Customer Solutions Engineer

Overview of the Team

The IPC Sales Engineering team bridges customer needs and IPC technology, providing solution design, technical credibility, and risk mitigation to ensure successful sales outcomes and long-term customer success, supported by a globally distributed team that delivers consistent expertise, regional insight, and exceptional coverage across all major financial markets.

Role Overview:

A Pre-Sales Engineer (SE) at IPC Systems acts as the technical authority and trusted advisor throughout the sales lifecycle. The SE translates customer business and operational requirements into resilient, compliant, and supportable IPC solutions, while enabling the Sales Team to win business without introducing delivery or operational risk. The SE is accountable for solution correctness, technical credibility, and design integrity, not commercial pricing or managed services commercial structuring.

This role, based in Japan, with clients located throughout Japan, Korea and Australia.

The role includes:

• Direct Client activities - delivering presentations, design workshops, responding to RFPs and preparing solutions proposals and bids as well as an on-going life cycle account support.
• External 3rd party / Partner interaction – working within the eco system in co-operation with 3rd party consultancies and other vendors and service providers.
• Bid support – RFI, RFP response preparation and complex solution proposals • Indirect support to distribution and regional offices to ensure that product and corporate messaging is accurate and on point.
• Working with product management, marketing, and other internal IPC functions to ensure a quality life cycle support to existing Clients and a constructive input and competitive market feedback aimed at new product and service specification and campaigns.
• Work with Account Manager to drive closure of business.

We seek a candidate with pre-sales or systems engineering experience in financial markets or telecoms, strong technical and commercial skills, and excellent communication. The role is based in Tokyo, with some travel. Proven presentation and customer-facing abilities, respect from clients and colleagues, and ability to work under pressure are required.

How You Will Make an Impact:

• To discover, understand and define customer requirements
• To position the benefits of IPC solution in the context of the target environment
• To respond to a broad range of technical solutions questions in English & Japanese
• To design customized solutions that may range from optimization of standard product configurations to complex design projects involving integration of 3rd party products.
• To prepare, host and deliver tailored Customer presentations and demonstrations
• Products, solutions, and services – benefits, feature, technical details, and designs
• Technology direction and roadmap
• Integration and Compliance solutions
• To generate responses to RFP questions as part of a bid team that are:
• Technically accurate, credible and in context
• Professionally written, concise and easily understood, with clear, high-quality graphics
• Geared to promote IPC’s strengths
• Delivered to agreed schedules.
• To provide a conduit between Clients Sales executives, Sales Support and IPC Product Management for product enhancements and other requirements.
• To provide Product and Solution education for internal groups, including Sales teams, new hires, Finance, Executive Management, and others

Essential Skills and Experience to be Successful in this Role:

Typically requires 5 – 8 years relevant work experience as a Sales Engineer.

• Financial Markets Services Provider experience is a major plus.
• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field meeting minimum transcript requirements or equivalent experience.
• Languages: Japanese, English obligatory, other Asian languages, especially Korean may be beneficial

Technologies:

Knowledge of one or more of the following technology areas is important for the successful candidate:

• IP, UC infrastructure, VOIP, SIP, SOA (Service Oriented Architecture), Web Services
• Cloud Technologies/deployments Azure, AWS (Amazon Web Services), Google
• AI (Artificial Intelligence) – Automation/Analysis/Bots integration
• SBC (Session Border Controller), Deployments
• Knowledge of virtualization and containerization Microservices/Kubernetes/Docker
• KVM (Kernel based Virtual Machine), VM (virtual machines) and other virtual environments
• Security – including aspects of network security, certificates, encryption, authentication, firewalls
• Windows, Active Directory, Microsoft 365, MS Teams, Red Hat Linux, and other environments
• LAN and WAN Network Design
• Voice Recording and archiving
• Application Integration knowledge using various industry standards OpenFin, FDC3, Rest based API´s, XML, SOAP, and others including the value they bring to workflow optimization

Core Responsibilities:

Customer Discovery & Technical Qualification

• Engage customers to understand: Business workflows (e.g., trading, operations, risk)
• Technical environment (network, voice, cloud, security)
• Regulatory and compliance constraints
• Ask structured, outcome-oriented questions to uncover:
• Operational pain points
• Availability, resiliency, and latency requirements
• Validate technical feasibility early to prevent downstream risk

Solution Architecture & Design

• Design end-to-end IPC solutions including:
• IPC One TradeDesk
• Voice, turret, and collaboration services
• Network connectivity and resiliency
• Produce:
• High-level and detailed architecture diagrams
• Redundancy, failover, and DR designs
• Ensure designs are:
• Technically sound
• Scalable
• Aligned with IPC standards and reference architectures

Product Demonstrations & Storytelling

• Deliver compelling, customer-relevant product demonstrations
• Use product-led storytelling rather than feature walkthroughs
• Tailor demos to:
• Customer workflows
• Specific use cases
• Industry pressures (latency, resiliency, compliance)
• Position IPC as an enabler of customer outcomes, not just a technology provider

Technical Validation & Risk Management

• Identify and mitigate:
• Design risks
• Integration challenges
• Customer environment constraints
• Ensure proposed solutions can be: Implemented, Supported, Operated long term
• Raise concerns early and clearly when requirements conflict with technical realities

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with:
• Sales (account strategy, deal support)
• Professional Services (delivery feasibility)
• Managed Services (operational alignment)
• Product & Engineering (capability alignment)
• Clearly define handoffs:
• SE owns solution design
• Managed Services owns service scope and operational model
• Delivery teams own implementation execution

RFP, RFI & Customer Assurance Support

• Lead technical responses for:
• RFIs
• RFPs
• Customer Assurance and resiliency questions
• Articulate IPC’s:
• Architecture
• Operational model
• Resilience and security posture
• Ensure accuracy, consistency, and credibility in all customer-facing technical documentation

Sales Enablement & Deal Support

• Support Sales by:
• Translating technical value into customer impact
• Helping position IPC competitively
• Participate in:
• Customer workshops
• Technical deep dives
• Executive briefings when required
• Maintain technical integrity even under commercial pressure

Knowledge & Expertise Development

• Maintain deep knowledge of:
• IPC products and platforms
• Financial market workflows
• Industry trends and regulatory expectations
• Stay current with:
• New product releases
• Architecture standards
• Competitive landscape

At IPC, your compensation is only part of the package. We are committed to investing in a range of programs and initiatives to improve the overall experience of our employees.