Principal Solution Architect (Azure & Commercial Strategy)

Principal Solution Architect (Azure & Commercial Strategy)

Location: Dublin, Ireland or UK (Hybrid)

Department: Application Modernisation & Enterprise Integration

About Codec

Codec is an award-winning digital transformation company with big growth ambitions. We are an established full-stack IT consultancy, a local alternative to the Big 4, headquartered in Dublin with offices in Galway, Belfast, London, Poland, and Germany.

We are growing rapidly and have crafted a clear vision of the future, developing our own 'IP' to complement the Cloud stacks from Microsoft. As we expand our Application Modernisation & Enterprise Integration team, we are moving towards a "product-first" delivery approach to enable us to deliver projects faster and with lower risk due to the repeatability of our offering.

The Role

We are seeking a commercially minded Principal Solution Architect to lead the technical presales and strategic direction of our "Pro Code" Azure practice.

This role sits at the intersection of Sales, Strategy, and Technology. You will not just design the architecture; you will define the commercial approach, write the Statement of Work (SoW), and build the Proof of Concepts (PoC) that win client trust. You will act as the right hand to the Enterprise Lead, taking ownership of commercial proposals and potentially helping us transition from pure services to a repeatable "Accelerator plus Services" based model.

Key Responsibilities

Commercial & Pre-Sales Leadership

• Technical Proposals: Lead the technical response for large-scale government and enterprise tenders. Produce detailed Statements of Work (SoW) and accurate pricing models for Azure services, ensuring commercial viability.
• Cost Modelling: Expertly navigate Azure licensing and tier pricing to provide accurate cost-benefit analysis for clients, clearly justifying why specific tiers and services (e.g., Premium vs Standard App Plans) are required.
• Visionary Architecture: Envisage future-state architectures for enterprise clients, breaking them down into deliverable incremental stages (MVP to Enterprise Scale) that align with client budgets.

Innovation & Strategy

• Rapid Prototyping (PoC): Act as the hands-on technical lead for "Dialogue Sessions" and client workshops. You must be capable of building functional Proof of Concepts (PoCs) in Azure/C# rapidly to demonstrate capability and close deals.
• IP & Accelerators: Actively identify opportunities within client projects to harvest repeatable code or components. Influence the roadmap for Codec's proprietary "Accelerator" library to drive future delivery efficiencies.

Stakeholder Management

• Engage in regular discussions with senior stakeholders (technical and non-technical) to provide updates, gather feedback, and adjust strategic deliverables as necessary.
• Work closely with customer teams to understand their needs and ensure the proposed solution aligns with their expectations and business processes.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• Strategic Pre-Sales: Proven experience writing detailed proposals, SoWs, and presenting technical vision to non-technical boards or senior stakeholders.
• Azure Architecture: Deep understanding of Azure PaaS/Serverless architectures (Web Apps, Functions, Service Bus, Dataverse) and their associated costs.
• Hands-On Capability: Ability to "get your hands dirty" coding MVPs/PoCs (C#, .NET, Azure) when required.
• Product Mindset: Experience in productising services or identifying reusable IP in a consulting environment.
• Communication: Excellent English language communication skills, written and verbal, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to commercial audiences.

Location & Eligibility

• Hybrid Working: Codec supports hybrid working; however, on-site working will be required where expected by customers, and attendance at Codec offices is expected regularly.
• Right to Work: Candidates must be currently located in Ireland or the UK with existing Right to Work approval.

About Codec

Established over 40 years ago, Codec is a multi-award-winning Microsoft Solutions Partner, trusted by public and private sector organisations to deliver impactful digital transformation. With offices in Dublin, Belfast, Cologne, and across Germany, our team of over 300 experts specialises in harnessing the full potential of Microsoft technologies-including Dynamics 365, Power Platform, Azure, and Copilot-to drive innovation, automation, and operational excellence. Codec combines deep industry expertise with a proven track record to help organisations unlock the power of AI and modern cloud solutions

Though originally best known as a hardware reseller, since 2010 Codec has focused on building an outstanding software consulting business with a team of experts implementing enterprise solutions using products from Microsoft and Oracle. Our customer base, revenues and average contract values have grown steadily year on year and we continue to invest in the provision of new product and service offerings.

Our team is a careful mix of recent graduates and experienced professionals from a variety of diverse cultural backgrounds. We are a melting pot of seasoned consultants supported by the best talent from the local universities. We have a thriving placement student academy and graduate recruitment programme which grows year on year.

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