VP Solutions (m/f/d) in Austin, TX or remote US

Mission

Drive global revenue growth by leading a pre-sales organization that translates client business challenges into strategic value propositions - institutionalizing the framework for securing the technical win and accelerating deal velocity through both solution engineering and deep industry expertise.

Role Overview

As VP Solutions, you lead and scale our international pre-sales organization - encompassing Solution Engineers (SEs) and Industry Experts - to accelerate the sales cycle and maximize deal conversion. Reporting to the Executive VP of Revenue, you align closely with Sales, Product, and Marketing to refine go-to-market execution and position the platform as the premier solution for enterprise transformation.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a world-class global team of Solution Engineers responsible for technical discovery, demonstrations, POC execution, and RFP/RFI responses.

• Standardize global POC execution and demo excellence to maximize win rates and shorten time-to-close.

• Define SE engagement models, coverage ratios, and capacity planning across enterprise, mid-market, and strategic segments.

• Lead a team of Industry Experts (vertical SMEs) across key industries (e.g., Financial Services, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Retail) and embed them in high-value pursuits to elevate credibility and tailor solution narratives.

• Build horizontal/vertical solution frameworks, use case libraries, and ROI models; stay ahead of industry trends and regulatory shifts.

• Align pre-sales strategy with global sales and marketing objectives to accelerate pipeline velocity and deal progression.

• Elevate the commercial impact of demos by shifting the narrative from product features to business value and ROI.

• Direct the strategic approach for overcoming enterprise-level technical, security, and compliance objections in high-stakes sales cycles.

• Own pre-sales pipeline contribution metrics including influenced ARR, win rate, POC conversion, and deal acceleration.

• Partner with Marketing on thought leadership, case studies, business assets, and competitive battlecards.

• Channel field insights and competitive gaps into the product roadmap with Product and Engineering.

• Collaborate with the Senior VP Client Delivery to align pre-sales commitments with delivery capabilities and avoid scope misalignment.

• Mentor and scale a high-performing, commercially minded solutions team tailored to global enterprise accounts.

• Build clear career tracks and competency frameworks for both technical (SE) and domain (industry expert) paths.

• Deliver onboarding, continuous education, and certification programs to keep the team sharp on product and industry knowledge.

• Track pre-sales performance metrics including SE coverage, POC win rates, time-to-technical-win, and field feedback loop velocity.

• Oversee tools and assets used by the pre-sales team (demo environments, sandbox infrastructure, asset libraries, RFP tools).

• Establish governance around POC scope, resource allocation, and escalation paths.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in Solutions Engineering, Technical Sales, or Pre-Sales Management within enterprise software, with 5+ years in a senior leadership position (Director or above).

• Proven track record building and scaling international pre-sales organizations - including both SEs and Industry Experts - in a high-growth Enterprise SaaS environment.

• Demonstrated success improving win rates, deal velocity, and conversion funnels through structured pre-sales programs and tight partnership with Sales and Marketing.

• Background engaging with C-suite buyers in complex, multi-stakeholder enterprise environments.

• Deep technical fluency in SaaS platforms, APIs, integrations, and cloud architecture - sufficient to credibly lead an SE team.

• Strong business acumen with the ability to translate complex technology into compelling commercial strategies; strategic grasp of how enterprise security, compliance, and governance shape the software procurement lifecycle.

• Exceptional presentation, storytelling, and executive communication skills; strong analytical capabilities to measure and improve team performance.

• Bachelor's degree in a technical or business discipline required; MBA or advanced technical degree preferred.

Leveling

This is a senior executive leadership position reporting directly to the Executive VP of Revenue.

What Success Looks Like

• Increase the global conversion rate from initial solution demonstrations to fully qualified sales opportunities.

• Maximize the overall proof-of-concept win rate across all target enterprise segments.

• Establish a scalable framework of business-centric sales assets that reduce friction in the enterprise sales cycle.

• Deepen cross-functional alignment with Sales and Marketing, resulting in highly targeted and effective go-to-market campaigns.

• Optimize the efficiency of the pre-sales lifecycle to support aggressive international revenue goals.

What we offer

• Impact & Innovation: Shape the future of data science and AI within an organization that values technical excellence and open-source roots.

• A High-Growth Environment:  Lead a critical function during a key scaling phase of the company with significant strategic influence.

• Flexibility:  Flexible working hours and a setup that supports collaboration across time zones.

• Comprehensive Support: Benefits designed to support your well-being and professional growth, both in and beyond the workplace.

• Global Culture:  Join a diverse, international team of 30+ nationalities that values transparency, low-ego collaboration, and "quiet excellence."

About us

KNIME is a leading AI platform that enables organisations to make sense of their data through intuitive, scalable, and collaborative data science. We empower data professionals and business users alike to build, deploy, and manage AI and data workflows that drive better decisions. Hundreds of global enterprises use the KNIME platform including Citi, Bosch and P&G.

 
KNIME is an equal opportunity employer. We’re all about providing opportunities for different perspectives to come together, where everyone feels included no matter their background.