The posting
JOB DESCRIPTION Technical Pre-Sales Frontier AI Architect POSITION DETAILS
Position title:
Technical Pre-Sales Frontier AI Architect
Reports to (position):
Technical Pre-Sales Manager
Team:
Technical Pre-Sales
Department:
Services & Solutions
ABOUT BYTES
Bytes Software Services is a leading provider of IT solutions and services, supporting organisations across the UK and Ireland in modernising, securing and optimising their digital environments. We deliver expertise across Microsoft technologies, cloud transformation, cybersecurity, data and AI, and digital workplace solutions. We work with public and private sector organisations from early discovery and solution design through to delivery, optimisation and managed services. Our approach brings together technical depth, commercial awareness and a focus on measurable customer outcomes. WHY BYTES
Purposeful work: help customers turn AI ambition into practical, secure and measurable outcomes.
People-first culture: work in a collaborative environment where knowledge sharing and constructive challenge are encouraged.
Career growth: access technical certification, hands-on learning and leadership development.
Recognition and reward: competitive compensation, commission or bonus opportunities and flexible benefits.
Wellbeing and belonging: support for health, wellbeing, volunteering and an inclusive workplace.
Smarter Together: combine specialist skills across pre-sales, sales, delivery, product and managed services.
PURPOSE OF JOB
The Technical Pre-Sales Frontier AI Architect will help customers move from isolated AI experiments to production-ready, governed and secure AI solutions across the Microsoft stack. The role is broader than a Microsoft 365 Copilot pre-sales position. It spans Azure AI Foundry, Microsoft Fabric and Fabric IQ, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Studio, GitHub Copilot, Microsoft Agent 365, identity, data security, governance and the integration of agents into business processes and applications. Working across business and technical stakeholders, the architect will lead discovery, shape priority use cases, assess readiness and design end-to-end solution approaches. They will turn those designs into clear proposals, demonstrations, proof-of-value engagements and statements of work that delivery teams can execute with confidence. The successful candidate will also play a formative role in the Data & AI pre-sales tiger team. At Team Lead level, this includes coordinating workloads, coaching colleagues, setting repeatable architecture and qualification patterns, improving quality and supporting capability planning across the wider Technical Pre-Sales function. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Lead customer discovery and envisioning sessions to identify valuable AI and agentic use cases, business outcomes, success measures, constraints and risks.
Assess whether opportunities are ready to progress, including use-case priority, data suitability, Azure foundations, identity, security, governance, observability, operational ownership and executive sponsorship.
Design end-to-end Frontier AI architectures across Azure AI Foundry, Fabric and Fabric IQ, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Studio, GitHub Copilot, Agent 365 and relevant security and identity services.
Shape agentic solutions that connect people, data, applications and business processes, with responsible AI, security, governance, monitoring and cost control built in from the outset.
Translate complex requirements into clear proposals, solution designs, statements of work, assumptions, dependencies, estimates and handover material.
Deliver technical workshops, demonstrations, architecture playback sessions and proof-of-value engagements that are tailored to customer priorities.
Partner with sales, Microsoft, delivery, managed services and other pre-sales specialists to create joined-up customer journeys rather than disconnected workload conversations.
Identify reusable patterns, accelerators, reference architectures and packaged assessments that can improve speed, quality and consistency across future engagements.
Support customer evidence and delivery artefacts required for Microsoft specialisations and related assurance or audit activity.
Maintain practical knowledge of Microsoft Frontier strategy, product developments, partner programmes, incentives and responsible AI guidance.
Contribute to pipeline development by qualifying opportunities, challenging weak use cases and focusing team effort on work that can progress to production.
At Team Lead level, provide day-to-day technical leadership for the Data & AI pre-sales tiger team, coordinate demand, mentor colleagues, review solution quality and report capability or capacity risks to the Technical Pre-Sales Manager.
QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS
Educational qualifications
Degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Software Engineering or a related discipline.
DESIRABLE
Equivalent relevant industry experience in lieu of formal education.
ESSENTIAL
Professional qualifications
Microsoft Frontier Transformation Engineer badge, including the required certification, Project Ready and Hypervelocity Engineering components. If not already held, a commitment to complete it within an agreed period after joining.
ESSENTIAL
GH-300: GitHub Copilot Associate.
ESSENTIAL
AI-103: Azure AI Apps and Agents Developer Associate, or AI-102 where accepted within the relevant Frontier pathway.
