Principal GTM Architect
NetApp
Own Every Moment at NetApp
At NetApp, your ideas power innovation. We lead in intelligent data infrastructure—delivering unified storage, integrated data services, and solutions that help organizations unlock the full potential of their data, from AI to multicloud.
Ready to innovate and contribute to our path to $10B? Here, you'll collaborate with passionate teams, tackle real-world challenges, and see your impact in how customers transform and grow. If you're ready to bring curiosity, creativity, and drive to every moment, NetApp is where your journey begins.
Job Summary
We are seeking a dynamic and strategic Principal Architect to join our North America team, as a thought leader and trusted advisor for NetApp’s strategy, technology focus areas, and customer imperatives – both within NetApp and across our partner and customer ecosystems.
Principal Architects are experts at positioning NetApp’s Intelligent Data Infrastructure business technology strategy into each of the identified customer-driven imperatives where our portfolio is differentiated and solves their challenges with high residual value. They are focused on Data Infrastructure Modernization, Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Transformation, and Cyber Resiliency.
In this role, you will act as the tip of the spear, opening up net-new opportunities at new logos and expanding the footprint at existing accounts, focused on establishing NetApp’s relevance with new buying centers, establishing NetApp’s right to a seat at the table, and opening the door to NetApp sellers to cultivate the deal through to close.
The ideal candidate brings a strong background in sales, customer engagement, and product innovation, with a proven ability to think strategically and drive cross-functional initiatives. This position will report to the Sr Director of Principal Architects, NA.
Key Responsibilities
- Leads initial conversation w/ customers & prospects at EBCs, Sales Meetings, QBRs, and more as required to establish NetApp’s vision and relevance/right to a “seat at the table” in each of the target workload/solution pillars via relatable customer value and mapped to their imperatives, in conjunction with account teams.
- Builds and maintains C-suite, line of business and decision maker relationships around net-new footprint/workloads, or with new logos.
- Operates early in the sales cycle, and works closely with customer domain architects, executives, and business stakeholders to develop initial application & technology architecture concepts to guide investments.
- Develops the technical win plan for each opportunity that they generate, setting out a clear and recommended path for the account team to follow to develop the deal thru to close.
- Applies local area/region/district knowledge to customize target workload sales approaches, and accelerates local adoption of time-sensitive corporate-identified sales strategies aligned with customer imperatives.
- Accountable for initial envisioning of solution and application strategies, roadmaps, and conceptual reference architectures for a customer imperative, focused on achieving long term business goals.
- Collaborates with NetApp account or service managers early in the sales cycle on the implications of respective architectures on the broader customer environment.
- Develops and leads virtual cross-functional Business Solution Area teams leading best practices and strategy for one or more target workloads.
- Works at the area, region, or district level (as appropriate) to capture Win/Loss information related to each of the four customer imperatives to identify key learnings for continuous improvement.
- Consolidates Product Feature Enhancement requests aligned with customer imperatives into Solutions Management.
- Works with sales leadership (Area VP, Regional Directors, District Managers) to jointly identify key target accounts/prospects.
- Focused on customers in the Strategics, Enterprise, and Public Sector market segments.
Education and Experience
- 15+ years leading or developing Information Technology projects with a concentration on Application, Cloud, Infrastructure or Storage Architectures.
- 2+ years of sales experience, or experience as the primary decision maker as a customer for infrastructure and/or cloud solutions.
- Preferred: Degree in Computer Science, Computer/Software Eng., or MIS highly preferred, but not required
- 5+ years of relevant architecture experience or certifications, with knowledge of Artificial Intelligence and/or Cyber Resiliency is an advantage.
- 5+ years of DevOps, systems integration and/or implementation experience
- Experience in a broad range of Infrastructure (Storage, Compute and Network) as well as cloud.
Compensation:
The target salary range for this position is $280,000 - $363,000. The salary offered will be determined by the candidate's location, qualifications, experience, and education and may be outside of this range. Final compensation packages are competitive and in line with industry standards, reflecting a variety of factors, and include a comprehensive benefits package. This may cover Health Insurance, Life Insurance, Retirement or Pension Plans, Paid Time Off, various Leave options, Performance-Based Incentives, employee stock purchase plan, and/or restricted stocks (RSU’s), with all offerings subject to regional variations and governed by local laws, regulations, and company policies. Benefits may vary by country and region, and further details will be provided as part of the recruitment process.
At NetApp, we embrace a hybrid working environment designed to strengthen connection, collaboration, and culture for all employees. This means that most roles will have some level of in-office and/or in-person expectations, which will be shared during the recruitment process.
Equal Opportunity Employer:
NetApp is firmly committed to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and to compliance with all federal, state and local laws that prohibit employment discrimination based on age, race, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, disability or genetic information, pregnancy, protected veteran status, and any other protected classification.
Why You'll Thrive at NetApp
At NetApp, you won't wait for the perfect moment—you'll make it. The early planning, the extra thought, the bold idea that turns good into great: That's how our people operate and how we continue to push the boundaries of data infrastructure.
NetApp is the trusted partner for organizations transforming data into opportunity. As the only enterprise-grade storage service natively embedded in Google Cloud, AWS, and Microsoft Azure, we empower customers to run everything from traditional workloads to enterprise AI with unmatched performance, resilience, and security.
Our culture
We celebrate mold breakers, bold thinkers, and problem solvers. We reward initiative, impact, and ownership. We provide flexibility so you can balance professional ambition with your personal life. Here, differences are not just welcomed—they drive everything we do.
If you're ready to innovate, rise to the challenge, and own every moment - make your next move your best one. Apply now.
Submitting an application
To ensure a streamlined and fair hiring process for all candidates, our team only reviews applications submitted through our company website. This practice allows us to track, assess, and respond to applicants efficiently. Emailing our employees, recruiters, or Human Resources personnel directly will not influence your application.
