Presales Solutions Architect

Salary: £75,000 - 75,000 per year

Requirements:

• We are looking for experience in an MSP, education technology, infrastructure delivery or technical consulting environment.
• We need the ability to translate business and educational outcomes into clear technical designs.
• We are looking for a good breadth across networking, Microsoft 365, Entra ID, Intune, Windows Server, backup, security, wireless or endpoint management.
• We need confidence leading customer conversations, running workshops, demos and solution walkthroughs.
• We need strong documentation skills, including clear proposals, assumptions and scope boundaries.
• We value a collaborative One Team approach working alongside Sales, Implementation Services and Systems Operations.
• An education-sector background or experience designing IT solutions for schools or MATs is nice to have.

Responsibilities:

• We lead technical discovery workshops with IT leads, school leaders and internal stakeholders, including site assessments and current-state documentation.
• We design end-to-end solutions across networks, wireless, servers, virtualisation, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, identity, security, safeguarding, endpoints, backup and management tooling using our reference architectures and DfE, NCSC and KCSIE guidance.
• We produce high-quality proposal content including solution overviews, HLDs, scope boundaries, assumptions, acceptance criteria and SOW input.
• We work with Sales and Finance to size, price and package solutions while balancing commercial constraints with scalability, supportability and margin.
• We present solution options clearly to both technical audiences and non-technical school leadership.
• We collaborate with Implementation Services before proposal submission to validate deliverability, effort and sequencing.
• We ensure Systems Operations considerations such as monitoring, backup, patching and security operations are included in every design.
• We maintain and improve the solutions knowledge base, design patterns, templates and handover packs.
• We capture lessons learned from delivered projects and feed improvements back into standards.

Technologies:

• Support
• Microsoft 365
• Security
• Windows
• Office 365
• Active Directory
• Architect
• Aruba
• Azure
• Cloud
• Cisco
• Hyper-V
• IAM
• macOS
• Network
• VPN
• VMware
• iOS

More:

We are Dataspire, partnering with schools and multi-academy trusts to build dependable, high-performing technology environments that help schools operate securely and efficiently while enabling teachers and students to make the most of technology. This is a hybrid role based in Manchester with three days per week in the office, full-time at 37.5 hours per week, and a salary of £70,000 to £79,000. We offer 32 days of holiday including bank holidays, an additional paid Christmas shutdown day, your birthday off, on-site parking, optional branded workwear, and an Employee Assistance Programme. We also support development through CPDs, monthly 1:1s, a Pluralsight licence with ringfenced learning time, vendor-led training where needed, and a clear progression path. We are committed to creating a working environment where everyone feels supported, valued and able to perform at their best, and we are a Mental Health at Work Committed organisation and a Disability Confident employer.

last updated 32 week of 2026