Principal Solutions Architect, Technology Sales Lead (AWS)

Brand: VML

Capability: Technology & Innovation

Expertise: Enterprise Solutions

Location: Kansas City, MO, United States

Requisition ID: 13879

Who We Are

VML, part of WPP, is a leading creative company that combines brand experience, customer experience, and commerce, creating connected brands to drive growth. VML is celebrated for its innovative and human first, award-winning work for blue chip client partners including AstraZeneca, Colgate-Palmolive, Dell, Ford, Microsoft, Nestlé, The Coca-Cola Company, and Wendy's. The agency is recognized by the Forrester Wave™ Reports, as a Leader among Marketing Creative and Content Service Providers, Commerce Services, Global Digital Experience Services, Global Marketing Services and, most recently, Marketing Measurement & Optimization. In addition, VML’s specialist health network, VML Health, is one of the world’s largest and most awarded health agencies. VML’s global network is powered by 26,000 talented people across 55+ markets, with principal offices in Kansas City, New York, Detroit, London, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, and Sydney.

About WPP

WPP is the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands. We unite cutting-edge media intelligence and data solutions, world-class creativity, next-generation production, transformative enterprise solutions and expert strategic counsel in a single company – powered by exceptional talent and our agentic marketing platform, WPP Open, to help our clients navigate change, capture opportunity and deliver transformational growth. For more information, visit WPP.com.

Principal Solutions Architect, Technology Sales Lead

Brand: WPP Enterprise Solutions Capability: Technology & Innovation Expertise: Enterprise Solutions Location: Remote (US). Hub preference: New York, Kansas City, Detroit Region: North America Focus: Technical Pre-Sales & Co-Sell Leadership


Who We Are

WPP Enterprise Solutions is the enterprise technology and transformation capability of WPP, delivering data, AI, and modern applications for the world's leading brands. We partner with AWS to bring these capabilities to blue-chip clients, WPP Enterprise Solutions signed a multi-year Strategic Collaboration Agreement with AWS, and we are building toward AWS Premier Partner status. This role sits at the center of that growth.

The Opportunity

We are hiring the senior technical voice of our AWS alliance in North America/EMEA. This is the person AWS field leadership and client architects turn to when a deal needs technical credibility, and the person who shapes how we win on AWS.

You will own the technical strategy behind our co-sell pursuits: the reference architectures that become client blueprints, the proof points that remove doubt, and the joint solutions that define our AWS partnership. This is a hands-on principal role for someone who wants their architecture decisions to carry weight across a fast-growing alliance, not a task-based delivery seat.

Role Summary

This is a principal-level technical pre-sales role. You are the senior technical authority for AWS co-sell across North America. You partner directly with Alliance Sales, Alliance Solution Leads, AWS Solutions Architects, and client engineering teams to win strategic pursuits. You set the technical direction, and you bring the depth to back it up in the room.

This is an individual contributor role with senior influence. You will mentor delivery teams and shape technical standards, but your primary impact is winning the pursuits that grow the alliance.

What You Will Own

Technical leadership on strategic pursuits. Serve as the senior technical partner on priority AWS co-sell opportunities. Set the technical win strategy, lead client-facing deep-dives alongside AWS SAs, and remove the objections that decide competitive deals.

Reference architectures that become standards. Design the architectures that anchor our joint AWS solutions and get reused across pursuits. Contribute to AWS Partner Central and establish the patterns delivery teams build from.

Proof that converts. Scope and lead the proof-of-concept work that proves we can deliver, and shape those POCs so they become production systems.

AWS field relationships. Build trusted relationships with AWS Solutions Architects, Specialist SAs, and ProServe. Be the technical name AWS field teams want on their deals.

Technical direction for the alliance. Advise our leadership and client leadership on AWS architecture strategy. Keep us ahead of AWS roadmaps in priority services, and set the technical bar as the alliance scales.

Technical Depth

  • Generative AI: Amazon Bedrock, SageMaker, agentic and generative AI application patterns
  • Data & Analytics: Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC), AWS Clean Rooms, data lakes, analytics pipelines
  • Customer Experience: Amazon Personalize, Amazon Connect, serverless architectures
  • Modern Applications: Lambda, Step Functions, API Gateway, container orchestration
  • Integration: Event-driven architectures, microservices, API design

How Success Looks

  • Technical win rate on the strategic pursuits you lead
  • Competitive deals turned in our favor by your technical credibility
  • Reference architectures adopted as reusable standards across the alliance
  • POC-to-production conversion on the engagements you shape
  • Strength of your working relationships with AWS field and specialist teams
  • The technical bar you set for delivery teams as the alliance grows

What You Bring

Required

  • 5+ years in technical pre-sales, solution architecture, or technical consulting, with senior client-facing credibility
  • Deep hands-on AWS expertise with a track record of delivered projects
  • A strong record leading demos and POCs that win competitive pursuits
  • Command of enterprise architecture patterns and the judgment to apply them
  • Experience in a Global Systems Integrator, agency, or professional services environment

Preferred

  • AWS certifications: Solutions Architect Professional and specialty certifications (ML, Data Analytics)
  • Hands-on experience with Amazon Bedrock and generative AI implementations
  • Familiarity with Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) and advertising technology
  • Prior AWS partner-company or direct AWS experience
  • Experience supporting co-sell motions with AWS field teams
  • Vertical compliance familiarity 

Why This Role

You will be in the room for the technical decisions that win AWS deals. You will build the architectures that become client solutions and the proof that tips competitive pursuits in our favor. As the alliance grows toward Premier Partner status, you will set the technical standard the whole team builds on.

Your technical excellence directly drives AWS alliance revenue growth, and here it will be seen.

We believe the best work happens when we're together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection. That's why we’ve adopted a hybrid approach, with teams in the office an average of four days a week. If you require accommodations or flexibility, please discuss this with the hiring team during the interview process.

WPP (VML) is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers. 

VML is a WPP agency (NYSE: WPP). For more information, please visit  www.vml.com, and follow along on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.

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When you click "Submit Application", this will send any information you add below to VML. Before you do this, we think it's a good idea to read through our Recruitment Privacy Policy. California residents should read our California Recruitment Privacy Notice. This explains what we do with your personal data when you apply for a role with us, and, how you can update the information you have provided us with or how to remove it.