Presales France

For over 20 years, Ekinops has been driving innovation in network systems. We provide solutions focused on the needs of communication service providers and enterprises worldwide.

We provide open, trusted, and innovative network connectivity and enable our customers' success by delivering high value-added software-driven solutions. Today, over 120 international service providers, including numerous Tier 1 carriers around the world, trust our people and technologies.

Over 50% of our 600+ strong team works in our multi-national Agile R&D centers. Our company has a strong international background, with sales offices strategically located around the world.

Ekinops is also recognized for its ESG commitments with its rating in the EthiFinance ESG Ratings report and its Gold Medal awarded by EcoVadis.

Job description:

Support sales development activities in close cooperation with Account Managers. Deliver pre-sales technical expertise and guidance throughout customer engagements, while representing customer requirements internally and ensuring technical alignment between customers, sales teams, Product Management and Engineering.

The role focuses on IP networking and security solutions, including SD-WAN, SASE, SSE, ZTNA and cybersecurity-related architectures.

Context:

• Collaboration within a multicultural and multi-site organization across Europe.
• Broad portfolio of networking, smart connectivity and cybersecurity solutions.
• Fast-evolving technology landscape requiring continuous learning and adaptation.
• Growing enterprise demand for secure digital transformation, cloud adoption and Zero Trust architectures.
• Increasing convergence of networking and security through SD-WAN, SASE, SSE and ZTNA solutions.
• Close interaction with Sales, Product Management, Engineering and Customer Support teams.
• Customer environments ranging from large enterprises and service providers to managed service providers.
• Strong focus on customer business outcomes, solution differentiation and technical value creation.
• Regular engagement with customer network, cloud and cybersecurity teams to address business and technical challenges.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Build in-depth knowledge of customers' technical environments, architectures, service models and operational processes.
• Develop trusted relationships with customer engineering, architecture, operations and security teams.
• Provide technical expertise on Ekinops networking and security solutions.
• Design and present compelling solutions addressing customer business and technical requirements.
• Lead technical discovery workshops and solution design sessions.
• Prepare and deliver winning technical responses to RFIs, RFPs and tenders.
• Identify the appropriate hardware, software and cloud-based architectures to meet customer needs.
• Lead Proof of Concept (PoC) projects, demonstrations and technical validations.
• Support sales teams during customer meetings, presentations and negotiations.
• Act as the technical liaison between customers and internal Product Management, Engineering and CTO teams.
• Provide feedback on market trends, competitive positioning and emerging customer requirements.
• Promote best practices around cybersecurity, network resiliency and secure access architectures.

Skills and Profile:

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Telecommunications, Computer Science, Engineering or equivalent experience.
• Minimum 5 years of technical experience in telecommunications, networking or cybersecurity.
• Previous experience in a Pre-Sales Engineer, Solution Architect or Technical Consultant role is highly desirable.

Technical Skills

Networking

• Strong telecom and IP networking background.
• Routing and switching technologies.
• Routing protocols (BGP, OSPF).
• QoS, MPLS, IPsec VPNs, tunneling and encryption technologies, and network services.
• WAN and enterprise networking architectures.
• Understanding of secure network design and encrypted communications.

Security & Cybersecurity

• Strong cybersecurity knowledge and understanding of security frameworks and best practices.
• Knowledge of Zero Trust security principles.
• Experience with ZTNA (Zero Trust Network Access) solutions.
• Knowledge of encryption technologies and secure communications protocols.
• Network security technologies including:
  • Firewalls
  • Secure Web Gateway (SWG)
  • CASB
  • ZTNA
  • Secure Remote Access solutions
  • IPsec VPN technologies
• Understanding of cloud security principles and secure network architectures.

SD-WAN / SASE / SSE

• Proven experience with SD-WAN solutions.
• Good understanding of SASE (Secure Access Service Edge) architectures.
• Good understanding of SSE (Security Service Edge) technologies.
• Experience with ZTNA-based access architectures and Zero Trust frameworks.
• Ability to position and design secure connectivity solutions integrating networking and security services.

Additional Knowledge

• Virtualization and cloud technologies and containers
• Experience in managed services environments is a plus.

Key Competencies

• Enterprise Networking
• Cybersecurity
• SD-WAN
• SASE
• SSE
• ZTNA
• Zero Trust Architectures
• Routing & Switching
• BGP / OSPF
• MPLS & IP VPN
• IPsec
• Encryption Technologies
• Cloud Networking
• Network Security
• VoIP & UC Solutions

Behavioral Competencies

• Strong customer-facing and presentation skills.
• Ability to translate technical concepts into business value.
• Strong ownership mindset and results-oriented approach.
• Excellent problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work effectively in cross-functional teams.
• Strong written communication and proposal-writing skills.
• Entrepreneurial mindset with strong business development capabilities.
• Self-learning attitude and passion for technology.
• Ability to build relationships at both technical and executive levels.

Languages

• French: Fluent.
• English: Fluent.
• Travel
• Willingness to travel up to 30% depending on business requirements.

Recruitment process:

At Ekinops, we believe diversity makes us stronger! We hire talents based on skills, experience, and potential-nothing else. No matter your age, gender, background, or abilities, what matters to us is what you bring to the team. Join us and thrive in an inclusive, open-minded workplace where everyone has a voice!

3 interviews:

1st with the Talent Acquisition Manager

2nd with the Sales Director France

3rd with the Presales Director