Pre-Sales Engineer

About Octave Federal
Octave provides mission-critical software that empowers organizations to make informed decisions across every stage of the asset lifecycle - Design, Build, Operate and Protect - where performance, safety, and reliability are non-negotiable and failure is not an option.
Turning complex operational data into actionable intelligence, Octave connects expertise, real-world conditions and enterprise-scale insight to improve performance, resilience and incident response where it matters most.
Octave Federal, the new brand identity for Hexagon US Federal, is an independent subsidiary of Octave exclusively focused on bringing the broad range of Octave technologies to the US Federal government and its partners. With more than 40 years of experience, we empower agencies and industry partners to operate with speed, precision and greater confidence.
Quick Hits
Employees: 150
Operating Locations: Chantilly, VA (HQ); Huntsville, AL; Lanham, MD, and other client sites across the US
Position Overview
Reports To: Director of Sales
The Public Safety Pre-Sales Solutions Engineer is a technical member of the Octave Federal sales organization responsible for helping customers understand, design, and adopt public safety and Digital Stand Off solutions that address complex mission and operational requirements.
Working closely with Account Executives, customers, partners, product teams, and Business Unit colleagues, the Solutions Engineer serves as the technical lead throughout the sales process—from initial discovery and requirements development through solution design, demonstration, technical validation, proposal development, and transition to delivery
The Public Safety Solutions Engineer operates as a shared technical resource across the Octave Federal sales organization, partnering with multiple Account Executives and supporting Inside Sales activities as required. The role requires the ability to prioritize technical resources across multiple customers and opportunities based on business potential, customer requirements, and sales priorities
This role requires a combination of public safety technology expertise, customer-facing communication skills, and an understanding of the unique technical, operational, and mission requirements of the U.S. Federal Government
The successful candidate will be equally comfortable discussing operational requirements with dispatchers, first responders, and mission leaders; architecture and integration with technical teams; and solution capabilities with executive stakeholders
Key Responsibilities:
Customer Discovery and Solution Development
Partner with Account Executives to engage Federal customers and understand their mission, operational, technical, and business requirements
Lead technical discovery sessions and workshops to identify customer challenges, existing architectures, operational workflows, communications environments, data sources, integration requirements, and desired mission outcomes
Translate customer requirements into practical public safety solution architectures incorporating software, cloud services, communications systems, geospatial capabilities, data, integrations, and related technologies as appropriate
Develop solution concepts demonstrating how public safety technologies can improve emergency response, situational awareness, incident management, command and control, dispatch operations, responder safety, information sharing, and operational decision-making
Serve as a trusted technical advisor to customers throughout the evaluation and acquisition process
Technical Sales and Opportunity Support
Provide technical leadership throughout the Federal sales cycle in partnership with Account Executives
Assist Account Executives in developing opportunity strategies by identifying technical requirements, stakeholders, risks, competitive considerations, and differentiators necessary to advance and close opportunities
Develop and deliver technical demonstrations, presentations, workshops, and proofs of concept tailored to specific customer missions and operational use cases
Lead technical evaluations, pilot programs, and proofs of concept designed to validate solution capabilities within customer environments
Support technical responses to RFIs, RFPs, RFQs, Sources Sought notices, and other Federal acquisition activities
Contribute technical content to proposals, statements of work, architecture documents, white papers, presentations, and solution briefs
Participate in customer meetings, industry events, conferences, partner engagements, and technical exchanges as a public safety subject-matter expert
Solution Architecture and Technical Validation
Design public safety solutions spanning dispatch, command and control, communications, mobile, web, cloud, geospatial, and enterprise environments.
Develop architectures integrating public safety technologies with customer communications systems, geospatial platforms, enterprise applications, data sources, sensors, APIs, and mission applications
Evaluate customer environments and recommend appropriate deployment approaches, including cloud, on-premises, hybrid, disconnected, and mission-specific architectures
Understand and communicate considerations associated with availability, resiliency, cybersecurity, interoperability, scalability, data management, system integration, and mission continuity in public safety environments
Maintain familiarity with Federal cloud and security requirements, including FedRAMP, DoD Impact Levels, Zero Trust architectures, and other applicable Federal cybersecurity frameworks
Work with product and engineering teams to address technical questions, product limitations, integration requirements, and emerging customer needs
Demonstrations and Technical Enablement
Develop and maintain reusable demonstrations that showcase Octave public safety capabilities against priority Federal mission scenarios
Configure and integrate software, geospatial data, communications workflows, APIs, and supporting technologies to demonstrate complete end-to-end customer workflows
Develop reusable solution architectures, demonstration environments, technical content, and other assets that can be leveraged across the Federal sales organization rather than relying exclusively on opportunity-specific demonstrations
Support technical enablement of Account Executives and Inside Sales personnel, helping the broader sales organization understand Octave capabilities, identify appropriate use cases, conduct effective discovery, and recognize technically viable opportunities
Public Safety Expertise
Maintain strong working knowledge of modern public safety technologies and operational workflows, including computer-aided dispatch; emergency communications; incident management; command and control; mobile and field operations; situational awareness; location and geospatial intelligence; emergency response; information sharing; and integration across public safety and mission-critical systems
Understand the operational relationship between communications, dispatch, location, personnel, assets, sensors, and other sources of information required to establish a common operating picture and support effective incident response.
Maintain familiarity with interoperability standards, interfaces, and data exchange requirements relevant to public safety and emergency communications environments
Stay current on emerging technologies, competitive capabilities, standards, and industry trends affecting Federal public safety missions
Internal Collaboration
Work closely with Account Executives to develop account strategies, opportunity plans, and technical engagement strategies
Collaborate with product management, engineering, professional services, customer success, marketing, Business Units, and partner organizations to develop complete customer solutions
Provide structured feedback to product teams regarding Federal customer requirements, competitive capabilities, technical gaps, and emerging market needs
Support the development of technical enablement materials for the Federal sales organization and partner ecosystem
Assist in developing repeatable solution offerings and reference architectures for priority Federal public safety mission areas
What we are expecting from you (i.e. the qualifications you must have):
Required Qualifications
7+ years of experience working with public safety technologies, mission-critical software, communications systems, enterprise software, systems integration, or related technical disciplines
5+ years of experience in customer-facing technical roles such as Solutions Engineering, Sales Engineering, Solution Architecture, Technical Consulting, or Professional Services
Experience supporting U.S. Federal Government customers, particularly within the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, Department of Justice, Federal law enforcement, Federal Civilian agencies, or other public safety and emergency-response organizations
Demonstrated experience designing, implementing, or supporting public safety, emergency communications, command-and-control, or other mission

Work arrangement
Yes