Job DescriptionThe Verticals Solution Architect serves as a trusted technical advisor to strategic customers across Public Sector, Telecommunications, and other key industry verticals. This role is responsible for designing and positioning comprehensive cybersecurity solutions, driving adoption of new technologies, supporting large-scale customer initiatives, and enabling successful business outcomes through technical leadership and architectural expertise.
The Verticals Solution Architect partners closely with sales teams, customers, product management, professional services, support, and executive stakeholders to provide solution guidance throughout the customer lifecycle. The individual will leverage deep expertise in cybersecurity, networking, cloud, and emerging technologies to address complex customer challenges and drive successful project outcomes.
Key Responsibilities- Provide architectural design, solution recommendations, and establish project success criteria for strategic customer engagements.
- Design end-to-end security solutions that align with customer business, security, operational, and regulatory requirements.
- Serve as the technical lead for complex customer opportunities and strategic initiatives across assigned vertical markets.
- Drive adoption of emerging technologies and lead Early Availability (EA) and Proof of Concept (PoC) programs within customer environments.
- Partner with sales teams to identify, qualify, and advance opportunities through the sales cycle.
- Manage technical escalations associated with major customer projects in conjunction with Solutions Center, Professional Services, Product Management, and Support organizations.
- Lead technical workshops, executive briefings, architecture reviews, and customer presentations.
- Assist customers with security transformation initiatives involving cloud, network, application, data center, and hybrid architectures.
- Act as a trusted advisor for industry-specific security challenges, including government compliance requirements, critical infrastructure protection, and telecommunications security architectures.
- Support successful closure of at least 15 strategic customer projects valued at $500,000 or greater annually.
- Provide field feedback to product management and engineering teams regarding customer requirements, competitive trends, and market opportunities.
- Mentor sales engineers and other technical personnel within the organization.
- Represent the company at industry events, customer forums, conferences, and partner engagements.
Qualifications- 10+ years of engineering, cybersecurity, architecture, or pre-sales experience within enterprise, public sector, telecommunications, or large-scale commercial environments.
- Proven ability to architect and position complex cybersecurity solutions for large and highly regulated organizations.
- Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills.
- Extensive knowledge of enterprise networking, routing, switching, security architectures, and hybrid IT environments.
- Experience with cloud platforms including AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
- Strong understanding of virtualization, containers, cloud-native architectures, and modern application environments.
- Experience managing complex customer engagements involving multiple stakeholders and project teams.
- Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills, including the ability to engage executive and technical audiences.
- Ability to translate business requirements into technical architectures and measurable customer outcomes.
- Must be eligible to work in the United States without sponsorship now or in the future.
Preferred Qualifications- Direct experience with Check Point technologies, platforms, and security solutions.
- Check Point certifications (CCSA, CCSE, CCSM, CCTA, or equivalent).
- Industry certifications such as CISSP, CCNP, CCIE, AWS Solutions Architect, Azure Solutions Architect, or similar.
- Experience supporting Public Sector customers, including Federal, State, Local Government, Education (SLED), or Defense organizations.
- Knowledge of government security and compliance frameworks such as FedRAMP, NIST, FISMA, CJIS, CMMC, and Zero Trust architectures.
- Experience supporting telecommunications service providers and large-scale carrier environments.
- Understanding of 4G/LTE, 5G network architectures, GTP protocols, mobile core security, and network function virtualization (NFV).
- Experience with SaaS, SASE, Zero Trust, AI security, cloud security, and security operations solutions.
Success MeasuresThe Verticals Solution Architect will be measured by:
- Strategic influence on revenue and pipeline growth.
- Successful closure of 15 or more customer projects valued at $500,000+ annually.
- Customer satisfaction and project success outcomes.
- Adoption of new technologies and participation in Early Availability programs.
- Technical leadership and contribution to key strategic accounts.
- Quality of architectural guidance and customer solution designs.
- Cross-functional collaboration and support of sales, engineering, and customer success initiatives.
Travel Requirements- Ability to travel up to 50%, depending on customer and business requirements.
