How to hire a sales engineer lead

How to hire a sales engineer lead, step by step

Here's a step-by-step sales engineer lead hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a sales engineer lead job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new sales engineer lead
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a sales engineer lead, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A sales engineer lead's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, sales engineers lead from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   Here's a comparison of sales engineer lead salaries for various roles:

   Type of Sales Engineer Lead	Description	Hourly rate
   Sales Engineer Lead	Sales engineers sell complex scientific and technological products or services to businesses. They must have extensive knowledge of the products’ parts and functions and must understand the scientific processes that make these products work.	$42-77
   Field Applications Engineer	The field applications engineer works with regional sales managers, company customers, and manufacturer's representatives to design and manage technical methods for quality control to ensure compliance with the ISO laboratory accreditation. They are technically expert and knowledgeable about sales techniques to boost sales and to develop new organizational objectives by maintaining their relationship with the consultants, inspectors, subcontractors, and potential clients regularly... Show more	$38-68
   Technical Marketing Engineer	The technical marketing engineer works alongside the marketing department to develop, test, and analyze product development plans. The technical marketing engineer also checks and monitors product performance and suggests possible solutions and upgrades... Show more	$41-75

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Pre Sales
   • Sales Process
   • ROI
   • Network Design
   • Customer Support
   • Distributors
   • Pre-Sales
   • Technical Assistance
   • Technical Knowledge
   • Post Sales
   • Technical Support
   • Technical Solutions
   • CRM
   • Technical Presentations

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Create tools to manage customer projects, such as standardized proposals, technical templates, and SQL tracking database.
   • Design and implement storage, virtualization and cloud solutions.
   • Evangelize platform (SAAS) solution and hadoop implementation as technical value.
   • Tie several disparate products together to create a unique SaaS solution that competitively position the company against larger suppliers.
   • Review customer RFQ package (s) to define opportunities to provide proven solutions.
   • Coordinate internal resources among MSFT internal groups and provide ongoing technical consulting to strategic OEM accounts.

   More sales engineer lead duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your sales engineer lead job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A sales engineer lead salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, sales engineers lead' average salary in missouri is 47% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level sales engineers lead earn 45% less than senior-level sales engineers lead.
   • Certifications. A sales engineer lead with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a sales engineer lead's salary.

   Average sales engineer lead salary

   $120,568yearly

   $57.97 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level sales engineer lead salary

   $89,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 14, 2025

   Average sales engineer lead salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$148,744	$72
   2	Virginia	$128,238	$62
   3	New York	$123,429	$59
   4	Georgia	$122,534	$59
   5	Maryland	$121,377	$58
   6	Colorado	$119,192	$57
   7	Arizona	$116,355	$56
   8	Ohio	$114,473	$55
   9	Texas	$113,607	$55
   10	Florida	$112,635	$54
   11	Utah	$111,833	$54
   12	Wisconsin	$110,398	$53
   13	Massachusetts	$107,688	$52
   14	North Carolina	$105,977	$51
   15	Illinois	$105,297	$51
   16	Pennsylvania	$103,733	$50
   17	Washington	$94,363	$45
   18	Michigan	$90,530	$44
   19	Alabama	$83,146	$40
   20	Connecticut	$82,404	$40

   Average sales engineer lead salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Google	$150,063	$72.15	77
   2	Vista Equity Partners	$149,350	$71.80	6
   3	Twilio	$141,035	$67.81
   4	VMware	$139,616	$67.12
   5	Walgreens	$135,885	$65.33
   6	Imperva	$131,337	$63.14
   7	ESET	$127,162	$61.14
   8	Management Recruiters International(MRI)	$125,364	$60.27	9
   9	Yamaha Corporation of America Inc	$123,630	$59.44
   10	Nokia	$120,587	$57.97	2
   11	SpaceX	$119,217	$57.32	1
   12	National Grid plc	$118,401	$56.92
   13	Honeywell	$117,192	$56.34	53
   14	Datometry	$116,234	$55.88
   15	OneTrust	$116,161	$55.85	1
   16	Salesforce	$115,257	$55.41	57
   17	EAB	$115,214	$55.39	6
   18	AT&T	$112,574	$54.12	101
   19	BigCommerce	$110,456	$53.10	1
   20	Alteryx	$105,088	$50.52	4

4. Writing a sales engineer lead job description

   A good sales engineer lead job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a sales engineer lead job description:

   Sales engineer lead job description example

   ZL Technologies is seeking a Sales Engineering Leader to lead and grow our existing team of Pre-Sales SEs as they act as subject matter expert technical resource to our sales staff and partners.
   Responsibilities
   
   + Provide day-to-day leadership, direction, and motivation to the SE team.
   
   + Be involved in hiring a substantial number of further individuals as Sales Engineers.
   
   + Represent the SE team in their interactions with other teams within ZL Tech.
   
   + Act as a senior pre-sales technical resource in engagements with some strategic large enterprise customers ("player coach" - this will reduce as team grows)
   
   + Represent ZL Technologies at industry trade shows, exhibitions, conferences, and other events.
   
   + Report directly to the CEO.
   
   Requirements
   
   You will need:
   
   + A substantial and successful track record in a pre-sales leadership role for a software vendor or partner.
   
   + Experience growing a team of SEs.
   
   + Experience of working with data management software and/or adjacent complex technologies.
   
   + A good understanding of enterprise IT concepts and processes.
   
   + Strong communication and leadership skills.
   
   + Self-motivation and resilience
   
   + A creative and results-oriented mindset
   
   About ZL Technologies
   
   Founded in 1999, ZL Technologies has proven itself as the specialized provider of electronic data management software for the most demanding large enterprise environments. Award-winning ZL solutions address e-discovery, compliance, records management, storage optimization and data analytics needs.
   
   Built upon the industry's most scalable platform, ZL offers today's leading organizations the ability to comprehensively manage the entirety of their digital assets. To accomplish this challenge, ZL engineered several complex technologies into one seamless solution in order to manage billions of documents from a consolidated point of control.
   
   ZL Tech is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find sales engineers lead for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your sales engineer lead job on Zippia to find and recruit sales engineer lead candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit sales engineers lead, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new sales engineer lead

   Once you've selected the best sales engineer lead candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new sales engineer lead. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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