Principal Sales Engineer

IDC; Needham (MA); On-site; USD 200,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Vacation days

Holidays

Sick days

Medical/dental/vision

Floating holidays

Volunteer day

401(k) match

Life insurance

Parental leave

Short-term disability

Job summary

IDC is seeking a Principal Sales Engineer to architect and lead our most strategic, technically complex deals. In this player-coach role, you will hire and onboard the first Sales Engineers, define the demo and technical playbook, and guide the transition to a scalable SE organization focused on deployment and value realization.

Initially you will be the hands-on technical anchor for top-tier opportunities, then coach regional SEs to independence as the team expands.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in SaaS sales engineering/pre-sales with leadership or player-coach experience.
• Credible across deep technical work and the sales motion, including APIs, integrations, security, and AI/LLM platforms.

Responsibilities

• Hire and onboard the first Sales Engineers; define the demo/technical playbook, AE engagement model, deal intake process, and team success metrics.
• Lead the technical motion on top-50/enterprise deals and MCP integration opportunities during ramp, coaching SEs to run independently.
• Serve as the deep technical anchor on IDC Quanta's complex opportunities—direct-access/MCP integrations and security reviews.
• Advise customers on how IDC Quanta operates within their AI stack and own environment.
• Build repeatable deployment, integration, security, and governance patterns for regional SEs.

Skills

SaaS sales engineering

Leadership / player-coach

Enterprise deals

APIs & AI integrations

Tools

APIs & Integrations

Security

Job description

IDC

Principal Sales Engineer

US--

Job ID: 2026-7083

# of Openings: 1

Category: Sales

Overview

About the Role & Team

IDC is hiring a Principal Sales Engineer - a true player-coach who will both build the function and personally carry the company's most strategic and technically complex deals. In the early phase of this role, you'll be the hands-on technical anchor for our hardest opportunities (direct-access/MCP integrations, customers' own-environment deployments, and enterprise security and architecture reviews) while simultaneously standing up the team, playbook, and operating model from scratch.

This is a builder's role: you will hire and onboard the first Sales Engineers, define the demo and technical playbook, and manage the transition from a Product/Engineering-led model of technical support to a scalable, repeatable SE / Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) organization focused on deployment, adoption, and value realization. As the team grows, you will shift from personally closing deals to coaching regional SEs into independence - but in the meantime, you own the outcome directly.

What You'll Do

• Hire, onboard, and develop the first Sales Engineers; define the demo/technical playbook, AE engagement model, deal intake process, and team success metrics.
• Personally lead the technical motion on top-50/enterprise deals and any direct-access/MCP integration opportunity during the team's ramp; coach SEs into running these independently over time.
• Serve as the deep technical anchor on IDC Quanta's most complex opportunities - direct-access/MCP integrations, customers' own-environment deployments, and enterprise security/architecture reviews.
• Advise customers on how IDC Quanta operates within their existing AI stack (Claude, Gemini, internal portals, MCP connectors) and within their own environment.
• Build custom demos, reference architectures, and reusable technical patterns that regional SEs can run and scale.
• Allocate SE capacity across AMAS, EMEA, and APAC, ensuring no region or deal type is a single point of failure (avoid cross-training gaps).
• Partner with sales leadership on coverage and forecast, and with Deal Desk and Product on packaging, pricing, and roadmap.
• Define repeatable deployment, integration, security, and governance patterns that regional SEs can reuse, surfacing recurring roadmap gaps to Product.
• Be recognized as IDC Quanta's go-to technical expert, earning trust directly with senior technical buyers.

What You Bring

• 8+ years in SaaS sales engineering/pre-sales, including leadership or player-coach experience; experience standing up or scaling an SE team strongly preferred.
• Credible across both deep technical work and the sales motion - comfortable with APIs, integrations, security, and AI/LLM platforms (MCP a plus).
• Strong track record with enterprise, complex deals; recognized as a go-to technical expert able to earn trust with senior technical buyers.
• Demonstrated ability building process and reusable technical assets from scratch in a fast-moving, ambiguous environment.

Why This Role Stands Out

At IDC, your work helps shape how the world understands technology and where it goes next. You collaborate with curious, high-caliber colleagues who value rigor, integrity, and shared success. As the premier global provider of trusted technology intelligence, IDC equips business and technology leaders with the evidence they need to make confident decisions. Our insights inform strategy, investment, and innovation across industries and regions.

Recognized by IIAR as Analyst Firm of the Year for five consecutive years, IDC sets the standard for credibility and impact. With more than 1,000 analysts worldwide and a truly global perspective, we combine deep expertise with practical relevance. Here, your ideas matter, your voice is heard, and your contributions provide the insights leaders rely on every day. It is meaningful work, backed by a culture that supports growth, collaboration, and long-term career development with a globally respected brand.

What We Offer

• 15 vacation days (prorated based on start date)
• 12 company-paid holidays
• 6 paid sick days (prorated based on start date; may vary by state)
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage
• 2 floating holidays (prorated based on start date)
• 1 volunteer day
• 401(k) company match (IDC matches 3% on the first 6% of employee contributions)
• Company-paid short-term disability
• Company-paid life insurance
• Company-paid parental leave

Compensation Transparency

At IDC, we are committed to fair and equitable pay practices. Employees are compensated equitably for their work, aligned with their skills and experience. Salary and incentive structures are determined through a rigorous process that considers experience, education, certifications, role-specific requirements, internal equity, and verified U.S. market data from an independent third-party partner. The expected total annual compensation, depending on location and experience, is between $200,000 - $210,000, inclusive of base salary and variable compensation.

If this role relocates to a different country, the salary range will be updated to reflect that country's range, rather than a currency conversion of the original range.

Equal Opportunity Employer

IDC is committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all qualified persons. Employment eligibility verification required. We participate in E-Verify.

IDC is currently able to employ remote workers in the following states: Arizona (AZ), California (CA), Colorado (CO), Connecticut (CT), Washington D.C. (DC), Florida (FL), Georgia (GA), Illinois (IL), Indiana (IN), Kansas (KS), Massachusetts (MA), Maryland (MD), Maine (ME), Michigan (MI), Minnesota (MN), Missouri (MO), Mississippi (MS), North Carolina (NC), New Hampshire (NH), New Jersey (NJ), New York (NY), Ohio (OH), Oregon (OR), Pennsylvania (PA), Rhode Island (RI), South Carolina (SC), Tennessee (TN), Texas (TX), Utah (UT), Virginia (VA), Vermont (VT), Washington (WA), and Wisconsin (WI).