Presales Director

D-Fend Solutions; McLean (VA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

D-Fend Solutions is seeking a Pre-Sales Director to bridge Sales, Product and R&D, and to lead global pre-sales teams. You will champion technical relevance and commercial value in customer proposals, guide demonstrations, and shape POC processes aligned with company capabilities and customer needs.

Ideal candidates will have 5+ years in pre-sales leadership, strong technical acumen, and proven ability to translate requirements into compelling business outcomes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related field is required.
• Minimum 5 years in a Pre-Sales, Sales Engineering or Solution Architect role – mandatory.
• Proven leadership and management experience in a pre-sales context – mandatory.
• Strong presentation and public speaking skills are essential.
• Fluent written and spoken English; additional languages are a plus.
• Solid understanding of the company’s products and tech ecosystem.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor the pre-sales team across global sites.
• Allocate resources to opportunities based on expertise and priorities.
• Develop demonstrations, customer scenarios, and POC processes aligned with capabilities.
• Support RFP/RFI responses with technical content and reviews.
• Create and maintain pre-sales assets such as documentation and FAQs.
• Collaborate with Sales, Product and R&D to drive win strategies.
• Ensure smooth handover to project management after deals close.

Skills

Leadership

Public speaking

Fluent English

Technical understanding

Requirements analysis

Creativity & strategic thinking

Business acumen

Continuous improvement

Relationship building

Technical writing

Time management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related field

Job description

Join D-Fend Solutions — where technology meets purpose.

As the global leader in cyber-takeover counter-drone technology, we develop advanced solutions that keep airspaces safe from evolving drone threats. Our team — including veterans of elite military tech units — pushes boundaries every day to deliver smarter, faster, and safer protection for customers worldwide.

If you’re passionate about cutting-edge technology, real-world impact, and working in a collaborative, high-energy environment — we’d love to have you on board.

Become a D-Fender. Shape the future of airspace security.

Scope:

The Pre-Sales Director is a key leadership role bridging the Sales organization with Product and R&D teams. The role is responsible for ensuring that proposed customer solutions are both technically relevant and commercially compelling, thereby supporting the sales process and driving successful business outcomes.

The Pre-Sales Director will lead, in a matrix structure, all pre-sales teams across the company’s global sites and will drive knowledge management, methodologies, work culture, and collaboration models with the sales organization worldwide.

Key Responsibilities:

• Leadership & Coaching: Recruit, mentor, coach, and manage the daily activities of the pre-sales team, including Sales Engineers and Solution Architects.
• Resource Allocation: Assign appropriate pre-sales resources to sales opportunities based on expertise, priorities, and urgency.
• Professional Development: Drive the professional, technical, and presentation skills development of team members.

2. Driving Pre-Sales Support

• Understanding Customer Needs: Lead in-depth discussions with prospective customers to fully understand their technical requirements and business challenges.
• Solution Presentation: Develop and deliver demonstrations, including customer-tailored scenarios, technical presentations, operational solution proposals based on company capabilities, and customized Proof of Concept (POC) processes aligned with customer requirements, company capabilities, and operational constraints.
• RFP/RFI Support: Lead the technical response process for RFPs and RFIs, including writing, reviewing, and tailoring responses.
• Development of Sales Materials: Create, maintain, and manage standardized pre-sales assets, including product documentation, FAQs, demo scenarios, POC templates, and related materials.
• Feedback & Knowledge Sharing: Establish a structured process for collecting field feedback from customers and sales opportunities, analyzing lessons learned, sharing insights across relevant teams, and ensuring implementation of improvements with Product, R&D, Sales, and Marketing teams.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with Sales leadership to develop overall sales strategies as well as opportunity-specific strategies when required.
• Project Handover & Knowledge Transfer: Share technical sales process insights, challenges, and solutions with the Project Management organization following deal closure to ensure effective project execution and continuity.

4. Technical & Business Leadership

• Technical Expertise: Maintain deep and up-to-date knowledge of the company’s solutions, competitors, and relevant technology trends.
• Technical Validation: Approve the technical feasibility of proposed solutions prior to final proposal submission.
• Leadership & Continuous Improvement: Foster professionalism, leadership, continuous improvement, structured methodologies, and operational excellence while serving as a role model for the organization.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or a related field.
• Proven leadership and management experience of at least 5 years in a Pre-Sales, Sales Engineering, or Solution Architect role – mandatory.
• Strong emphasis on demonstrated technical expertise and capabilities in a Pre-Sales, Sales Engineering, or Solution Architect role – mandatory.
• Excellent presentation and public speaking skills.
• Fluent English, both written and spoken; additional languages are an advantage.
• Strong technical understanding of the company’s products/solutions and their technological ecosystem.
• Ability to accurately analyze operational and business requirements while considering customer constraints.
• Creativity and strategic thinking with the ability to analyze competing technologies and propose compelling customer-focused solutions.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to translate technical requirements into business value.
• Experience leading continuous improvement initiatives.
• Ability to build strong working relationships with customers, sales teams, and technical organizations.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Strong technical writing capabilities.
• Strong time-management skills, multitasking ability, and capability to work effectively under pressure.