Sales Engineer: Dark Fiber & Lit Services

PBI Fiber; Pennsylvania; Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary with annual bonus

Medical, dental, vision; RRSP

Four weeks' vacation

Long-term development opportunities

Job summary

Plenary Americas seeks a Sales Engineer for Dark Fiber & Lit Services to support the sales team by designing, pricing, and closing dark fiber and lit services solutions. You will collaborate with Sales, Engineering, Ops, and Finance to craft cost-effective network designs and present compelling business value to customers, including C-level stakeholders.

The role requires deep telecom pre-sales experience, strong technical communication, and ability to travel up to 30% along the U.S. East Coast.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, MIS, Business, or equivalent industry experience.
• 5+ years of experience in pre-sales, technical sales engineering, or network design within telecommunications.
• Proven expertise in long-haul/dark fiber architecture, IRUs, and wavelength/DWDM technologies.
• Understanding of the OSP design process – permitting, construction economics, methods, and route feasibility.
• Experience designing, costing, and positioning IRU, lease, and lit fiber solutions.
• Support commercial structuring of IRU and lease transactions, including term pricing and O&M cost inputs.
• Ability to create network topology diagrams and discuss environmental requirements for fiber facility placement.
• Strong understanding of the competitive long-haul fiber and telecommunications landscape.
• Experience responding to RFIs/RFPs and developing technical proposals and business cases.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with comfort presenting to C-level audiences.
• Proven ability to manage multiple, simultaneous sales opportunities independently with minimal supervision.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to navigate sales obstacles creatively.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio, Outlook)
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative, and dynamic environment.
• Experience administering and managing CRM platforms, including data input accuracy, utilization, and integrity

Responsibilities

• Provide pre-sales technical consultation and guidance throughout the sales cycle
• Build relationships with customers’ technical stakeholders to resolve objections and drive deals to close
• Write proposals and respond to the technical and functional elements of RFIs/RFPs
• Present dark fiber and lit services solutions to technical and business audiences, including senior decision-makers
• Analyze customer business requirements and translate them into route designs, cost estimates, and business cases
• Create network topology diagrams and route maps to clearly communicate proposed solutions
• Validate route feasibility and design options with Network Engineering and Operations
• Review build-cost analysis with the Sales and Engineering teams to ensure solutions are scoped and priced accurately
• Serve as primary liaison between Sales and internal teams during design, build, and installation
• Lead Sales org on dark fiber products, technical concepts, and competitive positioning
• Keep current on the long-haul fiber competitive landscape and emerging technologies

Skills

Dark fiber architecture

IRU & DWDM

Network design

Pre-sales engineering

RFIs/RFPs response

CRM proficiency

Stakeholder communication

Cost estimation

MS Office

Topology diagrams

Education

Bachelor’s degree (Engineering/MIS/Business)

Tools

MS Visio

CRM platforms

Job description

Sales Engineer: Dark Fiber & Lit Services

Open to: PA, NC, GA, MD, or VA (Up to 30% travel, primarily on the U.S. East Coast)

The Company

Plenary Americas is a leading specialized developer of, and equity investor in, long-term Public-Private Partnership (PPP) infrastructure projects. Since its inception in 2005, we have built a portfolio of 60 projects and more than USD $23.5 billion / CAD $30.3 billion in North American assets under management. We are determined in our approach to deliver first-class infrastructure, build the right delivery solutions for the projects we work on and inspire people with our vision for transformational spaces.

Why work for Plenary?

Recognized as a Great Place to Work® in the US and Canada, we pride ourselves on our workplace culture. Our focus is on empowering our employees, driving results, building strong camaraderie, and celebrating our wins as a team. Our people and our workplace culture are our driving forces to bring infrastructure to life. Learn more about us by visiting www.plenaryamericas.com.

The Role

The Sales Engineer is the technical subject matter expert (SME) supporting the sales team in designing, pricing, and closing PBI’s dark fiber and lit services solutions. Working in partnership with Sales, Engineering, Ops, and Finance, you’ll design and architect solutions that address customer business requirements, develop the technical sales strategy, and present solutions that deliver clear business value. This is a customer-facing role — you’ll consult with prospects, customers, internal engineering teams, and vendors to build accurate, cost-effective network designs, and serve as the primary liaison between Sales and Engineering.

PBI is a consortium led by Plenary Americas, Tikehau Star Infra, and Tilson. The company owns, develops, operates, and commercializes middle-mile fiber routes for hyperscalers, telecom carriers, fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) providers, and data center operators, including unique routes along the entire Pennsylvania Turnpike Right-of-Way (ROW) and major roadways on the North Carolina DOT and Georgia DOT interstate highway systems. In addition to the various functions performed directly by PBI resources, PBI also subcontracts design, construction, operations, and maintenance services to external contractors.

Responsibilities

• Provide pre-sales technical consultation and guidance throughout the sales cycle
• Build relationships with customers’ technical stakeholders to resolve objections and drive deals to close
• Write proposals and respond to the technical and functional elements of RFIs/RFPs
• Present dark fiber and lit services solutions to technical and business audiences, including senior decision-makers

Solution Design

• Analyze customer business requirements and translate them into route designs, cost estimates, and business cases
• Create network topology diagrams and route maps to clearly communicate proposed solutions
• Validate route feasibility and design options with Network Engineering and Operations
• Review build-cost analysis with the Sales and Engineering teams to ensure solutions are scoped and priced accurately
• Serve as primary liaison between Sales and internal teams (OSP Engineering, Network Engineering, Service Delivery) during design, build, and installation
• Lead Sales org on dark fiber products, technical concepts, and competitive positioning
• Keep current on the long-haul fiber competitive landscape and emerging technologies

Essential Skills & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, MIS, Business, or equivalent industry experience
• 5+ years of experience in pre-sales, technical sales engineering, or network design within telecommunications
• Proven expertise in long-haul/dark fiber architecture, IRUs, and wavelength/DWDM technologies
• Understanding of the OSP design process – permitting, construction economics, methods, and route feasibility
• Experience designing, costing, and positioning IRU, lease, and lit fiber solutions
• Support commercial structuring of IRU and lease transactions, including term pricing and O&M cost inputs
• Ability to create network topology diagrams and discuss environmental requirements for fiber facility placement
• Strong understanding of the competitive long-haul fiber and telecommunications landscape
• Experience responding to RFIs/RFPs and developing technical proposals and business cases
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with comfort presenting to C-level audiences
• Proven ability to manage multiple, simultaneous sales opportunities independently with minimal supervision
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to navigate sales obstacles creatively
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio, Outlook)
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative, and dynamic environment
• Experience administering and managing CRM platforms, including data input accuracy, utilization, and integrity

What we offer

• Competitive salary with annual bonus potential.
• Comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental and vision, and RRSP plan with employer contribution.
• Four weeks' vacation, plus public holidays and other discretionary leave.
• Long-term development opportunities and ability to be part of an exciting and growing industry.

Note: Only those applicants under consideration will be contacted. Please accept our utmost appreciation for your interest. We are committed to continuous improvement and a diverse and inclusive workplace for all. Plenary Americas is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and employment decisions are based on merit and business needs only. Reasonable accommodation is available for qualified individuals with disabilities, upon request.