Practice Lead Solutions Architect (Audio Visual)

Practice Lead Solutions Architect (Audio Visual)

New York Tri-State Area | Hybrid

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 Not

This role is:

• The primary technical authority for AV solution design and standards across the practice
• A pre-sales engineering role with significant customer-facing responsibility, including discovery, site surveys, and stakeholder presentations
• A practice-building role, responsible for creating repeatable frameworks, deployment guides, and documentation standards
• A cross-functional partner to sales, field teams, construction stakeholders, and leadership
• A mentorship and technical enablement resource for developing AV engineering talent internally

This role is NOT:

• A quota-carrying or commission-driven sales position
• A 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 required
• An individual contributor who hands off at proposal stage, design ownership continues through deployment
• A role for someone who needs a fully built practice to plug into, this is still a building environment

Required Experience & Traits

• 7 or more years of commercial AV design, engineering, or solution architecture experience
• Deep expertise in Cisco standards-based collaboration environments, with working familiarity across adjacent platforms including QSC, Biamp, Extron, Crestron, Shure, Logitech, Sony, Samsung, NEC, and LG
• CTS-D certification strongly preferred; demonstrated design leadership and equivalent experience will also be considered
• Ability to engage credibly at the IT Director, facilities manager, architect, and executive level, in customer meetings and construction coordination settings
• Practical construction knowledge: pathways, cable routing, power, mounting conditions, room readiness, and how to work within real jobsite constraints
• Experience producing or reviewing Bills of Material, labor estimates, scopes of work, system drawings, rack elevations, signal flow diagrams, and deployment documentation
• Consultative mindset with the ability to translate business and collaboration goals into concrete technical designs
• Systems thinker who genuinely enjoys building standards, repeatability, and scalable processes, not just solving one-off problems

Key Responsibilities

Practice Leadership & Technical Strategy

• Serve as the subject matter expert and final technical decision-maker for AV solutions across the practice
• Establish and continuously refine standards across Cisco collaboration, video conferencing, displays, audio systems, control systems, room design, and workplace technologies
• Recommend solution standards and manufacturer direction that improve customer outcomes, deployment consistency, quoting speed, and practice profitability
• Advise leadership on AV strategy, industry trends, practice investment, and solution maturity

Pre-Sales Engineering & Solution Design

• Partner with sales account teams throughout the sales cycle, from early discovery through technical proposal approval
• Conduct customer discovery sessions, site surveys, and technical assessments to understand business objectives, room usage, collaboration workflows, and constraints
• Design end-to-end AV and collaboration solutions aligned with customer goals, practice standards, and industry best practices
• Produce Bills of Material, labor calculations, technical scopes of work, budgetary designs, and supporting documentation, then present recommendations to customer stakeholders with clarity and confidence
• Serve as the final technical approver for AV opportunities before proposals are issued

Engineering Governance & Delivery Excellence

• Maintain ownership of design integrity from proposal through project completion
• Produce or oversee engineering documentation including system line drawings, signal flow diagrams, reflective ceiling plans, rack elevations, pinouts, and deployment guides
• Support field teams during execution by ensuring design intent is clearly understood, and by providing technical guidance during deployment, commissioning, and escalations
• Close the loop between design decisions, field realities, and future standards improvements

Construction & Infrastructure Coordination

• Coordinate with general contractors, electrical contractors, architects, consultants, and facilities teams on infrastructure requirements and project sequencing
• Review pathways, cable routing, power, mounting conditions, and construction constraints to ensure designs are buildable in real conditions
• Identify design and deployment risks early and recommend practical mitigation strategies
• Align AV designs with construction schedules and field realities before work begins

Cross-Functional Leadership & Practice Maturity

• Build trusted working relationships across sales, engineering, project management, operations, deployment, and leadership
• Create repeatable templates, design frameworks, and documentation standards that help the practice scale
• Contribute to mentoring and technical enablement for AV engineering peers as the practice grows
• Promote a culture of quality, accountability, and practical problem-solving across the teams this role touches

Why EqualAccess

EqualAccess partners with best-in-class organizations and supports candidates beyond placement. Every candidate we place receives 3 months of post-hire coaching and career support, ensuring long-term success and growth.