ESSENTIAL
AB-100: Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect.
ESSENTIAL
DP-600: Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate.
DESIRABLE
Additional Microsoft credentials in Azure architecture, data engineering, security, identity or governance.
DESIRABLE
Years of experience
5+ years in technical pre-sales, solution architecture, AI engineering, data architecture, software engineering or technology consulting.
ESSENTIAL
Demonstrable experience shaping and presenting Microsoft Data & AI solutions for enterprise customers.
ESSENTIAL
Experience taking AI, analytics or agentic solutions beyond proof of concept towards secure production use.
ESSENTIAL
Experience leading technical workstreams, communities of practice or small specialist teams.
DESIRABLE
Other requirements
Strong architecture knowledge across Azure AI Foundry, generative AI, agent design, retrieval patterns, APIs, integration and application modernisation.
ESSENTIAL
Working knowledge of Microsoft Fabric, Fabric IQ, data agents, data engineering and analytics patterns.
ESSENTIAL
Understanding of Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Studio, GitHub Copilot and Agent 365 within a broader enterprise AI architecture.
ESSENTIAL
Ability to assess data, identity, security, governance, observability, cost and operational readiness for AI solutions.
ESSENTIAL
Practical understanding of responsible AI, privacy, compliance and the risks associated with models, prompts, agents, tools and enterprise data.
ESSENTIAL
Ability to communicate with senior business stakeholders, architects, engineers, security teams and Microsoft specialists.
ESSENTIAL
Strong written skills, including proposals, architecture decisions, statements of work and executive-level summaries.
ESSENTIAL
Experience working in a Microsoft partner, consultancy or services-led environment.
DESIRABLE
CORE COMPETENCIES AND SKILLS
Competency
Description
Requirement
Frontier architecture
Connects AI, data, applications, productivity, identity, security and governance into a coherent end-to-end design.
ESSENTIAL
Customer discovery
Frames business problems, validates value and converts unclear demand into prioritised, technically viable use cases.
ESSENTIAL
Technical depth
Can challenge engineers and architects on patterns, trade-offs, prerequisites, integration, operations and non-functional requirements.
ESSENTIAL
Commercial judgement
Balances customer outcomes, technical feasibility, delivery risk, cost and repeatability when shaping an engagement.
ESSENTIAL
Communication
Explains complex AI concepts clearly to business and technical audiences and produces concise, decision-ready material.
ESSENTIAL
Responsible delivery
Builds security, governance, responsible AI, evidence and operability into the solution from the outset.
ESSENTIAL
Collaboration
Works effectively across sales, Microsoft, pre-sales, delivery and managed services, with clear ownership and handover.
ESSENTIAL
Leadership and coaching
Provides direction, constructive review and practical coaching while helping a specialist team build confidence and capability.
DESIRABLE
Pattern thinking
Identifies repeatable services, reference architectures and accelerators rather than treating every opportunity as entirely bespoke.
ESSENTIAL
Continuous learning
Keeps pace with fast-moving Microsoft AI capabilities and turns learning into usable guidance for colleagues and customers.
ESSENTIAL
LEADERSHIP SCOPE FOR A TEAM LEAD APPOINTMENT
Where appointed at Team Lead level, the role will retain hands-on customer and opportunity responsibility while taking on additional leadership expectations:
Act as the technical focal point for the Data & AI pre-sales tiger team and help define its initial operating rhythm, priorities and measures.
Coordinate work allocation and specialist input across active Data & AI and Frontier opportunities.
Coach architects and engineers, support certification plans and identify capability gaps that require recruitment, partner support or formal learning.
Introduce proportionate solution review and peer assurance for high-value or high-risk AI engagements.
Help develop repeatable assessments, workshops, demonstrations, reference architectures and handover standards.
Provide clear updates on pipeline, capacity, delivery dependencies and strategic risks to the Technical Pre-Sales Manager.
SUCCESS IN THE ROLE
Customers receive coherent, outcome-led Frontier AI designs rather than isolated product recommendations.
Opportunities are qualified earlier, with weak assumptions, data gaps and delivery risks made visible before commitment.
Proposals and statements of work are clear, executable and supported by effective handover into delivery.
The Data & AI tiger team develops repeatable capability across Foundry, Fabric, agents, governance and secure AI operations. Bytes strengthens the practical skills, delivery evidence and customer outcomes that support its Microsoft Frontier ambitions.
