Director, Solutions Consulting - Defense and Intelligence

Lead, inspire, and scale a world-class team of pre-sales engineers architecting complex solutions that power the world's most vital enterprises.

About Appian

Here at Appian, our values of Intensity and Excellence define who we are. We set high standards and live up to them, ensuring that everything we do is done with care and quality. We approach every challenge with ambition and commitment, holding ourselves and each other accountable to achieve the best results. When you join Appian, you’ll be part of a passionate team dedicated to accomplishing hard things, together.

Appian is built on a simple premise: we work hard and we do things well. We set high standards for our work and hold ourselves accountable for the results. If you enjoy solving difficult problems alongside a highly talented team, you’ll fit in here.

About the Team

The Solutions Consulting organization at Appian sits at the vital center of our global commercial engine. We bridge the gap between sophisticated enterprise business needs and cutting-edge platform capabilities to secure the technical win. Our mission is to prove the undeniable value of Appian’s platform within the AI-Powered Process Automation market, driving customer acquisition and fueling corporate growth.

SC 2.0 is the engine powering our vision. Appian’s Sales Solutions Consulting team is in the midst of an exciting transformation—redefining what it means to be a trusted advisor in today’s fast-paced, mission-driven environment. Our SCs don’t just demo features—they tell stories, co-create with customers, and help shape strategy with technical credibility and business insight. Read More About SC 2.0 Here

You can listen to our Global SSC leader, Gregg Aldana discuss SC 2.0 here

Appian’s Game Changing Sales Solutions Consulting Team - Do you enjoy solutioning with an award winning technology? Do you like working alongside the smartest and most creative people in the tech industry? Ready to take your career to the next level and have a tremendous amount of fun in the process? Come and join one of the most exciting, energetic and emerging areas of Appian that is poised to fuel the next stage of growth of this ambitious company and your career: Sales Solutions Consulting.

The Global Sales Solutions Consulting organization at Appian is a team like no other out there. We are self-starters that are passionate about our mission and are redefining what it means to work in the Pre-Sales or Sales Engineering profession. Whether you are a seasoned veteran of Solution Consulting for many years or looking to pursue a new career in this area, this is THE TEAM, THE COMPANY and THE MOVEMENT you want to be a part of.

Appian Solution Consulting starts with the “Why” behind the mission critical solutions that are driving success for our customers. Through a combination of creative persona-based storytelling, technical solutioning, and business consulting, Appian’s Solution Consultants are the driving force behind helping customers understand the business value that Appian’s technology can provide during the sales cycle and beyond. Appian’s Solution Consultants are trusted advisors for customers, partners, sales, product, marketing and the company’s leadership. Join this exciting team today to begin fueling your career!

The Role

As a Director, Solutions Consulting, you will own Solutions Consulting performance across a region, vertical, or line of business. You will architect team structure, develop managers, drive operational excellence, align field execution with product and GTM strategy, and ensure consistent SC 2.0 execution across teams.

This role requires strong leadership presence, technical credibility, commercial ownership, and a deep commitment to coaching in the field. You will help your team operate as trusted advisors, storytellers, co-sellers, and business owners who engage early, shape strategy, and connect Appian’s platform to measurable customer value.

What You’ll Do

• Own SC performance across regions, verticals, or business lines.

• Architect SC organizational structure, pods, talent deployment, and coverage models.

• Directly coach Senior Managers and Managers; build the leadership pipeline through promotion planning, calibration, and targeted mentorship.

• Lead quarterly business reviews, performance tracking, territory design, hiring plans, and cross-region reporting.

• Align with Product, Enablement, Sales, Customer Success, and Marketing stakeholders to translate roadmap innovation into story-ready and demo-ready assets.

• Ensure process discipline across DemoHub usage, AI/Data Fabric/Process HQ adoption, storytelling quality, forecast hygiene, and AE/SC execution standards.

• Drive consistent leadership operating rhythms, inspection standards, and performance accountability across teams.

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• Lead, coach, develop, and retain a high-performing team of Solutions Consultants.

• Partner with Sales leadership to define and execute regional, vertical, or functional sales strategy.

• Drive AE/SC alignment, account planning, opportunity qualification, pipeline discipline, and shared accountability for revenue outcomes.

