A cover letter is required for consideration for this position and should be attached as the first page of your resume. The cover letter should address your specific interest in the position and outline skills and experience that directly relate to this position. (Your salary will be determined by your qualifications, experience, and education.)

Come join a team of passionate individuals at a non-profit serving Michigan's public Universities and Colleges, K-12 EDU, Libraries, Governmental, Healthcare, Tribal and other Michigan Non-profit organizations for over 56 years! You will be an integral part of the Merit team, a dynamic and innovative team member, ready to contribute to and execute the mission of Merit.

This position reports to the Director of Member Engagement and is responsible for working independently and as an interdisciplinary resource within Merit to respond to customer inquiries, create or identify solutions to meet differentiated solution designs, and identify evolving solution design trends and service delivery options. Merit's Services Lines consist of Network Services, Hosted Infrastructure, Hosted Applications and Community Development and Support.

You will have an important role working in an interdisciplinary fashion to execute initiatives across the organization with Member Engagement, Network Operations/Engineering, Outside Plant, and Product Development on key existing and potential Member organization's needs; supporting strategy and business development, service solutions, and service development.     

To learn more about Merit Network, please visit our website: https://www.merit.edu/  

Please Note: This is a hybrid position that will require you to work on-site two days per week at Merit's office located in Ann Arbor, MI, and it will require regular travel within the various regions across Michigan.

• Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent combination of education, certification, and experience 
• Minimum of three (3) years of experience in consultative, pre-sales support of technology products and/or services
• Previous experience in a sales engineering role or related pre-sales technical position 
• Relevant certifications (i.e. CSE, CPSE, CTSP, CSSP, CCNA, CCNP, etc.) or equivalent experience 
• Demonstrated experience strengthening existing client relationships, cultivating new customers in multiple sectors of the market, and engaging in business development activities 
• Demonstrated experience in a technical outreach role including writing, preparing, and responding to proposals, and coordinating meetings with various IT and technical departments to manage and finalize projects
• Ability to interact professionally and proficiently with individuals at all levels of an organization on technical and strategic discussion topics, involving Merit Executive Management as needed
• Excellent skills in needs-analysis and competitive positioning 
• Outstanding communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences 
• Demonstrated excellence in presentation skills
• Self-motivated and work well independently as well as part of a team
• Ability to work in a collaborative process to respond, track, and manage multiple member projects, requests and communications in a fast-paced environment 
• Fluency with MS Office applications, email, shared calendaring, CRM, and other collaborative applications (experience with Visio is a plus)
• Strong willingness to understand and to continuously strive to improve knowledge of Merit's services portfolio and technologies in order to be able to communicate confidently about them to the Merit Community 
• Experience in designing and implementing network and security solutions for educational, governmental, or non-profit sectors 
• Strong understanding of network and security principles, technologies, and protocols (i.e. TCP/IP, VPN, firewall, routing, switching, etc.)
• Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to think critically and creatively
• Valid driver's license and willingness to travel throughout Michigan (less than 50% of the role)

• Understanding of network and security technologies and services 
• Experience being a trusted representative to external individuals and groups
• Experience working with higher education, K-12 educational institutions, libraries, government, healthcare, tribal, research institutions, and other public sector non-profit organizations, and experience developing public private partnerships within these market verticals
• Experience in marketing and/or sales of technology products and/or services to public sector, non-profit or educational markets 
• Experience in the USAC Federal Programs that fund K-12, libraries, and healthcare telecommunications services
• In-depth knowledge on federal programs for broadband infrastructure investement such as those outlined in the Federal Infrastructure Bill and the American Rescue Plan Act
• Familiarity with Merit's network and serivces is a plus

This position may be underfilled at a lower classification depending on the qualifications of the selected candidate.

We are committed to offering a high-quality benefits package to support our staff and their families. This includes, but is not limited to, options for 2:1 retirement matching, healthcare plans with nationwide coverage including prescription drug coverage, dental options, vision, flexible spending account options, well-being program offerings, long-term disability coverage, automatic life insurance, general legal services, multiple early childhood centers, time away from work, and work-life balance programs. For more information, visit http://careers.umich.edu/benefits/ 

   
Background Screening

The University of Michigan/Merit Network conducts background checks on all job candidates upon acceptance of a contingent offer and may use a third-party administrator to conduct background checks in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Application Deadline

Job openings are posted for at least seven (7) calendar days. This job may be removed from posting boards and filled any time after the minimum posting period has ended.
 

• If you have any questions regarding this job, please visit our website: https://www.merit.edu/about/careers/ 
• Assistance is available if you need help completing this application; please call (734) 615-2000, option 1
   

The University of Michigan is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.

About University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

A great university is made so by its faculty and staff, and Michigan is recognized as one of the best universities to work for in the country. The Michigan culture is known for engaging faculty and staff in all facets of the university to create a workplace that is vibrant and stimulating.For two consecutive years, the Chronicle of Higher Education has placed U-M in its "Great Colleges to Work For" survey. In particular, the university earns high marks for strong relations between faculty and administrators, a collaborative system of governance, strong pay and benefits, and a healthy work/life balance.

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