Sales / Pre-Sales Engineer - Data Platform

About the platform

At FormativGroup we are building a perimeter-safe data lineage and migration impact-analysis platform for regulated enterprises, banks, insurers, healthcare, and government running complex, legacy-laden data estates. We map exactly what breaks before a migration touches it and deliver it alongside our services team. This is an early-stage, working product becoming a standalone business.

What you'll work on

You are the technical engine of every deal. You run discovery, lead the platform assessment, demo the product, and own the proof-of-concept (POC). You translate a customer's migration risk into a concrete blast-radius map, handle technical objections, scope the work, and hand off cleanly to delivery.

• Run technical discovery with data and platform leaders at regulated enterprises.
• Lead the platform assessment: map the estate, score complexity, show the migration blast radius.
• Own demos and POCs end to end; the SE-run POC is the primary proof in the sales cycle.
• Handle technical objections (perimeter/security, cross-platform lineage, build-vs-buy) with credibility.
• Scope engagements and hand off to delivery; stay close through landing.
• Feed field learnings back into product priorities.

What you'll bring

• 3+ years technical pre-sales / solutions engineering experience, ideally selling data or platform software into enterprise or regulated buyers.
• 5+ years fluency across modern and legacy data stacks: ETL/ELT (Talend, Informatica, DataStage), warehouses and lakehouses (Snowflake, Databricks, Teradata), dbt, BI, lineage, and governance.
• Ability to run a POC that earns trust on the customer's real problem.
• Comfort presenting to technical teams and senior business stakeholders.
• Clear, structured communication.

How you've worked

• Experience operating in a startup or 0-1 environment, building motion, function, or product from scratch.
• Comfort with ambiguity and defining the path forward with incomplete information.
• Strongly preferred: experience selling into regulated industries such as financial services, insurance, or healthcare.

AI fluency (required)

• Proficient with AI tools and fluent in using AI to enhance productivity and output.
• AI-first approach to accelerate discovery, preparation, analysis, demos, and POCs.
• Ability to demonstrate real examples of AI use and results.

Nice to have

• Background in data migration or modernization projects.
• Familiarity with regulatory drivers (BCBS 239, DORA, EU AI Act) and perimeter/sovereignty constraints.
• Hands-on experience with cloud deployment (Azure, AWS) in customer-controlled environments.

Compensation and Benefits

Estimated compensation range: $150,000—$185,000 USD.

In addition to base pay, employees may be eligible for discretionary bonuses, commissions, or other incentive programs, as well as a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, 401(k), and paid time off.

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. without sponsorship. Candidates must reside in one of the following U.S. states: AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, MA, MD, MI, MN, MO, NC, NH, NJ, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, TN, TX, VA, WI, and Washington DC.