The Solutions Director is a key role in the Cloud Infrastructure Services (CIS) Pre-Sales organization involved in medium to large, multi-tower opportunities.

Key responsibilities:

• Typically involved from Deal Qualification to Contract Signature, Sales to Delivery Handover and for a limited period in the execution to provide continuity
• Responsible for development of the end-to-end solution (Transformation, Transition and Run) covering multiple service lines and/or technology domains
• Owns internal stakeholder management and visibility of core solution related metrics to approvers
• Supports Sales Lead in pre-qualification activities, including ROM costing and early solution shaping as appropriate
• Develops solution & response strategy, standard versus non-standard approach, aligned to the sales strategy. Clearly communicates to all bid team members.
• Ensures all client requirements are analyzed and distributed for solutioning, without gaps or duplication
• Designs the solution and ensures the relevant solution artefacts are completed in line with global process
• Excellent understanding of the competitor landscape, providing insight into the sales plan on how to beat competition
• Provide expertise on commercially structuring deals to differentiate from the competition
• Works with Deal Analyst to set up ADMT and create pricing structure; communicates structure & tagging strategy
• Convert Price to Win into Cost to Win by Tower
• Reviews and inputs to the contract schedules, SoW and SLA among other documents
• Supports Tower Lead with 3rd parties’ direct engagements when needed
• Contributes to proposal writing and guides the bid team on alignment to sales strategy, themes, scoring mechanism
• Ensures Solution Approval in a timely manner in line with the Global Solution Approval Process and supports towers when required with their approvals providing an end-to-end view for their approvers
• Leads the solution team in all client facing interactions
• Supports Commercial Lead with negotiation of solution related schedules (SoW, SLA etc.)
• Manages solution team and ensures solution related deliverables are completed
• Identifies and adds to the response and other capabilities that will bring value to the opportunity and/or show Capgemini capability
• Ensures the solution and commercials are sustainable for the future, with ability to grow and upsell
• Identifies and documents potential areas for upsell that have been discussed with client and handover to Account Team

Key skills:

Customer Engagement:

• Requirement for client facing skills will vary with an entry-level Solution Lead being required past client-facing experience to a senior Solution Leads having executive client-facing experience
• Able to articulate both transformational and managed services elements of deals
• Strong presentational and communication skills; ability to lead / anchor client conversations; ability to pitch at right depth to different internal/external audiences
• Ability to articulate value, benefits, storyline to client
• Strong writing skills

Management:

• Leadership of the solution team on deal; ability to coach, steer, challenge, guide – support in case of challenges or if tower lead is struggling
• Strong team leader to manage and coach team through tough deadlines
• Stakeholder management, engagement and socialization; Senior solution leads have strong skills in handling organizational conflict across various parts of Capgemini (i.e. GBLs, BUs)

Technical/Portfolio:

• Across all towers; typically, some depth within 1 or 2 towers (via previous role); ability to challenge & understand responses across the technical landscape.

Commercial:

• Ability to link technical aspects of solution with commercial response,
• Ability to understand contracts & schedules and ability to draft solution related contract schedules,
• Risk identification, treatment and management,
• Negotiation skills (including with subcontractors),

Financial:

• Support Client business case creation,
• Support price shaping, benchmarking, pricing models
• Cost analysis, drive competitiveness
• Cost breakdown & what-if analysis