Technical Sales Engineer

As a Technical Sales Engineer at Crossvale, your primary responsibilities will include acting as the technical lead during pre-sales engagements, collaborating with Account Executives to understand client needs, and crafting tailored Red Hat OpenShift solutions. You will conduct discovery sessions to identify business challenges, deliver technical presentations, scope consulting engagements, and serve as a trusted advisor throughout the sales process. Additionally, mentoring junior technical team members and staying updated on OpenShift trends will be integral to your success.

To qualify for the Technical Sales Engineer position at Crossvale, you'll need at least 5 years in a Sales Engineering or Solutions Architect role, with proven experience in selling OpenShift services to enterprise customers. A deep understanding of the Red Hat OpenShift platform, experience in scoping consulting engagements, and the ability to communicate technical information effectively to both technical and non-technical stakeholders is essential. Preferred qualifications also include Red Hat OpenShift Certifications and familiarity with cloud platforms.

At Crossvale, the Technical Sales Engineer engages with clients by leading discovery sessions to understand their business challenges and modernization goals. You will prepare and deliver compelling presentations and live demos that showcase the value of our OpenShift offerings. Moreover, crafting technical proposals and architectural diagrams, as well as helping define migration strategies and platform roadmaps, will be key activities in your engagement with clients.

Technical Sales Engineers at Crossvale work on a variety of innovative projects that focus on enabling enterprises to modernize their applications and platforms using Red Hat OpenShift. Your role will involve designing and implementing containerized solutions, conducting technical workshops, and collaborating with delivery teams to ensure a smooth transition of solutions. Given the rapidly evolving tech landscape, these projects are dynamic, challenging, and impactful.

While required skills include a strong technical understanding of Red Hat OpenShift, preferred skills for a Technical Sales Engineer at Crossvale include certifications like Red Hat OpenShift Certifications and familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, deployment on cloud platforms such as AWS or Azure, and tools like Jenkins and GitOps. These skills will enhance your capability to provide tailored solutions and support to our enterprise clients effectively.

When discussing your experience with OpenShift technologies, highlight specific projects where you successfully implemented OpenShift. Be sure to mention the architectural decisions you made and how they aligned with client goals. Use metrics to demonstrate the impact of your solutions, such as performance improvements or cost reductions.

In interviews, explain that your approach to discovery sessions begins with thorough preparation. You can prepare by researching the client's industry and understanding their potential challenges. During the session, focus on active listening and ask probing questions to uncover their needs deeply, aligning your solutions with their business objectives.

When presenting to non-technical stakeholders, emphasize clarity and relatability. Use visuals like diagrams to illustrate concepts, and avoid jargon. Focus on the business value of the technical solutions, framing the discussion around how they can impact the client's goals and resolve their pain points effectively.

Handling objections effectively involves active listening and understanding the client's concerns genuinely. Acknowledge their points, provide data or case studies that address their reservations, and reaffirm the benefits of your OpenShift solutions. The goal is to foster trust and demonstrate that you have their best interests in mind.

To discuss a successful enterprise deal, provide a detailed account of the project from start to finish, including the initial challenges the client faced, how you collaborated with your team to design a solution, and the eventual outcomes. Highlight your specific contributions, such as negotiations, technical presentations, or mentoring team members.

Share your experience with DevOps practices by discussing specific methodologies you've implemented, like CI/CD pipelines. Describe how you have led workshops to teach teams about DevOps principles and highlight successful integration of these practices into project workflows that resulted in measurable performance improvements.

Explain that to ensure alignment with client needs, you maintain regular communication and check-ins with stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle. Establishing checkpoints helps in making necessary adjustments and gathering feedback that keeps the project on track toward fulfilling client expectations.

Share your approach to continuous learning, such as following industry news, attending webinars or conferences, and engaging with the OpenShift community. Explain how this knowledge helps you provide informed advice to clients and positions you as a thought leader within the organization.

Discuss the collaboration tools you prefer, such as project management software or communication platforms like Slack or JIRA, that facilitate efficient teamwork. Share examples of how these tools have improved project tracking and communication in previous roles.

Address that one of the biggest challenges in the Technical Sales Engineer role is adapting to varying client needs and the fast-paced tech landscape. Explain how your strategic thinking, adaptability, and problem-solving skills help you navigate these challenges successfully while building strong client relationships.