Aspire Systems - Presales Consultant - Retail Domain

Aspire Systems is currently seeking a Senior Retail Domain Consultant - Solutioning & Consulting (Pre-Sales, RFP/RFI) with deep retail domain expertise and mandatory pre-sales experience. This role is responsible for owning end-to-end solutioning, leading RFI/RFP responses, shaping transformation roadmaps, and acting as a trusted retail domain advisor to clients across Stores, Merchandising, Planning, Supply Chain, and Digital Commerce.

The role partners closely with Sales, Architecture, Delivery, and Product teams to craft differentiated, value-led solutions spanning ADM/AMS, modernization, platform transformation, cloud, data, and integrations, with a strong consulting mindset and a clear focus on business outcomes, scalability, and commercial viability.

Key Responsibilities: Retail Domain Consulting & Solutioning:

1. Act as a Retail Domain Consultant in pre-sales engagements, leading business discussions and translating retail challenges into technology-enabled solutions.
2. Lead consultative discovery workshops with retail business and IT stakeholders to understand business objectives, operating challenges, and transformation priorities.
3. Own end-to-end solution design for complex retail engagements including ADM, AMS, modernization, and large-scale transformation programs.
4. Define target-state business and technology architectures, operating models, transition approaches, and phased transformation roadmaps.
5. Shape business-aligned solution narratives that clearly articulate retail value drivers, outcomes, and differentiation.
6. Act as a solution authority during customer workshops, solution walkthroughs, demos, and executive presentations.
7. Collaborate with delivery and architecture teams to ensure feasible, scalable, and cost-effective solutions aligned with retail best practices.
8. Guide estimation strategy including cost models, pricing constructs, staffing plans, SLAs, KPIs, and risk assumptions.
9. Mentor junior consultants and pre-sales team members and contribute to solution accelerators, retail frameworks, and reusable assets.
Key Responsibilities : Pre-Sales, RFP & RFI Leadership
1. Own RFI and RFP responses end-to-end for retail deals, from opportunity qualification to final submission.
2. Analyze RFI/RFP documents to define response strategy, win themes, and solution approach from a retail domain and consulting perspective.
3. Lead creation of: Executive summaries and retail-focused value propositions; Solution architecture and service delivery models; Transition and transformation plans; Delivery governance, SLAs, and KPIs; Commercial models, assumptions, dependencies, and risks.
4. Coordinate inputs across sales, delivery, architecture, security, finance, and partner teams.
5. Ensure responses are compliant, compelling, differentiated, and aligned to client business objectives.
6. Support orals, client Q&A, solution defense, and executive presentations.
7. Continuously improve RFP/RFI effectiveness through templates, playbooks, win-theme libraries, and best practices.
Retail Domain Scope:
- Stores & Omnichannel Retail
- Merchandising & Assortment Planning
- Demand & Supply Planning
- Supply Chain & Logistics
- Digital Commerce & Customer Experience
- Retail Data, Analytics, and Integrations
Required Experience & Skills:
- 10 to 14 years of overall experience in the Retail domain, with strong exposure to enterprise retail landscapes.
- Minimum 4 to 6 years of mandatory pre-sales / solutioning / consulting experience, leading RFPs, RFIs, and deal solutioning for retail clients.
- Proven experience acting as a Retail Domain Consultant in client-facing, advisory, or transformation-led roles.
- Strong understanding of ADM/AMS operating models, modernization strategies, and cloud-native architectures.
- Hands-on experience shaping solutions around retail platforms such as Oracle Retail, Manhattan, Blue Yonder, SFCC, or similar.
- Solid application background (Java, .NET, APIs, microservices) with strong architectural awareness.
- Proven ability to build commercially viable solutions, including estimation, pricing, and risk management.
- Excellent storytelling, presentation, and executive communication skills.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Engineering / Computer Science degree or equivalent.
- Experience working with global retail enterprises.
- Certifications in Retail platforms, Cloud (AWS/Azure/GCP), or Architecture frameworks.
- Exposure to transformation consulting, advisory-led, or domain consulting engagements.
Success Measures:
- Win rate and quality of RFP/RFI submissions
- Client feedback on domain depth, solution clarity, and value articulation
- Reusability and maturity of retail solution assets
- Effective collaboration with sales and delivery teams