Practice Lead Solutions Architect (Audio Visual)

Practice Lead Solutions Architect (Audio Visual)New York Tri-State Area | Hybrid

If the following job requirements and experience match your skills, please ensure you apply promptly.
The Role
This role is with a commercial technology solutions provider building out a mature, repeatable, standards-based Audio-Visual practice. The business has been executing AV projects and is now ready to move beyond project-by-project delivery toward something more scalable: consistent solution frameworks, faster quoting cycles, stronger design governance, and a practice that can grow. This person will be the technical center of gravity for that effort.
The Practice Lead is the final technical authority for AV solution design, from initial customer discovery through deployment closeout. The work spans pre-sales engineering, standards development, construction coordination, and design integrity across the full project lifecycle. This person will partner closely with sales, field delivery, project management, and OEM partners, and will have operational peers handling vendor administration and process coordination so the focus stays where it should: technical judgment and practice leadership.
This is not a quota-carrying sales role. It is a technical leadership role with heavy pre-sales involvement, and the right person is someone who enjoys building things that scale, not just delivering individual projects well.
What This Role Is, and Is NotThis role is:The primary technical authority for AV solution design and standards across the practiceA pre-sales engineering role with significant customer-facing responsibility, including discovery, site surveys, and stakeholder presentationsA practice-building role, responsible for creating repeatable frameworks, deployment guides, and documentation standardsA cross-functional partner to sales, field teams, construction stakeholders, and leadershipA mentorship and technical enablement resource for developing AV engineering talent internally
This role is NOT:A quota-carrying or commission-driven sales positionA project management or vendor administration role (operational peers support those functions)A purely internal or behind-the-scenes engineering seat, significant customer-facing presence is requiredAn individual contributor who hands off at proposal stage, design ownership continues through deploymentA role for someone who needs a fully built practice to plug into, this is still a building environment
Required Experience & Traits7 or more years of commercial AV design, engineering, or solution architecture experienceDeep expertise in Cisco standards-based collaboration environments, with working familiarity across adjacent platforms including QSC, Biamp, Extron, Crestron, Shure, Logitech, Sony, Samsung, NEC, and LGCTS-D certification strongly preferred; demonstrated design leadership and equivalent experience will also be consideredAbility to engage credibly at the IT Director, facilities manager, architect, and executive level, in customer meetings and construction coordination settingsPractical construction knowledge: pathways, cable routing, power, mounting conditions, room readiness, and how to work within real jobsite constraintsExperience producing or reviewing Bills of Material, labor estimates, scopes of work, system drawings, rack elevations, signal flow diagrams, and deployment documentationConsultative mindset with the ability to translate business and collaboration goals into concrete technical designsSystems thinker who genuinely enjoys building standards, repeatability, and scalable processes, not just solving one-off problems
Key ResponsibilitiesPractice Leadership & Technical StrategyServe as the subject matter expert and final technical decision-maker for AV solutions across the practiceEstablish and continuously refine standards across Cisco collaboration, video conferencing, displays, audio systems, control systems, room design, and workplace technologiesRecommend solution standards and manufacturer direction that improve customer outcomes, deployment consistency, quoting speed, and practice profitabilityAdvise leadership on AV strategy, industry trends, practice investment, and solution maturityPre-Sales Engineering & Solution DesignPartner with sales account teams throughout the sales cycle, from early discovery through technical proposal approvalConduct customer discovery sessions, site surveys, and technical assessments to understand business objectives, room usage, collaboration workflows, and constraintsDesign end-to-end AV and collaboration solutions aligned with customer goals, practice standards, and industry best practicesProduce Bills of Material, labor calculations, technical scopes of work, budgetary designs, and supporting documentation, then present recommendations to customer stakeholders with clarity and confidenceServe as the final technical approver for AV opportunities before proposals are issuedEngineering Governance & Delivery ExcellenceMaintain ownership of design integrity from proposal through project completionProduce or oversee engineering documentation including system line drawings, signal flow diagrams, reflective ceiling plans, rack elevations, pinouts, and deployment guidesSupport field teams during execution by ensuring design intent is clearly understood, and by providing technical guidance during deployment, commissioning, and escalationsClose the loop between design decisions, field realities, and future standards improvementsConstruction & Infrastructure CoordinationCoordinate with general contractors, electrical contractors, architects, consultants, and facilities teams on infrastructure requirements and project sequencingReview pathways, cable routing, power, mounting conditions, and construction constraints to ensure designs are buildable in real conditionsIdentify design and deployment risks early and recommend practical mitigation strategiesAlign AV designs with construction schedules and field realities before work beginsCross-Functional Leadership & Practice MaturityBuild trusted working relationships across sales, engineering, project management, operations, deployment, and leadershipCreate repeatable templates, design frameworks, and documentation standards that help the practice scaleContribute to mentoring and technical enablement for AV engineering peers as the practice growsPromote a culture of quality, accountability, and practical problem-solving across the teams this role touches
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