Senior Field Sales Engineer, Optics

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Connecticut.

📋 Description

• Collaborate with sales teams to identify and finalize opportunities in the data center, cloud, and enterprise sectors.

• Oversee technical responses to RFPs/RFQs and conduct executive briefings.

• Strategically position Legrand's optical solutions in the market.

• Create physical-layer solutions involving optical transceivers, structured fiber, and interconnects tailored for enterprise data centers and AI/GPU architectures.

• Convert customer specifications into suggested part numbers, bills of materials, connectivity diagrams, and suitable optics/cable combinations.

• Advise client engineers on topology design, reach, fiber infrastructure, breakout configurations, and interoperability aspects.

• Conduct hands-on proof-of-concept evaluations, multi-vendor compatibility assessments, and optical troubleshooting.

• Establish test plans, define success criteria, assign responsibilities, and set timelines; manage sampling and customer testing; document outcomes and unresolved issues.

• Collaborate with sales to progress successful evaluations towards deployment and purchase orders.

• Manage technical issues until resolution, providing updates to customers and sales, and maintaining case records.

• Maintain accountability for customer and sales follow-up until technical issues are resolved.

• Act as a reliable technical advisor to engineering leaders and network architects.

• Work with account managers throughout the sales process to enhance Legrand's footprint in strategic accounts.

• Clarify Approved Networks interoperability, qualification methods, reliability, warranty coverage, and commercial advantages.

• Serve as a liaison between field deployments and Legrand's Product Management and Engineering teams.

• Identify product and compatibility gaps, relay customer needs and revenue opportunities, and facilitate qualification requests.

• Monitor trends in optical networking, including 800G, emerging 1.6T requirements, CMIS, and coherent pluggables.

• Develop technical documentation, application notes, connectivity diagrams, and training materials for partners and sales teams.

⛳️ Requirements

• A Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience.

• Generally, 8+ years of experience in sales engineering, systems engineering, network engineering, or optical networking.

• Typically, 5+ years of experience supporting optical transceivers or high-speed networking solutions.

• Excellent customer-facing and presentation abilities.

• Proven track record of influencing technical buying decisions and driving revenue growth.

• Demonstrated examples of customer solution designs, successful evaluations, and resolution of intricate technical challenges.

• Willingness to travel domestically, primarily within the western U.S., with occasional travel outside the region.

• Travel expectation: 50%.

• Strong practical experience with optical transceivers and Ethernet interconnects, including SFP, QSFP, QSFP-DD, OSFP, single mode/multimode fiber, and DAC/AOC/AEC options.

• Ability to diagnose transceiver issues, manage optical power budgets, understand connector types, fiber polarity, breakout configurations, FEC/BER results, and switch firmware compatibility.

• Solid understanding of enterprise and data center Ethernet networks, leaf-spine architectures, Layer 2/3 principles, and physical-layer testing.

• Capability to convert application and network requirements into effective connectivity designs.

• Preferred experience with 400G/800G deployments, AI/GPU cluster networking, InfiniBand, coherent ZR/ZR+ optics, SFF/CMIS standards, structured cabling standards, or emerging 1.6T requirements.

• Familiarity with platforms from Cisco, Arista, Juniper, NVIDIA, Dell, Nokia, Ciena, or HPE is advantageous.

• Relevant certifications such as Cisco CCNA/CCNP, Juniper JNCIA/JNCIS, Arista ACE, CompTIA Network+, or CONA/CONE are beneficial.

🏝️ Benefits

• Extensive medical, dental, and vision coverage.

• Generous employer 401K matching.

• Paid time off (PTO).

• Holiday compensation.

• Short-term and long-term disability benefit programs.

• Above-average paid maternity and parental leave.

• Bonus potential in line with the Company's incentive programs.

• Paid time off for volunteering.

• Access to an Employee Resource Group network.