Solutions Engineer, K12

Job Summary: 

You have a dream. That dream is to travel, meet interesting people, garner applause, and not bore anyone when you talk about your job. You want to be respected for your Ed Tech know-how, and admired for your contagious passion and presentation skills. You are charming and easy going, humorous and articulate, keen and hard-working. You can patiently help your elderly relative figure out his phone, and speak to an IT professional about their plans to integrate systems.  

You are our Solutions Engineer. You will be part of a team of gifted technical communicators and problem solvers. Your job is to dive in and understand our clients and prospects' business and needs, and to identify how our tools and products can be used to make their lives easier and their workflows smarter. You will work with your sales reps to get close to our clients and prospects and develop relationships with their staff. You will pore over large RFPs - identifying gaps and opportunities. You will breeze through complex product demonstrations with barely a sweat or a stammer. 

At a high level, you will: 

• Develop and deliver custom demos and presentations that are simple and engaging, leaving your audience eager to use Brightspace 
• Support the sales process by acting as expert in D2L products and services, including functionality, usage, architecture, and deployment 
• Assist Sales in qualifying opportunities and planning client engagement and win strategy 
• Align client’s needs, goals, and objectives to D2L solutions; develop proposals and help to write RFP responses 
• Actively drive and manage prospective clients’ technology evaluation, using your knowledge of the business environment, competitive landscape, and Brightspace differentiators 
• Provide support to Sales Executives in closing deals and exceeding revenue objectives in an assigned territory 
• Transition accounts and communicate business requirements to implementation teams 

How will you make an impact:

• Become a hands-on expert in Brightspace products. You won’t just need theoretical knowledge of how things work, but you will be expected to try things out and make sure they work in practice. You will need to get creative and sometimes approach and re-approach a solution until you find the right fit 
• Prepare and present persuasive and expertly tailored product demonstrations before a wide variety of audiences and under challenging circumstances. Audiences could be new or seasoned users, executives at a conference table or faculty and teaching and support staff piled into stadium seating. Needs could be vague or extremely unique, and timelines to prepare can vary. 
• Read through incoming Requests for Proposal (RFPs) for your reps and identify gaps and what products and services are required. Then you will work closely with our RFP Proposal Managers to write clear, accurate and succinct answers for RFP responses on deadlines. 
• Conduct needs analysis sessions with prospects to understand their infrastructure, needs, and customizations that they require. 
• Provide feedback to product management teams regarding use cases and trends in the field. 
• Create technical documentation and materials as required for your prospects. 
• Be the conduit through which internal SMEs are contacted and engaged into sales opportunities. 
• Attend sales presentations, meetings, and conferences as required (travel expected 20-50%) 

What you'll bring to the role: 

• 2-5+ years of experience using ed tech in a K-12 setting (e.g. Educator or LMS Administrator) 
  • While this role may be expected to mainly support K12 education, the ideal candidate should be comfortable serving as an SE in both an Higher Education and K-12 setting
  • Passion and interest in K-12 education and educational technology
• Knowledge and experience with learning management systems and other educational technology; previous experience with Brightspace would be a strong asset  
• Understanding of the technology ecosystem that surrounds an LMS and the types of responsibilities and concerns users have that run those systems 
• Strong drive to achieve results 
• Organization and analytical skills and flexibility to handle a variety of incoming requests from complex solutioning to 'grunt work'
• Demonstrated ability to understand complex business challenges and apply creativity and problem-solving to meet client needs 
• Excellent presentation skills with the ability to speak with confidence to a variety of audiences, effectively articulating technical concepts in a meaningful way in an ‘expert’ capacity 
• Highly engaging communication skills, both in person and virtually
• Excellent writing and comprehension skills. Previous experience crafting RFP responses is an asset 
• Experience in working with remote teams and communicating via instant messaging, online forums, and through email
• Comfortable with last minute requirements to travel along with the ability to travel freely between Canada and the USA without restriction