Job description

ROLE At Variance, we are teaching machines to make the hardest judgment calls at scale. That means building AI agents for the high-stakes gray area of risk investigations, fraud, and identity reviews. We’re a small, talent-dense team in San Francisco, with former founders and talent from top AI labs. Our customers include Fortune 500s, global marketplaces, and regulated financial institutions. Winning in this market requires more than strong product and engineering, it requires earning trust with sophisticated buyers, navigating complex technical environments, and showing clearly how Variance fits into mission-critical workflows. We’re looking for an Enterprise Sales Engineer to lead the technical side of our enterprise sales motion. You’ll partner closely with account executives, founders, and prospects to understand customer workflows, run technical discovery, build compelling demos, and prove how Variance can deliver value in high-stakes environments. This is a pre-sales role for someone who is deeply technical, highly customer-facing, and excited to help large enterprises adopt AI systems they can trust. This is an in-person position. Our office is located in San Francisco, CA. WHAT WILL YOUR DAY-TO-DAY LOOK LIKE - Lead technical discovery with enterprise prospects to understand workflows, systems, constraints, and success criteria - Design and deliver tailored product demos that map Variance to real customer pain points in fraud, risk, and identity operations - Build proof-of-concepts and pilot environments that show how Variance performs in customer-specific use cases - Partner with account executives to move complex deals forward by addressing technical objections and reducing implementation risk - Act as the primary technical counterpart during the pre-sales process for buyers, architects, security teams, and operational stakeholders - Answer product, architecture, integration, data flow, and security questions with clarity and confidence - Work cross-functionally with product and engineering to translate prospect feedback into roadmap insights and product improvements - Help standardize the technical sales motion by improving demo assets, solution narratives, technical collateral, and repeatable playbooks REQUIREMENTS - 5+ years of experience in Sales Engineering, Solutions Engineering, Solutions Architecture, or a similar pre-sales technical role - 3+ years of experience supporting enterprise software sales cycles with large customers, ideally including Fortune 500s, regulated companies, or complex multi-stakeholder deals - Proven experience leading technical discovery, demo design, proof-of-concepts, and pilot execution for enterprise accounts - Strong experience explaining APIs, integrations, architecture, security, and data flows to technical and non-technical stakeholders - Experience supporting sales processes that involve security reviews, architecture reviews, or procurement diligence - Strong coding ability, with proficiency in Python, Java, TypeScript, or a similar language, and enough technical depth to build lightweight prototypes, integrations, or demo environments - Strong understanding of LLMs, GenAI, and agentic workflows, including the ability to communicate both capabilities and limitations credibly - Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with strong executive presence and the ability to build trust quickly - Highly self-directed and comfortable operating in ambiguity in a fast-moving startup environment STRONGLY PREFERRED - Experience selling or supporting technical products in fraud, risk, identity, compliance, or financial services - Experience with enterprise SaaS, workflow software, or AI platforms sold into operational teams - Familiarity with common enterprise concerns around security, privacy, governance, and deployment - Experience building demo environments or solutions using APIs, data pipelines, or workflow automation - Experience working with buyers in regulated industries such as fintech, banking, payments, marketplaces, or insurance WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE - Prospects leave technical conversations with a clear understanding of how Variance fits into their environment and workflows - Demos and pilots are sharp, credible, and directly tied to customer pain - Technical objections are addressed quickly and effectively, helping complex deals move forward - Enterprise buyers trust Variance not just as a product, but as a technical partner - Insights from the field improve the product, sharpen the sales motion, and increase win rates WHAT WE OFFER - Health care: we offer platinum-level medical, dental, and vision insurance - Unlimited PTO, sick leave, and parental leave - Up to $100 in reimbursement for personal health and wellness expenses each month - Free lunch and dinner - 401(k) plan

Requirements

Must-haves

At Variance, we are teaching machines to make the hardest judgment calls at scale. That means building AI agents for the high-stakes gray area of risk investigations, fraud, and identity reviews.
This is an in-person position. Our office is located in San Francisco, CA.
Lead technical discovery with enterprise prospects to understand workflows, systems, constraints, and success criteria
Design and deliver tailored product demos that map Variance to real customer pain points in fraud, risk, and identity operations
Build proof-of-concepts and pilot environments that show how Variance performs in customer-specific use cases
Partner with account executives to move complex deals forward by addressing technical objections and reducing implementation risk
Act as the primary technical counterpart during the pre-sales process for buyers, architects, security teams, and operational stakeholders
Answer product, architecture, integration, data flow, and security questions with clarity and confidence
Work cross-functionally with product and engineering to translate prospect feedback into roadmap insights and product improvements
Help standardize the technical sales motion by improving demo assets, solution narratives, technical collateral, and repeatable playbooks
5+ years of experience in Sales Engineering, Solutions Engineering, Solutions Architecture, or a similar pre-sales technical role
3+ years of experience supporting enterprise software sales cycles with large customers, ideally including Fortune 500s, regulated companies, or complex multi-stakeholder deals
Proven experience leading technical discovery, demo design, proof-of-concepts, and pilot execution for enterprise accounts
Strong experience explaining APIs, integrations, architecture, security, and data flows to technical and non-technical stakeholders
Experience supporting sales processes that involve security reviews, architecture reviews, or procurement diligence
Strong coding ability, with proficiency in Python, Java, TypeScript, or a similar language, and enough technical depth to build lightweight prototypes, integrations, or demo environments
Strong understanding of LLMs, GenAI, and agentic workflows, including the ability to communicate both capabilities and limitations credibly
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with strong executive presence and the ability to build trust quickly
Highly self-directed and comfortable operating in ambiguity in a fast-moving startup environment
Experience selling or supporting technical products in fraud, risk, identity, compliance, or financial services
Experience with enterprise SaaS, workflow software, or AI platforms sold into operational teams
Familiarity with common enterprise concerns around security, privacy, governance, and deployment
Experience building demo environments or solutions using APIs, data pipelines, or workflow automation
Experience working with buyers in regulated industries such as fintech, banking, payments, marketplaces, or insurance

Nice-to-haves

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Benefits

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Dental

Vision

401(K)

Pto

Parental Leave

Wellness