Senior Manager: Data Centre Infrastructure and Cloud Solutions

Purpose: To lead the Data Centre Infrastructure and Cloud Computing Solutions team in achieving commercial, solution, service, and strategic objectives. This role aims to increase profits and market penetration by providing customers with comprehensive end-to-end solutions. These solutions include Data Centre Infrastructure design and build, Private, Public, and Hybrid Cloud solutions, as well as remote and on-site support. This is all tied together with a customer-enhanced service level agreement tailored to meet our customers' business needs. The role also involves supporting and assisting inter-Portfolio, Sales, Service Delivery, OEM, and Partnership teams while ensuring compliance with the Sizwe governance model.

Key Objectives:

• Provide leadership across the portfolio in compiling, enhancing, researching, and leading the commercial, financial, marketing, and value propositions to all internal teams and external customers.
• Support and assist national Sales teams with solutions crafting, pricing, and subject matter expertise, focusing on delivering Data Centre Infrastructure, Private, Public, and Hybrid Compute, Storage, Virtualization, Hyperconverged, and Containerization solutions to customers.
• Support and assist national Service Delivery teams, including service management.
• Oversee the development of Data Centre Infrastructure and Cloud solutions by gathering customer requirements, conferring with users, and providing best-fit vendor-agnostic solutions.
• Provide presales and technical leadership on Data Centre Infrastructure and Cloud modernization, showcasing a deep understanding of platform services for innovative client solutions.
• Grow, engage, and manage technology partners and OEMs (e.g., Azure, VMWare Cloud Director, Huawei) as required.
• Ensure that Data Centre and Cloud solutions are Cloud-optimized and well-architected, enabling customers to benefit from elasticity, horizontal scalability, automation, and high availability.
• Act as a visionary and strategist for the solution area, creating, evaluating, and implementing high-level plans and design proposals for Sizwe solutions.
• Achieve the collective profit targets of the respective portfolio by selling balanced solutions across all portfolio offerings.
• Be accountable for the technical validation of solutions within the portfolio, liaising with Sizwe Sales, Service Delivery, and OEMs and Partnership teams.
• Lead the Solution Qualification Scorecard (SQS), solution evaluation and selection, buy vs. build decisions, cost-elements of the solution, early-phase project estimates, high-level designs (HLD), low-level designs (LLD), and compilation of Statement of Work (SoW) schedules.
• Assist on opportunities outside primary responsibilities as required.
• Lead and grow product selection and sizing within the portfolio, complex solution design, and multi-vendor integration, and facilitate product demonstrations and customer proof of concept engagements.
• Manage the collection of all pricing elements to build the solution proposal and lead all Sizwe teams during the Deal Approval Committee (DAC), Solution Review, Commercial Review, and pre-submission proposal processes to customers. Manage and meet profit targets.

Experience Required:

• Data Centre’s Infrastructure and Hyperconverged technologies experience.
• Exposure to Public, Private, and Hybrid Cloud platforms.
• Hands-on experience with IaaS, PaaS, SaaS Cloud platforms (Azure, Huawei, VCD), VMWare ESXi, VMWare vSphere v8, Veeam, CommVault, SUSE Linux, Windows Server 2016/2019, DELL, HPE, Lenovo, Fujitsu, Huawei Server and Storage.

Education:

• School Grade 12
• Tertiary IT-related degree (or equivalent NQF7) preferred

Minimum Requirements

• 5-8 years of management experience at a senior level within the portfolio.
• Customer-centric mindset and team-oriented approach.
• Sound knowledge of commercial components, differentiation, value proposition, skills, and processes to remain competitive.
• Knowledge of related portfolios, technologies, components, legislation, and regulations controlling the environment.
• Effective management of the portfolio team, including recruitment, performance measurement, and management processes.
• Thorough knowledge of documentation, proposal write-ups, cost elements, pricing, responses, marketing material, and initiatives driving value creation for customers.
• Understanding of business principles and their application.
• Advanced business presentation skills.
• Ability to identify and manage critical relationships to ensure business success.
• Ability to apply solution design thinking processes to various situations and transfer competence to new situations.
• Negotiation skills to achieve win-win situations.
• Management and development of human capital according to business needs and objectives.
• Ability to accurately report information pertaining to performance outputs.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and attend to finite detail to ensure service quality.
• High moral principles and professional standards.
• Willingness to work extended hours and travel as required.
• Own transport with a valid driver’s license.
• Compliance with and enhancement of Sizwe's governance and management systems (ISO).

