At a Glance
- Tasks: Create live AI demos for clients and solve real-world problems on the spot.
- Company: Join a leading AI solutions company transforming critical sectors in the UK.
- Benefits: Earn £70,000 plus generous leave, health cover, and EMI share options.
- Other info: Enjoy flexible hybrid work and access to cutting-edge AI tools.
- Why this job: Be at the forefront of AI innovation and shape the future of pre-sales.
- Qualifications: Client-facing skills, AI prototyping experience, and a consultative background.
The predicted salary is between 70000 - 70000 £ per year.
Senior, individual contributor role at the front of the pre-sales funnel for an AI solutions business UK-wide, hybrid, based from Belfast, with regular travel to client sites. £70,000 plus a strong benefits package.
Build live, working demos in front of clients using the latest AI tooling, rather than running fixed product demos or filling in RFPs. Work across defence, finance, policing and other critical public and private sector clients.
About the Company
My client builds AI-powered solutions deployed into some of the most demanding environments in the UK, including defence, finance, policing and critical public and private sector organisations. Their proprietary AI operating system underpins everything they deliver, and their solutions engineering team ships at a pace, scale and quality the industry has not seen before. They are a collaborative, low-ego group that values curiosity, initiative and a genuine bias for action.
The Role
This is not a typical pre-sales role. You will sit at the front of the funnel as the technical partner to the Commercial team, in the room with prospective customers across some of the most demanding sectors in the UK. Rather than running a fixed demo or filling in an RFP, you will listen to a client's problem and build something new, live, using the latest AI tooling to compress discovery into a working prototype. You open the door and prove the value; the Solutions Engineers you hand off to build it out. This is a senior individual contributor role with real autonomy… you will not manage a team, but you will set the standard for how technical pre‑sales is done as the function grows.
Key Responsibilities
- Partner with the Commercial team as the technical voice throughout the sales motion
- Listen in the room and surface the high‑impact problems worth solving
- Build working demos in near‑realtime using AI‑native tooling
- Translate discovery conversations into a credible, buildable delivery roadmap
- Hand off demos, requirements and roadmaps cleanly to the delivery Solutions Engineers
- Feed market and prospect signal back to the platform and product teams
- Present compellingly to both technical and non‑technical audiences, from boardroom to whiteboard
What You’ll Need
Essential:
- Strong client‑facing instinct… comfortable reading a room, adapting on the fly and turning a conversation into a demo
- A consultative background, ideally consultancy or solutions consulting, with the ability to orient fast in unfamiliar domains
- Hands‑on, AI‑native prototyping experience, comfortable with LLMs, agentic frameworks and rapid prototyping
- Genuine engineering fundamentals, Python or comparable, credible with engineers
- Proven API‑level LLM usage and strong appetite for agentic dev tools such as Claude Code, Cursor or Gemini CLI
- A generalist spirit, thriving on variety, ambiguity and context‑switching across sectors
- Willingness to travel regularly to client sites across the UK
Desirable:
- Pre‑sales, sales engineering or solutions‑consulting experience
- Familiarity with open‑source LLMs, RAG, agentic patterns or protocols such as MCP or A2A
- A portfolio of demos, prototypes or side projects you can show
Why Apply?
- £70,000 plus a competitive benefits package
- Roughly 30 additional days off per year on top of standard annual leave
- EMI share options in a rapidly growing scale‑up
- Private health cover and company pension
- Flexible hybrid working from a Belfast base
- Access to cutting‑edge AI tools as core working instruments, not side projects
- A genuine opportunity to shape how technical pre‑sales is done as the function grows
Solutions Engineer employer: Ocho People
Ocho People is an excellent employer that fosters a dynamic and supportive work culture in Belfast, perfect for those looking to advance their careers in finance. With a commitment to employee growth, we offer study support alongside competitive salaries and benefits, ensuring our team members thrive both professionally and personally in a fast-paced environment.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Solutions Engineer
✨Join Local Tech Meetups
Get out there and mingle with fellow developers by joining local tech meetups. It’s a fantastic way to meet people who might be working at Ocho People or know someone who does. Plus, you can pick up some trendy tech skills and trends while you're at it!
✨Contribute to Open Source Projects
Show off your coding chops by jumping into open-source projects. Not only does this give you practical experience, but it also gets you noticed in the dev community. You'll create a killer portfolio that speaks volumes about your skills to Ocho People.
✨Tap into Online Developer Communities
Don’t underestimate the power of online developer communities like GitHub, Stack Overflow, and even Reddit. Participate in discussions, share your projects, and build your visibility. We can often find opportunities through these channels that can lead to a full-time gig at companies like Ocho People.
✨Explore Job Boards Specifically for Tech Roles
Keep your eyes peeled on job boards that focus on tech roles. Sites like TechCareers or Stack Overflow Jobs can often have listings for companies like Ocho People that might not show up on broader job sites. Make it a habit to check these regularly, and don’t hesitate to apply directly through our website!
We think you need these skills to ace Solutions Engineer
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.
Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at Ocho People.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Ocho People and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!
Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!
How to prepare for a job interview at Ocho People
✨Brush Up on Your Coding Skills
For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.
✨Know Your Tools and Frameworks
Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If Ocho People uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.
✨Showcase Your Projects
Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.
✨Prepare for Behavioural Questions
While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.
