Technical Pre-Sales Engineer (Federal/DoD IT Solutions)

Location: Remote position, preferably based in the DC Metro Area, Charleston, SC, Norfolk/Suffolk, VA or Raleigh/Durham, NC (occasional local/regional travel)

About Our Client: 

They are mission-focused IT consultants and a trusted Federal Value-Added Reseller. They specialize in delivering tailored, innovative cybersecurity and IT solutions that unify diverse technologies to strengthen national defense and empower our clients’ missions. Their expertise spans modern SOC and DevSecOps, Zero Trust, Big Data Architecture, Kubernetes strategy, adaptive IT infrastructure, and secure software development.

Why Join Our Client's Team

• Mission-driven work supporting federal clients and national security.
  
• Opportunity to work with cutting-edge technologies and top-tier partners such as Nutanix, F5, Palo Alto Networks, Arista Networks and Rancher Government Solutions.
  
• Collaborative, growth-focused environment where your expertise directly impacts client success.
  

Our client is seeking a high-caliber Presales Engineer who operates at the intersection of technical expertise, architectural vision, and mission alignment. This is not a demo-only or slide-level role. The ideal candidate serves as a trusted technical advisor to senior federal stakeholders while confidently engaging in detailed engineering discussions with customer technical teams.

You must be able to translate complex mission requirements into secure, scalable, and compliant architectures—while clearly articulating the strategic and operational value to executive leadership.

This role demands intellectual curiosity, hands-on capability, architectural discipline, and the ability to communicate clearly at every level - from systems engineers to program leadership.

The Presales Engineer will:

• Function as both a technical strategist and a solution architect throughout the sales lifecycle
  
• Engage directly with DoD and federal customers to align technology solutions with mission outcomes
  
• Demonstrate deep familiarity with the technologies across our strategic partner ecosystem
  
• Contribute technically—not just conceptually—through proof-of-concept builds, lab work, and architecture validation
  
• Elevate technical conversations beyond surface-level sales dialogue    
  

Key Responsibilities

Technical Strategy & Sales Enablement

• Partner with Account Executives to develop technically sound pursuit strategies aligned with federal mission objectives
  
• Translate customer requirements into secure, compliant, and scalable solution architectures
  
• Support capture efforts with technical positioning, competitive differentiation, and architectural guidance
  
• Vet technical feasibility before opportunities are advanced and help shape realistic, defensible solution paths
  

Solution Architecture & Engineering Depth

• Architect solutions across domains including Zero Trust, DevSecOps, SOC modernization, Kubernetes security, AI infrastructure, hybrid cloud, and adaptive IT environments
  
• Design reference architectures and deployment models that account for IL levels, compliance mandates, and operational constraints
  
• Engage directly with customer engineers in detailed technical validation discussions     
  
• Surface technical insights that inform executive-level messaging and sales positioning
  

Proof of Concept & Hands-On Validation

• Design and build proof-of-concepts in cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI), customer environments, home lab, or lab infrastructure
  
• Stand up representative workloads to validate architectural patterns 
  
• Support on-site or remote technical validation engagements    
  
• Troubleshoot, adapt, and iterate based on real-world feedback
  

Technical Content & Thought Leadership

• Contribute to the development of solution briefs, architectural diagrams, whitepapers, and technical blog content
  
• Contribute to refining our client's solution articles and capability narratives
  
• Research on emerging technologies, federal mandates, and evolving partner capabilities
  
• Evaluate and provide input on potential future strategic partners
  
  

Partner & Customer Engagement

• Maintain alignment with key technology partners to stay aligned on roadmaps, capabilities, and field strategy
  
• Build long-term technical relationships with client engineers and architects     
  
• Conduct periodic customer check-ins to understand evolving mission requirements    
  
• Operate as a long-term technical advisor, not a transactional presales resource
  

Federal & Compliance Awareness

• Stay current on federal cybersecurity directives, Zero Trust frameworks, DevSecOps mandates, and compliance requirements
  
• Ensure solution designs align with DoD security, accreditation, and operational realities 
  

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience).
  
