertise. Deliver all work according to MS best practices & policies and using repeatable IP.

 Identify growth opportunities:

• Leverage knowledge of the products, services, and value propositions of Microsoft Business Applications in customer/partner conversations to identify growth opportunities based on knowledge of customer/partner needs.

Technical Leadership:

• Drive continuous alignment and improvement of individual skills to better support and enable customer’s and Microsoft’s business goals.
• Engage in relevant communities to share expertise, contribute to IP creation, prioritize IP re-use and learn from others to help accelerate your customers transformation journey.
• Obtain relevant accreditations and certifications.
• Role model effective technical readiness and act as a mentor and role model to junior colleagues to educate them on technical and non-technical concepts.

Practice Development:

• Generate new ideas for changes and improvements to existing intellectual property (IP), technologies, and processes for designated customers/partners. Drive opportunities for IP re-use, best practice sharing, and consumption.

Trusted Advisor (Relationship Building):

• Develop and expand existing impactful relationships with customer and partner/MCS architects and technical specialists, technical decision makers and business stakeholders.