About Portside
Portside is a leading provider of cloud-based software solutions for the global aviation industry. Our platform powers critical operations across business aviation, regional airlines, and aircraft leasing & finance, helping over 1,000 aviation organizations streamline operations, improve decision-making, and operate more efficiently.
Backed by leading technology investors Vista Equity Partners and Insight Partners, Portside is entering an exciting phase of growth. We are expanding our platform, investing in AI driven innovation, and building a global team focused on shaping the future of aviation technology.
Job Summary
As a Solutions Engineer, you will serve as the technical backbone of our pre-sales process, partnering closely with Sales Executives to understand prospective aviation operators' business challenges and translate them into compelling, tailored product demonstrations. You will lead technical discovery, drive proof-of-concept engagements, and act as the technical voice of the customer throughout the sales cycle.
This role will partner closely with Sales, Product, Engineering, and Customer Success teams to ensure prospects clearly understand how Portside's platform solves their problems, and to relay market feedback that shapes our roadmap.
The ideal candidate is a hands-on, customer-facing technologist with strong presentation skills, a consultative approach to discovery, and the ability to translate complex product capabilities into clear business value for aviation industry stakeholders.
Key Responsibilities
- Partner with Sales Executives throughout the sales cycle to understand prospect needs, pain points, and technical requirements.
- Design and deliver tailored product demos that map Portside's platform capabilities to each prospect's specific use case.
- Lead technical discovery calls to uncover requirements, integration needs, and success criteria.
- Own and drive proof-of-concept engagements and pilots, coordinating internal resources as needed.
- Respond to RFPs/RFIs and technical questionnaires with accurate, well-articulated answers.
- Build and maintain demo environments, sandboxes, and POC instances.
- Address technical objections and articulate competitive differentiation.
- Assist with integration and API discussions with prospects' technical teams.
- Serve as the technical voice of the customer, relaying product feedback and feature requests to Product and Engineering.
- Develop and maintain demo scripts, sales enablement content, and technical collateral (one-pagers, architecture diagrams, FAQs).
- Stay current on product releases, roadmap, and aviation industry trends to keep demos and messaging fresh.
- Support onboarding and training of new Sales Executives on product positioning and demo delivery.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in a technical field (Computer Science, Engineering, IT) or equivalent practical experience preferred.
- Minimum of 2 years of experience in a Solutions Engineer, Sales Engineer, Technical Account Manager, or similar pre-sales/customer-facing technical role (SaaS experience strongly preferred).
- Strong presentation and communication skills, with the ability to present to technical and non-technical stakeholders, including executives.
- Ability to quickly learn complex products and translate technical concepts into clear business value.
- Working knowledge of APIs, integrations, and basic web/cloud architecture concepts.
- Experience with CRM tools (e.g., Salesforce) and demo/POC environments.
- Comfortable working cross-functionally with Sales, Product, Engineering, and Customer Success.
- Strong problem-solving skills and a consultative, curious approach to discovery.
- Self-motivated, organized, and able to manage multiple deals/demos simultaneously.
What We Offer
- Competitive base salary
- Fully remote work
- Generous time off policy
- Health, dental, and vision insurance
- Opportunities for professional development and career advancement.
- Dynamic, collaborative, and fast-growing work environment.