Key Tasks

Clients:

• Support and maintain existing hosted clients with related sold services (DRaaS, BCaaS, etc.).
• Attend customer visits, SLA meetings, and related services meetings as required.
• Manage client service complaints and challenges.
• Support the revenue generation team in developing face-to-face engagement skills with clients.
• Support the service delivery team in compliance with portfolio requirements and service management engagement with clients.
• Build and maintain strong client relationships.
• Ensure clear communication of sold services to internal stakeholders.
• Seek and obtain client satisfaction feedback monthly.
• Deliver strategic workshops to clients and build strong relationships.
• Compile, support, and deliver complete proposals/write-ups and commercial costing to the Bid Management team and other stakeholders as required.

People Management and Development:

• Manage and mentor a team of Solutions Architects.
• Hire, train, coach, and motivate the team to achieve objectives.
• Develop the team in client engagement, technical and industry knowledge, and consistent application of required disciplines.
• Maintain superior performance standards (coaching, call activity, forecasting, client relationship management).
• Drive positive changes in efficiency, revenue cycles, and employee morale.
• Ensure exceptional client experiences while respecting company policies, procedures, and profit margins.
• Develop action plans to improve performance in client relationships, service, and teamwork.
• Conduct weekly and monthly team meetings.
• Foster an environment where team members feel safe to speak honestly.
• Solicit feedback from direct reports to meet objectives.
• Address performance issues with corrective actions and development plans.
• Manage the disciplinary process as required.

Self-Development:

• Grow and ensure compliance as a subject matter expert within the portfolio.
• Research and build knowledge and skills to be an effective leader in related technologies and offerings.
• Proficiency in presentation skills, financial and commercial management, relevant innovation skills, service management, systems, and service delivery processes.
• Solicit feedback from peers, managers, and employees for personal improvement.
• Ensure compliance with technology partner certifications.
• Maintain minimum certifications as agreed with portfolio strategy.
• Attend technology partner training as scheduled.
• Prepare training and development plans addressing weaknesses and career objectives.

Teamwork:

• Ensure a customer-centric approach in collaboration with internal teams.
• Contribute openly and honestly in internal and customer-facing meetings.
• Promote teamwork and ensure team members do the same.
• Solicit and accept feedback from stakeholders.

Manage Internal and External Customer Relationships:

• Identify relevant role players according to business requirements.
• Set up meetings to discuss roles, responsibilities, cooperation, and conflict resolution.
• Obtain mutual agreement on issue resolution and inter-dependent outputs.
• Monitor role player performance to ensure agreements are honored.
• Inform role players of outcomes, deviations, and required actions.
• Implement continuous follow-up to maintain relationships.
• Manage relationships according to policies, procedures, and legal requirements.
• Review and qualify opportunities early in the cycle.

Compilation of Management Reports:

• Compile extraordinary Portfolio reports for specific needs or projects.
• Collect and verify required data for customer reporting.
• Collate information into required formats for reports.
• Generate reports according to policies and procedures.
• Make recommendations based on the information.
• Distribute reports to stakeholders and OEMs.
• Present high-level weekly and monthly reports to Executives as required.

Manage Group Performance:

• Capture performance metrics quarterly.
• Ensure performance metrics are valid, accurate, and updated.
• Develop and implement quality management systems and policies to maintain service delivery standards.

Portfolio Cluster:

• Work with multiple inter-Portfolio teams for consistent, integrated relationships.
• Lead Solutions Architects and Subject Matter Experts in compliance with portfolio goals and targets.
• Ensure internal stakeholders understand the portfolio’s value.
• Empower the revenue generation team with skills to sell the portfolio.
• Ensure the portfolio team follows Sizwe processes.
• Constantly review, enhance, grow, innovate, and update the portfolio for value creation, profitability, and growth.
• Qualify opportunities early in the cycle and match them with the correct Solution Block offering.
• Work closely with Portfolio Managers, Product Solutions Managers, Sales, and Marketing Teams.
• Provide detailed status reporting on the portfolio to Executives weekly and monthly.

Transformation:

• Lead transformation efforts internally and externally.
• Communicate positively about transformation to clients and stakeholders.
• Comply with demographic targets and manage PDI’s for success.
• Foster a culture of Respect, Trust, Transparency, Integrity, Openness, and Honesty.

General:

• Administer and update systems and documentation according to company processes.
• Perform any ad hoc functions required by Executives.