Senior Solutions Principal - Data & AI

Insight • Chandler, AZ

1d • Onsite

About The Position

As a Sr. Solution Principal – Data & AI, you will be a key presales leader responsible for shaping and selling Data & AI professional services. You will consult with clients, assess their current data and analytics landscape, recommend pragmatic improvement roadmaps, and translate these into clearly scoped professional services Statements of Work (SOWs). This role requires a balance of strategic presales acumen, deep data platform & analytics architecture expertise, business consulting skills, and strong SOW and deal-structuring experience. You will partner closely with account teams, solution architects, and delivery leaders to design data-driven solutions that achieve measurable client outcomes.

Requirements

• Minimum of 10 years of experience in data-focused roles such as Data Architect, Analytics Architect, Data Engineering Lead, or similar, including client-facing responsibilities.
• Demonstrated presales or sales engineering experience for Data & AI professional services, including discovery, solution shaping, and SOW creation.
• Proven track record designing and/or implementing modern data platforms on Microsoft and/or AWS (e.g., Azure Data Lake/Synapse/Fabric, AWS S3/Glue/Redshift, Snowflake, Databricks).
• Experience with enterprise BI and analytics (e.g., Power BI, Tableau, Looker) and understanding of how data models support reporting and self-service analytics.
• Exposure to AI/ML and/or GenAI use cases (even at a conceptual level): understanding what is required from data to enable ML/AI, and how to position AI services responsibly.
• Strong understanding of data architecture concepts: Data lakes, lakehouse, and EDW patterns.
• Strong understanding of data architecture concepts: Batch and streaming data ingestion.
• Strong understanding of data architecture concepts: Dimensional and semantic modeling.
• Strong understanding of data architecture concepts: Data quality, lineage, and metadata management.
• Strong understanding of data architecture concepts: Data governance, security, and privacy.
• Ability to assess a client’s data maturity and propose pragmatic, phased roadmaps (assessment → foundation → use-case enablement → scale & optimize).
• Strong understanding of clients’ IT and business decision-making process, especially for data platform and analytics investments.
• Demonstrated ability to solution across multiple business units and offerings, integrating Cloud, Data, AI, Apps, and Managed Services where appropriate.
• Financial acumen: understanding of pricing, deal economics, business case development, and ROI in the context of Data & AI projects.
• Excellent communication skills: Ability to present complex data and AI concepts in business-friendly language to executives.
• Excellent communication skills: Ability to go deep technically with architects, engineers, and data scientists.
• Excellent communication skills: Strong written skills for proposal and SOW development.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with consultative frameworks for Data & AI (e.g., data strategy assessments, operating model design, AI readiness assessments).
• Familiarity with tools such as dbt, Fivetran/Matillion/AWS Glue, Apache Spark, and ML platforms (Azure ML, SageMaker, Databricks ML, or similar).
• Industry-specific data experience (e.g., financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, retail) is a plus.
• Executive presence with the ability to earn trust quickly in C-level conversations.
• Strong facilitation skills for workshops and multi-stakeholder sessions.
• Root cause analysis, structured problem solving, and the ability to simplify complexity.
• Collaborative working style with sales, delivery, and partner teams.
• Comfort with ambiguity and the ability to structure opportunities and deals from early concept to well-defined scope.

Responsibilities

• Align into top accounts to build relationships with senior IT and business stakeholders (CIO, CDO, Head of Analytics, Line-of-Business leaders).
• Lead data & AI discovery workshops to understand current-state data platforms, analytics capabilities, governance maturity, and AI readiness.
• Perform high-level assessments of client data estates (e.g., data sources, ingestion patterns, data models, BI tools, data science capabilities) and identify key pain points and opportunities.
• Translate business objectives into data and analytics use cases and prioritized roadmaps (e.g., modern data platform, self-service BI, data governance, ML/GenAI pilot programs).
• Define future-state data & AI architectures leveraging cloud data platforms (e.g., Snowflake, Azure Synapse/Fabric, AWS Redshift/Lakehouse, Databricks) and modern analytics/AI tools.
• Recommend patterns for data ingestion, storage, modeling, governance, and consumption that fit the client’s technology strategy (e.g., lakehouse architectures, semantic models, MDS/MDM, real-time pipelines).
• Craft clear, outcome-focused solution narratives that connect architecture choices to business value (e.g., faster time-to-insight, reduced manual reporting, trusted metrics, AI-enabled decisioning).
• Collaborate with technical SMEs (data engineers, data scientists, cloud architects) to validate solution feasibility, sizing, and delivery approach.
• Lead the creation of professional services proposals and SOWs for Data & AI projects (assessments, platform implementations, migrations, governance, BI modernization, AI/ML engagements).
• Define scope, deliverables, assumptions, and client responsibilities with enough detail to enable predictable delivery.
• Design deal structures that meet internal margin targets, align with preferred delivery models (e.g., fixed-fee, T&M, multi-phase roadmaps), and match client expectations and risk tolerance.
• Work with resource management and delivery leaders to develop realistic staffing and ramp plans based on skills, availability, and project timelines.
• Ensure SOWs adhere to Insight’s standards, legal/commercial guidelines, and risk controls.
• Engage with sellers to refine understanding of client needs during the qualification process and shape win strategies for Data & AI opportunities.
• Support account teams in early-stage opportunity shaping, including ideation of Data & AI engagements (assessments, PoCs, pilots, multi-phase programs).
• Represent client needs across all Insight capabilities, with a focus on expanding Data & AI deal size and attaching services to data platform/software investments.
• Support sellers in executive presentations, proposal walkthroughs, and orals, clearly articulating our Data & AI value proposition and differentiation.
• Participate in internal deal reviews with Insight leadership, presenting solution approach, delivery risks, and financials.
• Develop strong working relationships with strategic Data & AI partners (e.g., Microsoft, AWS, Snowflake, Databricks, key ISVs) and incorporate their capabilities into client solutions.
• Assist sellers in leveraging partner incentives and funding (POCs, pilots, workshops, assessments) to accelerate Data & AI opportunities.
• Provide feedback into Insight’s Data & AI offerings and accelerators based on client demand and field experience.
• Own solutions for assigned opportunities end-to-end, ensuring consistency between presales design and delivery handoff.
• Actively track Data & AI opportunities being worked, providing leadership with regular reporting on pipeline, revenue, and gross profit.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of presales artifacts (templates, reference architectures, SOW standards, estimators).

Benefits

• Full medical, dental, and vision benefits
• Bonus incentives
• Company 401(k) match
• Freedom to work from another location—even an international destination—for up to 30 consecutive calendar days per year

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees