The Solutions Engineer will manage the technical relationship with customers, overseeing the entire lifecycle from discovery to deployment, ensuring successful implementation and measurable value. Responsibilities include technical demos, POC execution, project management, and maintaining communication with stakeholders for both the company and clients.
BackOps is at the forefront of supply chain intelligence, leveraging advanced AI to optimize logistics processes. Our solutions empower logistics teams to maximize efficiency and focus on mission-critical initiatives. We are dedicated to transforming the supply chain industry through innovative technology and data-driven insights.
We’re looking for a Solutions Engineer to own the technical relationship with our customers from the first technical conversation through go-live. You will be the customer’s technical counterpart through discovery, demo, POC, scoping, implementation, and the handoff to Customer Success — the single technical owner across the deal.
This is not a pre-sales-only role, and it is not a post-sales-only role. It is full-lifecycle: you scope it, you build it. You will partner with Account Executives at the top of the funnel, lead technical demos and POCs, author SOWs, configure and deploy the solution, and pull in our Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) team only when a novel build demands it. When the customer hits their first measurable value, you warm-transfer the relationship to a CSM and move on to the next deal.
This role requires more than technical fluency. It requires a detective’s eye for detail and a consultant’s ability to translate ambiguous business problems into deployable architecture. You will “derisk” deals by spotting the gaps in customer workflows before code is written, decide when (and when not) to pull in FDE, and present solutions that create winning outcomes for both the customer and BackOps.
What You’ll Do
- Discovery & Forensic Workflow Analysis: Partner with the AE on qualified opportunities. Translate the customer’s operational problem into a BackOps solution architecture. Customers don’t always tell us the whole story — dig into their provided workflows to spot gaps, missing edge cases, and hidden dependencies before they become surprises in implementation.
- Technical Demo & Credibility: Lead the technical demo. Tailor it to the customer’s actual workflow, not a canned script. Address technical objections in real time and earn credibility with their engineering and IT counterparts.
- POC Scoping & Execution: Scope and run the POC when there is one. Define success criteria jointly with the customer, build a working configuration against real data, and show measurable value before signature.
- Technical R&D & Solution Design: Take ambiguous customer requirements and translate them into technical reality. If a customer uses a niche tool, you research the documentation, investigate mappable APIs, and propose concrete solutions or workarounds. Author the implementation plan, SOW, and capabilities/deliverables doc; identify integration points, risks, dependencies, and the eval set.
- Implementation & Time-to-Value: Configure, integrate, and deploy. Own the project plan, the timeline, and the cutover. Drive the customer to first measurable value (TTV). Manage stakeholders — theirs and ours — through go-live.
- FDE Resource Management: Act as the gatekeeper for our Forward Deployed Engineering team. Decide when a novel build genuinely requires FDE versus when you can solve it yourself. When FDE is needed, you own the overall timeline and customer relationship; they own the build. Have the backbone to push back, reprioritize, and protect engineering capacity.
- Executive-Level Communication: Lead high-stakes scoping sessions, SOW reviews, and integration design conversations. Command a room, manage expectations, and negotiate win-win scenarios that satisfy the customer while protecting BackOps’ interests. Translate technical constraints to non-technical stakeholders without losing their trust.
- Warm Handoff & Selective Re-engagement: When the customer hits their first KPI, run a joint health snapshot with the CSM and warm-transfer the account. Stay on call for material technical changes — not adoption tickets. Re-engage when CSM surfaces a newly qualified workflow.
- Product Feedback Loop: You see every integration, every edge case, every workaround. Funnel reusable patterns and recurring gaps back to Product and Engineering so customer signal becomes product.
What We’re Looking For
- 5–8 years in a technical pre- or post-sales role — Solutions Engineer, Sales Engineer, Implementation Manager, Technical Account Manager, or Forward Deployed Strategist. Ideally you’ve sat on both sides: scoped deals AND delivered them. If you’ve only ever lived in pre-sales or only ever lived in post-sales, this is going to be a stretch.
- Hyper-Observant & Analytical: You read between the lines. You don’t accept a process flowchart at face value; you ask “What happens if this fails?” and “Where does this data actually come from?” You have a checklist — mental or physical — for the edge cases customers always forget to mention.
- Strong Technical Research & Hands-On Skills: You’re comfortable diving into API documentation for unfamiliar apps to determine feasibility. You can translate “we need this to talk to that” into a JSON payload example or an API endpoint suggestion. Postman, cURL, reading docs, writing pseudo-code, building working POCs against real data — these are your tools.
- Project & Resource Management: You’ve owned multi-stakeholder implementation projects end-to-end. You’ve managed the bandwidth of technical teams (FDE, platform engineering, IT counterparts on the customer side) and you have the backbone to push back or reprioritize when necessary. You prioritize based on impact — ARR, strategic value, severity — not on who is shouting the loudest.
- Demo & Presentation Chops: You can run a tailored technical demo, defend your architecture in front of a skeptical customer IT team, and walk an executive through an SOW without losing them. Excellent emotional intelligence — you can deliver bad news wrapped in a plan.
- Commercially Aware: You understand that your technical decisions have financial impacts. You influence deals without negotiating commercials — that’s the AE’s job — but you know when a scoping decision is putting the deal at risk.
- Ownership: You take responsibility for outcomes. When something is broken at the company that isn’t technically your job to fix, you fix it. When a customer is at risk, you don’t wait for someone else to call it.
Bonus Points
- Experience working in a Forward Deployed Engineering model (e.g., Palantir, Scale AI, C3 AI, or similar high-touch enterprise SaaS).
- Experience in logistics, supply chain, freight, 3PL, or adjacent operations technology.
- Hands-on experience with integration platforms, iPaaS tools, or workflow automation (Workato, Tray, n8n, Zapier, custom middleware).
- Background in AI / agentic product deployment — you’ve shipped something where the “product” is partly model behavior.
- You’ve made the jump from pre-sales into delivery (or vice versa) and can speak credibly to both halves of the lifecycle.
Benefits & Perks
We take care of our team so you can do your best work.
- Competitive salary and performance-based incentives
- 401(k) plan
- Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage
- Daily meals and snacks provided in-office
- Hybrid schedule
- FTO
- Regular team bonding events, offsites, and learning opportunities
BackOps AI San Francisco, California, USA Office
San Francisco, CA, United States
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