• 10+ years in a technical presales, solutions engineering, or consulting     
  
• Strong knowledge of cybersecurity, cloud, and infrastructure technologies.
  
• Experience supporting DOD or federal agencies strongly preferred.
  
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
  
• Ability to simplify complex technical concepts
  

Advanced and professional-level certifications preferred.

Candidates should demonstrate subject-matter expertise through recognized industry certifications (e.g., professional, expert, or specialty-level), rather than entry-level or associate-only credentials. Associate-level certifications are not disqualifying, but depth of domain mastery should be evident. Relevant certifications may include, but are not limited to:

• CISSP, CCSP
  
• Kubernetes (CKA, CKAD, CKS)
  
• Palo Alto Networks (PCNSE or equivalent)
  
• Nutanix (NCP-MCI, NCM-MCI, or higher)
  
• F5 (CA, CTS, or higher)
  
• CyberArk (Defender/Sentry level)
  
• Dell (Expert-level infrastructure or AI-focused credentials)
  
• Rancher Government Solutions (RKE2/Kubernetes-focused certs)
  
• AWS Professional-level (Solutions Architect, DevOps Engineer) or Specialty certifications
  
• Trellix
  
• Elastic (Engineer or higher) 
  

Cloud & Infrastructure Expectations    

Candidates must demonstrate the ability to architect, deploy, and operate production-grade workloads in at least one hyperscale cloud environment. Experience should go beyond basic provisioning and reflect an understanding of cloud-native architecture, networking, security, and service integration. (AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, or other stack utilizing CNNF solutions).

Examples of relevant experience include (but are not limited to):

• VPC/VNet design (subnets, routing, NAT/IGW, Transit Gatway,peering)
  
• Compute deployment and security    
  
• Implementing identity and access controls (IAM, RBAC, conditional access, service principals)
  
• Managed services, integration (databases, storage, messaging, serverless)    
  
• Hybrid connectivity (VPN, Direct Connect, ExpressRoute, Interconnect)
  
• Encryption, segmentation, logging, and monitoring
  
• Infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, CloudFormation, ARM/Bicep)     
  

Candidates must understand architectural tradeoffs, operational constraints, and security implications - not simply provisioning workflows.     

Demonstrated Area of Technical Mastery

We are seeking candidates who can demonstrate true subject matter expertise in a tlest one technical domain. In that domain, the candidate must be able to:

• Design and defend architectural decisions
  
• Whiteboard complex systems from first principles
  
• Troubleshoot nuanced technical issues
  
• Explain tradeoffs, limitations, and performance considerations
  
• Engage in peer-level discussions with senior engineers
  
• Demonstrate hands-on implementation experience
  

Examples of mastery domains include:     

• Cloud infrastructure architecture (AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI)
  
• Kubernetes and container orchestration
  
• Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, CloudFormation, Bicep)
  
• Application delivery and ingress technologies
  
• Network security
  
• Identity and access management
  
• DevSecOps pipeline engineering
  
• SOC and security operations tooling
  
• Data platforms and AI/ML infrastructure
  

Breadth is important. But depth is mandatory.

We are not looking for surface familiarity across many tools. We are looking for demonstrable depth.     

Strongly Preferred

• Active Secret or TS/SCI clearance strongly preferred
  
• Ownership mentality
  
• High internal accountability
  
• Strong written and verbal communicator
  
• Comfort with ambiguity
  
• Self-directed learner
  

Benefits

• Unlimited paid time off plus 11 holidays per year (following the federal government holiday schedule) 
  
  
• They offer a health savings account for pre-tax savings for eligible out-of-pocket healthcare expenses
  
  
• 401K retirement plan with a match dollar-for-dollar up to 3%, plus 50% of the next 2% you contribute