VP of Solution Engineering

Lightning AI • New York, NY

7d • $250,000 - $400,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Lightning AI is seeking a VP of Solutions Engineering to build and lead the technical field organization responsible for winning, onboarding, and expanding strategic customers. This senior leadership role requires a blend of technical expertise, enterprise selling acumen, customer empathy, and operational rigor. The VP will shape how Lightning AI demonstrates value in the field, how technical teams collaborate with the Revenue department, and how customer insights inform product development and go-to-market strategies. The ideal candidate will be a builder who can combine technical depth with enterprise selling discipline, customer empathy, and operating rigor.

Requirements

• 12+ years in solutions engineering, sales engineering, field engineering, technical pre-sales, ML infrastructure, or related technical leadership roles.
• 5+ years building and leading high-performing technical field teams in enterprise technology markets.
• Deep understanding of complex technical selling, enterprise evaluation cycles, POCs, executive alignment, and cross-functional deal execution.
• Credibility with technical buyers and the ability to simplify AI, infrastructure, platform, and architecture concepts for senior business stakeholders.
• Experience partnering closely with Sales, Product, Engineering, Customer Success, Partnerships, Marketing, and Revenue Operations.
• Strong talent judgment and a track record of hiring, coaching, and developing technical field leaders.
• A high-accountability operating style with strong forecasting discipline, field inspection, and customer follow-through.
• Comfort leading in a fast-moving startup where the market, product, and GTM motion are evolving quickly.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in AI infrastructure, cloud infrastructure, developer platforms, MLOps, data platforms, GPUs, or high-performance compute.
• Experience building a solutions engineering organization through rapid growth or category creation.
• Hands-on technical background in software engineering, ML engineering, platform engineering, infrastructure, or data systems.
• Experience supporting both direct enterprise sales and partner/channel technical motions.

Responsibilities

• Build, lead, and scale the Solutions Engineering organization across enterprise, strategic, channel, and technical specialist motions.
• Own the technical sales strategy for complex enterprise opportunities, including discovery, demo strategy, architecture, POC methodology, technical validation, and executive alignment.
• Partner with Sales leadership to improve win rates, deal velocity, qualification quality, forecast confidence, and technical differentiation.
• Develop a repeatable field engineering playbook for AI infrastructure, ML workflows, platform adoption, technical evaluations, security reviews, and enterprise buying committees.
• Recruit and develop exceptional MLSEs, Solutions Engineers, technical leaders, and field specialists.
• Create clear standards for demos, POCs, technical discovery, architecture reviews, customer handoffs, and product feedback loops.
• Represent Lightning AI with executive and technical customer stakeholders, including CTOs, VP Engineering, Heads of AI, ML platform leaders, research leaders, and infrastructure leaders.
• Partner deeply with Product and Engineering to surface field patterns, influence roadmap priorities, and close gaps that block enterprise adoption.
• Work with Partnerships, Customer Success, Marketing, and Revenue Enablement to build consistent technical messaging and scalable field assets.
• Establish the metrics, inspection points, and operating cadence for a world-class technical pre-sales organization.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation
• Discretionary bonus
• Meaningful equity component
• Comprehensive benefits
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and eligible dependents
• RSUs that give employees a stake in the company's long-term success
• 401(k) matching (U.S.)
• Pension contributions (U.K.)
• Unlimited PTO
• Company holidays
• Floating holidays
• Two weeks of company closure each winter
• Paid parental & family leave
• Annual learning and development allowance
• Wellness and work-from-home stipends
• Four weeks of paid sabbatical leave after four years of service
• Flexible schedules
• Hybrid work model
• Complimentary meals at office hubs

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed