Strategic Solutions Engineering Director

About the role

You will lead a team of high-performing Solutions Engineers supporting complex sales cycles within the Strategic West segment at Cresta. In this capacity, you will partner closely with Strategic sales leadership to align Solutions Engineer coverage with pipeline priorities and critical deal commitments. You will coach your team through technical discovery, solution design, and executional excellence across live demos, proof of concepts, and technical validation sessions. You will collaborate cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, and Enablement teams to elevate the Solutions Engineer impact and drive continuous improvement in how Cresta positions and delivers its platform. You will support key strategic deals directly, providing hands-on technical leadership, influencing solution design, and helping shape the business case alongside Strategic Account Executives. You will leverage your experience with AI Agent applications and contact center technologies to guide complex implementations. You will develop and deliver high-impact demos and presentations that accelerate executive buy-in for priority opportunities. You will establish and scale technical best practices, discovery frameworks, and competitive enablement assets across the Strategic Solutions Engineering team.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Conduct weekly one-on-one coaching sessions and team meetings to coach Solutions Engineers on deal strategy, technical execution, and proven best practices.
• Create and maintain individualized development plans for each team member; lead monthly ride-alongs and collaborate with SE Enablement on targeted training initiatives.
• Align closely with Strategic Sales Leaders through weekly syncs, sales leadership meetings, and coverage reviews to drive segment strategy and pipeline alignment.
• Run weekly Solutions Engineer pipeline reviews to ensure technical qualification, surface systemic blockers, and share performance metrics with executive leadership.
• Manage the Solutions Engineer team capacity and utilization, coordinate cross-regional support, and drive recruiting and onboarding with structured 30-60-90 day plans.
• Provide hands-on support for two to three strategic Strategic accounts by leading technical discovery and shaping technical strategy for deals greater than one million dollars.
• Collaborate with Product teams to influence the product roadmap, lead Strategic-specific proof of concept initiatives, and validate complex implementations.
• Develop and deliver high-impact demonstrations and executive presentations; co-design proof of concepts that accelerate sales cycles for priority Strategic opportunities.
• Establish and scale technical best practices, discovery frameworks, and competitive enablement assets across the Strategic Solutions Engineering organization.
• Partner with Enablement to design and iterate on training materials that reinforce coaching, role clarity, and skills development for the SE team.
• Track and communicate win/loss patterns specific to Strategic deals, translating insights into actionable coaching and process updates.
• Work closely with Customer Success and Implementation teams to ensure smooth post-sale transitions and technical alignment.
• Represent Cresta in key customer forums, ensuring technical messaging remains consistent and aligned with strategic objectives.
• Drive adoption of AI Agent applications and contact center technology best practices within customer workflows during evaluations and proofs of concept.
• Maintain deep expertise in Contact Center technologies, including Conversational AI, CCaaS platforms, and telephony infrastructure to address sophisticated customer questions.

Requirements

• Bring 8+ years of experience in sales engineering or technical sales roles, with a minimum of 3 years in a leadership capacity.
• Demonstrate understanding of AI Agent applications, with hands-on experience integrating AI into customer workflows in previous positions.
• Show deep expertise in Contact Center technologies, including Conversational AI, CCaaS platforms, and telephony infrastructure throughout your career.
• Highlight strong working knowledge of strategic platforms including Salesforce, Google, Amazon Web Services, and contact center infrastructure in your background.
• Be known for resourcefulness, strategic thinking, and a collaborative mindset when working cross-functionally to drive deal success in complex environments.
• Exhibit passion for Sales Engineering career development, with a focus on coaching Solutions Engineers through structured growth plans, role clarity, and continuous skills development.
• Have experience in building mentoring frameworks that foster technical excellence, soft skill growth, and leadership readiness within the Solutions Engineering organization.
• Embody and promote Cresta's core Operating Principles through mentorship, leadership, and consistent hands-on engagement with teams and stakeholders.
• Commit to working from locations within the United States while supporting a fully remote operating model.
• Demonstrate the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, quota-driven sales engineering environment without compromising quality.
• Communicate effectively at both technical and executive levels, adapting messaging to suit strategic customers and internal stakeholders.
• Maintain a strong sense of ownership over pipeline results, coaching team members to achieve and exceed their targets.
• Align with Cresta's mission of unlocking the true potential of the customer experience and contributing to the future of AI-driven interactions.

Nice to have

• Experience working with enterprise customers in regulated industries such as aviation, telecommunications, or hospitality.
• Background deploying large-scale contact center transformations or cloud migration initiatives.
• Familiarity with conversational AI platforms and related tooling used in customer engagement scenarios.
• Track record of mentoring junior sales engineers and enabling structured career growth paths.

Practical notes

• This is a full-time position based in the United States with remote work arrangements.
• Travel is not required for this role.
• Visa sponsorship is not available for this position at this time.
• The engagement type is full-time, and candidates should be able to start as soon as possible based on mutual alignment.