Optical Sales Engineer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

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IC Portsmouth, NH, US

6 days ago Requisition ID: 1790

Salary Range: $85,000.00 To $110,000.00 Annually

New England | Upstate New York | Pennsylvania

FirstLight is seeking a Sales Engineer to support our Enterprise sales teams across New England, Upstate New York, and Pennsylvania. This role sits at the intersection of network infrastructure and cybersecurity, working across FirstLight's owned fiber network — Dark Fiber, Wavelength, Ethernet, SD-WAN — and our managed security services, including Managed Detection & Response (MDR), SOC-as-a-Service, XDR, and SIEM. We are looking for a technically versatile Sales Engineer who can design and position solutions across both domains, and who is looking to build long‑term expertise at the convergence of network and security.

• Work across two of the fastest-growing corners of enterprise tech: network transport (Dark Fiber, Wavelength, Ethernet, DIA) and cybersecurity (MDR, XDR, SIEM, SASE/SSE) — building fluency that's genuinely rare in the market.
• Sit at the table for deals with hospitals, banks, universities, and state and local governments across a six-state footprint — real infrastructure, real stakes, real impact.
• Join a technical team that's small enough for your work to be visible and large enough to back you with real engineering resources.
• Room to specialize or go broad — whether you gravitate toward security architecture, SD-WAN design, or large-scale transport, there's a path to go deep.

FirstLight owns and operates one of the largest fiber-optic networks in the Northeast — more than 25,000 route miles connecting over 13,000 locations across Upstate New York, New England, and Pennsylvania, with 125,000+ locations serviceable. We deliver Dedicated Internet Access, Ethernet, Dark Fiber, Wavelength, SD-WAN, Data Center Colocation, and managed security services, including Managed Detection & Response (MDR), SOC-as-a-Service, XDR, and SIEM. Our customers span high-tech manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, higher education, and state and local government.

• Serve as the primary technical resource for the sales team — designing, pricing, and positioning network and security solutions from a single dark-fiber circuit to a multi-site SD-WAN/SASE rollout to a full MDR/XDR engagement.
• Translate customer requirements into solutions that blend FirstLight's transport network with FirstLight's managed security services, building the technical narrative and business case behind each deal.
• Lead technical evaluations and proof-of-concepts, working directly with prospects' IT, network, and security teams.
• Respond to the technical sections of RFIs/RFPs, including security questionnaires, compliance requirements, and architecture diagrams.
• Present to a range of audiences — from network engineers to CISOs to C-suite decision-makers — and adapt the pitch accordingly.
• Represent FirstLight's network and security solutions at industry events, conferences, and customer briefings.
• Act as the connective tissue between sales, engineering, and operations through design, build, and installation.
• Travel within your assigned territory as needed.

• 3-7 years of experience in sales engineering, network engineering, or security engineering — service provider, MSP/MSSP, or vendor background all welcome.
• Working knowledge of at least one of: SD-WAN/SASE (Cato, Fortinet, Palo Alto, Zscaler, Cisco), or security operations (MDR, XDR, SIEM, SOC).
• Comfort learning the other side — this role is built for people who want to grow their range across network and security, not stay in one lane.
• Strong presentation and writing skills — you can hold your own with a CISO and a network engineer in the same day.
• A self‑starter mentality and the organizational chops to juggle multiple active opportunities.
• Relevant certifications (e.g., CCNA/CCNP, Security+, CISSP, SASE/SD-WAN vendor certs) are a strong plus, not a requirement — we will invest in getting you there.

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent hands‑on experience in networking, security, or telecommunications.
• Experience with mapping/GIS tools (Google Earth, MapInfo, QGIS) is a plus, not a requirement.

FirstLight Fiber is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants and employees are treated equally with respect to employment opportunities, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status, or veteran disability, in accordance with state and federal law.