Sales Engineer

Overview

You support FiberLight's sales team by designing fiber optic network solutions for enterprise customers, wholesale carriers, WISPs, and data centers. You'll spend most of your time in customer meetings translating technical requirements into network designs, then building proposals and BOMs for deals that range from simple point-to-point circuits to multi-location dark fiber builds.

Role Snapshot

Company Context

Stage: Mature/Private (established telecom infrastructure provider)

Size: 317 employees

Growth: Hiring for SE team suggests steady deal flow, particularly in AI/data center market

Market Position: Regional fiber provider competing against incumbents (AT&T, Lumen, Zayo) and other regional carriers

GTM Reality

Pipeline Sources:

• 40% Outbound - AEs prospecting enterprise IT directors, data center operators, wholesale carriers
• 30% Inbound RFPs - Enterprises and government entities looking for fiber connectivity
• 30% Existing customer expansion - Adding locations, upgrading capacity

SDR/AE Structure: No SDRs in telecom - AEs self-source and handle full cycle

SE Support: You're part of a shared SE team supporting multiple AEs across the region

Competitive Landscape

Main Competitors: AT&T, Lumen (CenturyLink), Zayo, Consolidated Communications, other regional fiber providers

How They Differentiate: Regional network density, custom dark fiber builds, faster install times than national carriers

Common Objections: "We already have AT&T", pricing vs incumbent, questions about network reach/redundancy, long-term viability concerns

Win Themes: Better service/support than national carriers, network diversity for redundancy, competitive pricing on custom builds

What You'll Actually Do

Time Breakdown

Customer Meetings (30%) | Solution Design (25%) | Proposal/BOMs (20%) | Site Surveys/Feasibility (15%) | Internal Coordination (10%)

Key Activities

• Discovery Calls: Join AEs on customer calls to understand network requirements - bandwidth needs, latency requirements, redundancy, specific locations. You're asking about their current setup, pain points with existing provider, future growth plans.
• Network Design: Use internal tools to map fiber routes, check on-net buildings vs near-net requiring construction, design diverse path solutions. Lots of time in GIS systems and internal network databases checking fiber availability.
• Proposals & BOMs: Build detailed proposals with circuit diagrams, equipment specs, install timelines, MRCs/NRCs. Telecom BOMs are detailed - you're spec'ing out everything from fiber type to last-mile equipment to cross-connects.
• Site Surveys: Coordinate with or conduct site surveys for new fiber builds - checking building access, existing infrastructure, construction requirements. Dark fiber deals require extensive feasibility work.
• RFP Responses: Parse through lengthy telecom RFPs (especially from government/education), ensure your solution meets technical specs, coordinate with ops team on feasibility and pricing.
• Vendor Coordination: Work with vendors for last-mile solutions, coordinate with FiberLight's network ops team on capacity and timing, manage equipment procurement for customer-premises equipment.

The Honest Reality

What's Hard

• Long sales cycles with lots of dead time waiting on customer approvals, site access, construction permits. Deals you scoped in Q1 might not close until Q4.
• Network limitations - you'll frequently have to tell AEs "we're not on-net there" or "we need $X construction budget". Managing expectations on what's actually feasible.
• RFPs are time-consuming and low win rate - you might spend 40 hours on a government RFP only to lose on price to an incumbent.
• Construction uncertainty - fiber build timelines slip constantly due to permitting, weather, utility conflicts. You're managing customer expectations on install dates that keep moving.
• Technical breadth required - you need to understand Layer 1-3 networking, fiber optics, wavelengths, IP routing, BGP, data center connectivity standards.

What Success Looks Like

• AEs want you on their deals because your designs are accurate and your proposals win
• You can quickly assess feasibility (on-net vs construction required) and give realistic timelines
• Your BOMs are detailed enough that ops can execute without coming back with questions
• You build relationships with key accounts and become their trusted technical advisor

Who You're Selling To

Primary Buyers:

• IT Directors / Network Managers at enterprise companies (multi-location retail, healthcare, finance)
• Data Center Operators / Colocation Providers needing connectivity options
• Network Engineers at wholesale carriers / WISPs buying capacity
• SLED IT departments (state/local government, universities) issuing RFPs

What They Care About:

• Network reliability and SLAs - they need guaranteed uptime
• Diverse path options for redundancy (can't have single points of failure)
• Install timeline - how long until they can cut over from current provider
• Total cost of ownership - comparing MRC/NRC against incumbent
• Support responsiveness - burned by national carriers with poor service

Requirements

• 3-5+ years in telecom technical sales or network engineering
• Strong understanding of fiber optics, carrier ethernet, wavelengths, IP networking
• Experience with network design tools, reading fiber maps, understanding telecom infrastructure
• Ability to read and respond to technical RFPs
• Comfortable presenting technical solutions to IT directors and C-level
• Local to Dallas/Plano area - this role requires customer site visits and internal collaboration
• Some willingness to travel for site surveys and customer meetings (mostly regional)