Pre-Sales Solutions Lead

Gradial; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 180,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Performance bonus

Equity awards

Medical, dental & vision

Job summary

Gradial is seeking a Pre-Sales Solutions Lead to own the technical and solution strategy for enterprise opportunities. You will collaborate with Sales to translate complex marketing needs into scalable Gradial solutions and craft tailored demos that move deals forward.

From executive discovery to workflow design, you’ll architect integrations, build reusable use cases, and guide cross-functional teams, reporting to the VP of Customer Activation.

Qualifications

• 9+ years in pre-sales or similar customer-facing roles.
• Experience with Fortune 500 or large enterprise buyers.
• Leadership in MarTech or digital transformation contexts.
• Deep marketing tech stack knowledge: CMS, DAM, automation.
• Ability to translate requirements into concrete solutions.
• Experience designing enterprise demos/POCs tied to deals.

Responsibilities

• Lead solution strategy across opportunities from discovery to close.
• Run discovery with marketing teams; MarTech, IT stakeholders.
• Translate enterprise marketing ops into clear Gradial designs.
• Own demo and POC strategy for strategic deals.
• Collaborate with Forward Deployed Engineers on scope.
• Create repeatable use-case libraries to accelerate deals.
• Develop business cases linking tech to outcomes.
• Navigate validation with architecture, integrations, security.
• Partner with Sales through deal cycles to reduce risk.
• Set up processes for pre-sales motion and handoffs to implementation.

Skills

Pre-sales

Solution architecture

MarTech knowledge

Enterprise marketing

Executive discovery

Demo design

POC strategy

Stakeholder comms

Independent work

Job description

Gradial is the marketing operations system of work that helps marketers and creatives move from idea to execution faster. Our platform orchestrates across martech stacks, workflows, and people to automate marketing execution, cutting execution time, so marketers focus on the work only humans can do: shaping brands, understanding customers, and creating the work that moves people.

Backed by leading investors, we’re building software that adapts to the user, not the other way around. We move with urgency, operate with ownership, and solve hard problems from first principles. If you want to do ambitious work, take real responsibility, and help define the future of AI‑native content operations, you’ll do your best work here.

The Role

We’re hiring a Pre‑Sales Solutions Lead to own the technical and solution strategy behind Gradial’s most important enterprise opportunities. You’ll work closely with Sales to understand complex marketing organizations, identify the highest‑value opportunities for Gradial and turn those needs into solutions that make the value of our platform concrete. This is a highly hands‑on role for someone who can move from executive discovery to workflow design, solution architecture and a compelling demo without waiting for a detailed playbook. You’ll lead conversations across Marketing, MarTech, Creative Operations, IT and Engineering, connecting business priorities to the realities of a customer’s technology stack and operating model. You’ll also help build the pre‑sales motion itself. From reusable use cases and demo patterns to qualification frameworks and engagement models with Forward Deployed Engineering, you’ll define how Gradial approaches complex strategic deals at scale. You’ll report to the VP of Customer Activation and partner closely with Sales, Forward Deployed Engineering and Forward Deployed Product Management.

What You’ll Own

• Lead solution strategy for Gradial’s strategic opportunities from initial discovery through technical validation and commercial close.
• Run discovery with marketing teams; MarTech leaders, Creative Operations and technical stakeholders to uncover workflows, constraints and high value opportunities for automation.
• Translate complex enterprise marketing operations into clear solution designs that show how Gradial fits within the customer’s existing technology stack.
• Own the demo and POC strategy for strategic deals, creating tailored experiences that make Gradial’s value tangible for each customer.
• Partner with Forward Deployed Engineers to scope technical complexity, define where engineering work is required and orchestrate custom solution work.
• Build a repeatable library of use cases, solution patterns, demos and proof points that can accelerate future enterprise opportunities.
• Develop business cases that connect technical solutions to measurable customer outcomes, helping Account Executives capture value and strengthen commercial strategy.
• Navigate technical validation with enterprise stakeholders across architecture, integrations and information security requirements.
• Partner with Sales throughout the deal cycle to identify risks, sharpen positioning and create momentum across complex and varied buying committees.
• Establish the processes, standards and operating rhythms for Gradial’s pre‑sales motion, including how strategic solution work is qualified, prioritized and tracked.
• Create clear handoffs to the Implementation teams after close so customer context, solution intent and implementation priorities carry into deployment.

What We Need

• 9+ years of experience in pre‑sales, solutions consulting, solution architecture, technology consulting or a similar customer‑facing role.
• Experience supporting complex Fortune 500 or large enterprise customers through technical evaluation and buying processes.
• Experience as a technology lead or senior consultant within a MarTech, digital transformation or enterprise agency environment.
• Deep familiarity with marketing technology and digital transformation, including how enterprise marketing teams operate across people, processes and platforms.
• Strong understanding of the broader marketing technology stack, including CMS, DAM, workflow, content operations, marketing automation and adjacent enterprise systems.
• Proven ability to lead discovery with both executive and technical audiences, identify the real problem behind a customer request and shape a solution around it.
• Experience designing and delivering tailored enterprise demos and proofs of concept that directly support a commercial opportunity.
• Strong solution‑selling instincts with the ability to connect technical capabilities to business outcomes, ROI and executive priorities.
• Enough technical fluency to understand APIs, integrations, enterprise architectures and implementation complexity without needing to be the engineer building every component.
• Strong judgment around when a solution can be demonstrated through configuration and workflow design versus when deeper engineering support is required.
• Ability to communicate credibly with CMOs, marketing technology leaders, Creative Operations, IT, Engineering and InfoSec teams.
• Experience operating independently in a fast paced environment.
• A hands on working style and willingness to create materials, demos, workflows and solution artifacts needed to move a strategic deal forward.

Nice to Have

• Experience architecting broad enterprise marketing stack deployments including platforms such as Adobe, Salesforce, Workfront or comparable systems.
• Experience supporting AI‑powered products within enterprise marketing organizations.

The salary range for this position is $180,000 – $200,000 annually. Final compensation will be determined based on factors such as experience, skills, and qualifications.

What we offer

• Performance‑based annual bonus
• Meaningful equity awards
• Medical, dental & vision (fully covered for employees with 75% for dependents)
• Fertility & family‑planning support
• 401k plan
• Unlimited PTO
• A beautiful Seattle office with a gym, sauna, and bike parking
• Free lunch three days a week in our HQA front‑row seat to building category‑defining AI infrastructure

You’ll thrive here if youLearn quickly, actively seek out new challenges, and regularly reconsider “how it’s always been done.” Want to have real impact with zero bureaucracy. Have an innate drive for being 1% better than the day before, building towards greatness. Embrace AI as a core tool for problem‑solving, innovation, and scale. Show customer‑obsession (internal or external), high ownership/accountability, and bias for action. Communicate clearly, directly, with curiosity, and assuming good intentions. Thrive in fast‑paced, hyper‑growth environments where building better > maintaining status quo.

AI Literacy & Interviewing Tools

As an AI‑first company, we prioritize AI literacy as a core competency in our hiring decisions. We’re excited by candidates who thoughtfully apply AI tools in their work, but during interviews we’re focused on you. This is your opportunity to show how you think, communicate, and solve problems. Over‑reliance on AI‑generated responses during the interview process (especially when it obscures your own voice) will result in disqualification. We want to understand your unique perspective and how you approach challenges, both with and without AI. Gradial is dedicated to creating an environment where diverse perspectives are valued and all team members can grow. We offer competitive compensation, equity, flexible work hours, comprehensive benefits, and a collaborative culture focused on learning and impact.