Solution Architect (Technical Pre-Sales and Field Applications Engineer)

PA Consulting; Melbourn; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Competitive salary

Pension and bonus scheme

Career progression

Flexible healthcare plans

Job summary

Oakdoor by PA Consulting seeks a versatile Technical Pre-Sales and Field Application Engineer to build credibility, shape customer requirements, and enable sales conversion. You will collaborate with sales, engineering and operations, translating business problems into technical solutions and delivering demonstrations and implementation support.

The role blends pre-sales with hands-on delivery, requiring strong technical expertise and the ability to communicate complex topics clearly to diverse

Qualifications

• Strong technical background in hardware, software, cybersecurity, or systems integration.
• Experience in Technical Pre-Sales, Solutions Engineer, FAE, or similar customer-facing technical role.
• Ability to design architectures and deliver hands-on implementation support.
• Excellent troubleshooting, analysis, and problem-solving abilities.
• Confident communication skills for both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Experience preparing proposals, diagrams, and technical documentation.
• Hands-on, agile, sleeves-rolled-up attitude in a rapidly changing environment.
• Eligible for UK Security Clearance.

Responsibilities

• Identify requirements and objectives with customers; lead technical discovery sessions.
• Translate customer needs into Oakdoor solution architectures and value-driven propositions.
• Create and present solutions, demos, workshops, and proofs-of-concept to accelerate opportunities.
• Provide on-site and remote implementation, installation, configuration, and validation support.
• Deliver training and knowledge transfer to customers and partners for long-term success.
• Collaborate with engineering, sales, and operations to capture feedback for product roadmap.
• Maintain expert knowledge of Oakdoor products and industry trends.

Skills

Technical pre-sales

Solutions engineering

Architecture design

Hands-on implementation

Troubleshooting

Strong communication

Proposal & documentation

UK Security Clearance eligible

Job description

Company Description

Oakdoor™ by PA Consulting is an incubated scale-up business that is disrupting the cybersecurity world of cross domain solutions. Bringing the next generation of ingenious hardware data diodes to the most important networks in the world.

Oakdoor™ by PA Consulting is an incubated scale-up business that is disrupting the cybersecurity world of cross domain solutions. Bringing the next generation of ingenious hardware data diodes to the most important networks in the world. We build relationships with customers who want to protect their critical digital assets, from across a range of industries such as defence, national security and critical national infrastructure. By understanding common challenges and opportunities we use our insight to solve customer problems, nurturing relationships with organisations of varying maturity. We are a highly skilled and motivated team designing and selling world-leading new network security products - and "world- leading" genuinely means we are the only team who can meet the needs of some of our extraordinarily prestigious customers. 'Oakdoor presents a unique opportunity for an ambitious sales professional. As part of the team, you have the opportunity to bring product to market, that is representative of an industry disruptor, and genuinely solves long standing network security challenges'. Cyber Security Hardware | Cross Domain Solutions | Oakdoor

Job Description

We are seeking a versatile Technical Pre-Sales and Field Application Engineer to build technical credibility, shape customer requirements, and enable sales conversion. Supporting the full customer lifecycle — from early opportunity discovery through deployment, integration, and ongoing technical success — this hybrid role combines the customer-facing solution design strengths of pre-sales with the hands-on technical delivery and support capabilities of a Field Application Engineer (FAE). You will collaborate closely with the sales, engineering, and operations teams, acting as both a technical evangelist and trusted advisor. The ideal candidate can translate business problems into technical solutions, deliver compelling demonstrations, and provide expert implementation and troubleshooting support.

Key Responsibilities

Customer Discovery & Technical Positioning

• Support the sales team during customer engagements to identify requirements, challenges, and objectives.
• Lead technical discovery sessions, evaluating environments and integration constraints.
• Translate customer needs into Oakdoor solution architectures and value‑driven propositions.

Solution Design, Demonstrations & Proposals

• Create maximum value for customers by building compelling technical solutions that leverage the Oakdoor portfolio.
• Deliver compelling demonstrations, workshops, and proof-of-concepts to de-risk and accelerate opportunities through technical validation.
• Produce technical documentation including architectures, BoMs, implementation approaches, and content for RFP/RFI responses.
• Clearly articulate Oakdoor’s competitive advantages and technical differentiators.

Technical Implementation & On‑Site Support

• Support customers during installation, configuration, commissioning, and system integration.
• Perform diagnostic analysis, troubleshooting, issue resolution, and system validation.
• Conduct testing, performance checks, and acceptance procedures.
• Provide both remote and on‑site assistance as required.

Customer Enablement & Long‑Term Success

• Deliver technical training and knowledge‑transfer sessions for customers and partners.
• Advise customers on best practices, product optimisation, and operational efficiency.
• Build strong, trusted relationships with customer engineering and operations teams.

Internal Collaboration & Product Feedback

• Act as an extension of the Oakdoor engineering and support teams, building deep understanding and trust with customers and technical leaders.
• Capture insightful feedback to help inform and prioritise key technology and product roadmap decisions, including enhancements and new features.
• Analyse market trends, competitor activity, and customer needs to inform our wider business strategy.
• Support internal teams during opportunity qualification, solution validation, and technical reviews.

Technical Authority & Continuous Learning

• Maintain expert-level knowledge of Oakdoor products, integrations, and use cases.
• Stay current with relevant technologies and industry trends, such as cybersecurity, networking, and hardware/software systems.
• Contribute to internal enablement, technical guides, and reusable solution assets.

Qualifications

• Strong technical background in hardware, software, cybersecurity, or systems integration.
• Previous experience in a Technical Pre-Sales, Solutions Engineer, FAE, Systems Engineer, or similar customer-facing technical role.
• Demonstrated ability to design architectures and deliver hands‑on implementation support.
• Excellent troubleshooting, analysis, and problem‑solving abilities.
• Confident communication skills, with the ability to present complex topics clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Experience preparing proposals, diagrams, and technical documentation.
• A hands‑on, agile, sleeves-rolled-up attitude to getting things done in a rapidly changing and evolving environment.
• You must be eligible for UK Security Clearance.

What Success Looks Like in This Role

Success means you are the trusted technical expert who helps win deals, delivers smooth deployments, and ensures customers get long-term value from Oakdoor solutions. This looks like:

• Clear value articulation: Customers quickly understand how Oakdoor solves their problems.
• Strong technical delivery: Demos, solution designs, and deployments run smoothly and professionally.
• Fast issue resolution: Technical problems are diagnosed and resolved rapidly.
• Customer advocacy: Clients trust you, follow your guidance, and choose to expand with Oakdoor.
• Reliable collaboration: Strongly trusted by sales, engineering, support, and operations teams, who can depend on your accuracy and insight.
• Consistent execution: You manage pre-sales and post‑sales workloads effectively, with no missed deadlines.

Additional Information

We offer the opportunity to work on purposeful projects with incredible people, competitive salary, pension and bonus scheme, clear pathways to progression, and a thriving learning culture. Benefits include:

• Consistent training, development and career progression
• Hybrid working
• Flexible healthcare plans for you and your family
• Competitive leave allowances
• Team events
• A range of culturally-led clubs to join, from music to film, yoga to podcasts

It's an environment that is energetic and fast-paced, that values collaboration, curiosity and treating people fairly.

Diversity

We believe that diversity makes us a stronger firm and look to employ people with different ideas, styles and skillsets. This diversity stimulates a rich, creative environment – one in which our people develop, and our clients enjoy enduring results. We’re committed to recruiting, promoting and rewarding our people solely based on their ability to contribute to PA’s goals, without regard to their sex, race, disability, religion, national origin, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age or marital status.