• Inspect and coach SC 2.0 execution, including early-stage engagement, discovery quality, demo quality, storytelling, POC/POV governance, and technical win strategy.

• Ensure customer evaluations are disciplined, with executive sponsorship, written success criteria, defined timelines, clear Mutual Action Plans, and measurable outcomes.

• Drive team accountability for demo reuse, customer story creation, reusable asset contribution, and enablement adoption.

• Spend meaningful time in the field with SCs and customers, providing real-time coaching through preparation, observation, and debriefs.

• Collaborate with Product, Marketing, Professional Services, Customer Success, Partners, Enablement, and Sales leadership to translate roadmap innovation into field-ready stories, demos, and sales plays.

• Use metrics and operating rhythms to track team performance, forecast accuracy, pipeline impact, technical win rates, enablement progress, and talent development.

• Model Appian’s values of Intensity and Excellence by creating a high-performing, accountable, customer-focused team culture.

• Develop and contribute reusable assets, including demos, architectural blueprints, frameworks, customer stories, and enablement content, to help scale best practices across the global Solutions Consulting organization.

• Represent Appian with credibility at customer meetings, executive briefings, field events, conferences, seminars, and internal enablement sessions.

To Be Successful in This Role, You Need

Core Capabilities / Mindset

• A customer-obsessed mindset and the ability to engage directly with clients, build trusted relationships, and ensure Appian solutions align with their strategic objectives.

• Exceptional communication and influencing skills, including the ability to uncover business priorities, engage executives and technical decision-makers, lead strategic discussions, and resolve technical concerns.

• The ability to act as a true co-seller with Account Executives, sharing accountability for account planning, opportunity qualification, pipeline progression, and revenue outcomes.

• The ability to translate business objectives and requirements into solution designs that clearly demonstrate how Appian addresses strategic challenges.

• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to design creative, practical solutions for complex customer environments.

• A commitment to reusable asset creation, knowledge sharing, coaching, and continuous improvement as part of Appian’s SC 2.0 operating model.

Technical Capabilities

• Technical fluency across modern enterprise environments, including application architecture, integrations, APIs, databases, cloud infrastructure, data models, workflow, and enterprise systems.

• Familiarity with customer IT and business landscapes, including ERP, CRM, data, workflow, AI, partner solutions, and existing enterprise architecture.

• Ability to design architectures that integrate Appian into enterprise environments to extend value and accelerate ROI.

• Ability to deliver persona-based, outcome-oriented demos and narratives that connect Appian capabilities to measurable business value.

• Ability to support or lead disciplined evaluations, including POCs and POVs, with clear executive sponsorship, written success criteria, defined timelines, and measurable outcomes.

• Ability to develop and contribute reusable assets, including demos, architectural blueprints, frameworks, and customer success stories.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems, Engineering, Computer Science, Business, or a related technical or business field, or equivalent practical experience.

• 12-15 years of experience in Solutions Consulting, Pre-Sales Engineering, Technical Consulting, Professional Services, Enterprise Architecture, or related enterprise software roles.

• Experience leading managers, senior managers, or region-wide Solutions Consulting teams.

• Proven success aligning GTM strategy with Product, Customer Success, Marketing, and Sales leadership.

• Strong executive presence, organizational leadership, operational discipline, and talent development capability.

• Ability to travel to customer locations and field events as required by the assigned region or market up to 70% Travel.

Preferred Skills

• Experience building custom demos, prototypes, POCs, POVs, or technical solution architectures for enterprise customers.

• Technical depth to respond to functional and technical elements of RFIs, RFPs, security reviews, and architecture discussions.

• Familiarity with production environments, including application servers, web servers, databases, APIs, integrations, and enterprise architecture patterns.

• Familiarity with Business Process Management, workflow automation, application development platforms, case management, AI-enabled automation, or enterprise orchestration platforms.

• Experience with enterprise platforms such as Salesforce or ServiceNow; these skills translate well into Appian’s Enterprise-Grade Orchestration environment.

• Experience conveying customer requirements and market feedback to Product Management teams.

• Experience contributing reusable demos, technical assets, enablement content, customer stories, industry points of view, or thought leadership.

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