Solutions Engineer (Pre-Sales) US

Syndicate; Chicago, Northern (IL, KY); On-site; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Aikido is seeking a Sales Engineer to partner with Account Executives and help prospects understand, evaluate, and successfully adopt our platform.

You’ll run demos, guide evaluations, and translate complex technical concepts into clear, actionable insights for developers, security teams, and technical stakeholders. This role emphasizes pre-sales, enabling deals and accelerating adoption.

Qualifications

• 3–7+ years in a Sales Engineer, Solutions Engineer, or Pre-Sales role.
• Strong technical foundation (cloud, DevOps, security, or developer tooling).
• Experience running demos, POCs, and technical evaluations.
• Comfortable engaging with both technical and business stakeholders.
• Ability to explain complex concepts in a simple, clear way.
• Hands-on mindset, able to troubleshoot and dig into technical workflows.
• Strong communication skills and a proactive, ownership-driven approach.

Responsibilities

• Partner closely with Account Executives to drive the pre-sales process
• Lead technical demos and product walkthroughs tailored to customer use cases
• Run proofs-of-concept (POCs) and guide prospects through technical evaluations
• Help prospects understand how Aikido fits into their code → cloud → runtime environments
• Debug and troubleshoot technical questions during the sales process
• Act as a trusted technical advisor to developers, security teams, and engineering leaders
• Collaborate with product and engineering to relay customer feedback and improve the platform

Skills

Sales Engineer experience

Cloud

DevOps

Security

Strong communication

Job description

We’re making security suck less for developers.

Security tools haven’t kept up with how software is built today. They interrupt teams, slow releases, and turn security into a bottleneck instead of a capability. We built Aikido to change that. Aikido builds developer-first security products that reduce real risk without getting in the way of shipping software. We focus on what actually matters and automate the rest.

We’re taking on legacy security tools teams have been stuck with, and we’re winning. If you want to help us take market share and build products developers actually enjoy using, you’re in the right place.

Founded in 2022 by third-time founders, Aikido has $85M in the bank and a long runway ahead. We’re building toward self-securing software. Join an all-star team. Take real ownership. Push boundaries. Build things that matter.

As a Sales Engineer at Aikido, you’ll play a key role in the sales process, partnering closely with Account Executives to help prospects understand, evaluate, and successfully adopt our platform. You’ll act as the technical counterpart in deals, running demos, guiding evaluations, and ensuring customers clearly see the value of Aikido.

This role is heavily focused on pre-sales, helping drive deals forward by translating complex technical concepts into clear, actionable insights for developers, security teams, and technical stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Partner closely with Account Executives to drive the pre-sales process
• Lead technical demos and product walkthroughs tailored to customer use cases
• Run proofs-of-concept (POCs) and guide prospects through technical evaluations
• Help prospects understand how Aikido fits into their code → cloud → runtime environments
• Debug and troubleshoot technical questions during the sales process
• Act as a trusted technical advisor to developers, security teams, and engineering leaders
• Collaborate with product and engineering to relay customer feedback and improve the platform

• 3–7+ years in a Sales Engineer, Solutions Engineer, or Pre-Sales role
• Strong technical foundation (cloud, DevOps, security, or developer tooling)
• Experience running demos, POCs, and technical evaluations
• Comfortable engaging with both technical and business stakeholders
• Ability to explain complex concepts in a simple, clear way
• Hands-on mindset, able to troubleshoot and dig into technical workflows
• Strong communication skills and a proactive, ownership-driven approach

What you can expect

• High-impact position in a fast-growing company
• Fast growth of responsibility
• A company that sticks to its values in an open and informal atmosphere (see our culture page on the website for more details)
• Flexibility in working hours
• You will be recruited based on competencies. Qualities of people are decisive, regardless of gender, religion, ethnic origin, age, sexual orientation, or any disability.