Director, Solutions Engineering (UK Remote) in Manchester

This leadership role directs the pre‑sales and technical solutions function for the organization’s Education Technology (EdTech) products and services, aiming to support revenue growth, customer success, and product innovation across K‑12, Higher Education, and Strategic/Professional Education markets. The leader is responsible for building, managing, and mentoring a high‑performing Solutions Engineering team while actively supporting strategic sales opportunities and complex customer engagements. This position acts as the primary liaison, bridging Sales, Product, and Customer Success teams to design scalable, secure, and impactful solutions for education customers.

Key Responsibilities

• Leadership & Team Development: Build, lead, mentor, and coach a team of Solutions Engineers, fostering a culture of excellence and continuous learning. Define the solutions engineering strategy aligned with company revenue goals and establish best practices for technical evaluations, discovery, solution design, and product demonstrations. Manage capacity planning, resource engagement prioritization, and hiring for the team.
• Strategic Sales & Customer Engagement: Partner with the Sales team to provide technical sales support for strategic and enterprise opportunities. Lead high‑complexity customer discussions, conducting detailed needs assessments to translate business requirements into compelling technical solutions. Oversee or personally execute executive‑level product demonstrations, technical/strategic presentations, and proof‑of‑concepts/pilot programs.
• Solution Development & Technical Expertise: Develop a deep understanding of customer environments, pain points, and success criteria. Create value‑based solutions aligned to customer use cases. Solutions must address key education requirements and technologies, including LMS platforms, data integrations and APIs, and compliance with data privacy standards. Master both front‑end and back‑end product knowledge, serving as a subject‑matter expert to internal and external stakeholders.
• Cross‑Functional Collaboration: Partner with Product teams to communicate customer requirements, market needs, and field feedback to help shape the product roadmap, product content resource generation, and feature prioritization. Collaborate with Customer Success and Onboarding teams to ensure seamless handoffs from pre‑sales to implementation and guarantee strategic customer success. Coordinate and design inter‑departmental processes to address complex workflow scenarios, reducing barriers for execution of charters.
• Operational Excellence: Develop, track, and report on key departmental metrics, including technical win rate, sales cycle length, impact on revenue growth, and team performance. Improve solutions engineering processes, tools, and technical documentation. Implement and manage demo environments and solution architectures.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Experience: 6–12+ years of progressively responsible experience in Solutions Engineering, Sales Engineering, Technical Consulting, or Solution Architecture. 2–5+ years of demonstrable team leadership or management experience. Experience in Education Technology (EdTech), SaaS, or enterprise software.
• Technical Knowledge: Strong understanding of the EdTech ecosystem technologies. Proven ability to design and architect effective solutions to complex technical problems. Familiarity with education data standards.
• Skills: Exceptional written and verbal communication and presentation skills, with the ability to tailor messaging across technical and executive audiences. Demonstrated strategic mindset with the ability to connect technical solutions to overarching business objectives.

Key Competencies

• Technical leadership
• Strategic thinking
• Solution architecture
• Pre‑sales strategy
• Customer‑centric mindset
• Executive communication
• Team development and coaching
• Cross‑functional collaboration
• Problem solving

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience working with Artificial Intelligence technologies, including generative AI, machine learning, or data‑driven automation solutions.
• Experience with CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce) and demo platforms.
• Technical background/understanding in software engineering, IT, or systems architecture.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, Education Technology, or related field.

Success Metrics

• Revenue influenced by Solutions Engineering
• Technical win rate
• Sales cycle length reduction
• Customer satisfaction during the pre‑sales process
• Team performance and growth

Work Environment

Remote with occasional travel required for customer meetings, conferences, and on‑site presentations.

Reporting Structure

Reports to Vice President, Revenue Operations.

Global Benefits

• Remote First Culture
• Health Care Coverage
• Education Reimbursement
• Competitive Paid Time Off
• Self‑Care Days
• National Holidays
• 2 Founder Days + Juneteenth Observed
• Paid Volunteer Time
• Charitable contribution match
• Monthly Wellness or Home Office Reimbursement
• Access to Modern Health (mental health platform)
• Parental Leave
• Retirement Plan with match/contribution