At Sift, we’re redefining how modern machines are built, tested, and operated. Our platform gives engineers real-time observability over high-frequency telemetry—eliminating bottlenecks and enabling faster, more reliable development.
Sift was born from our work at SpaceX on Dragon, Falcon, Starlink, and Starship—where scaling telemetry, debugging flight systems, and ensuring mission reliability demanded new infrastructure. Founded by a team from SpaceX, Google, and Palantir, Sift is built for mission-critical systems where precision and scalability are non-negotiable.
As a Solutions Architect, you will be the pre-sales technical expert bridging Sift’s telemetry platform with our customers’ most complex engineering and data challenges. You’ll partner closely with Sales to articulate Sift’s value, run technical evaluations, architect customer solutions, and support closing high-impact opportunities through deep technical credibility.
This role is ideal for someone with strong engineering fundamentals, big-data intuition, and a passion for working directly with customers in industries like aerospace, autonomy, robotics, and advanced manufacturing.
Partner with Sales to articulate Sift’s value proposition, vision, and architecture to customers
Own pre-sales technical engagements during pilots and evaluations
Deliver compelling technical presentations and product demonstrations
Architect customer-specific reference implementations and integration patterns
Translate ambiguous customer requirements into clear technical solutions
Support closing complex opportunities through advanced technical knowledge and credibility
Develop technical content, documentation, and demo applications
Provide structured feedback to Product, Engineering, and Marketing to strengthen Sift’s roadmap and positioning
Stay current on competitive and complementary technologies in observability, data infrastructure, and telemetry
4+ years in Solutions Engineering, Solutions Architecture, Forward Deployed Engineering, or technical pre-sales roles
Proven ability to support or close complex enterprise technical opportunities
Strong storytelling and presentation skills, able to communicate technical value to both executive and engineering audiences
Ability to design and explain distributed systems, data pipelines, and real-time integration patterns
Experience with distributed storage and analytical/time-series engines (e.g., ClickHouse, Apache Druid, Bigtable, Apache Pinot)
Understanding of stream processing and ingestion patterns, including windowing, aggregation, late/out-of-order data handling, and replay
Knowledge of data partitioning, sharding, indexing, and modeling strategies for high-cardinality, high-volume time-series workloads
Experience reasoning about data retention, tiered storage, and cost–performance tradeoffs at scale
Ability to translate customer requirements into clear technical architectures and reference implementations
Proficiency with at least one programming language (Python, Java, etc.) and familiarity with REST APIs
Comfortable delivering technical demos, guiding POCs, and handling technical objections
Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, or a related field
Interest in aerospace, autonomy, robotics, or other advanced engineering applications
Aerospace or autonomous systems experience
Data streaming technologies (Kafka, Pulsar)
SQL and database fundamentals
Experience with AWS, GCP, or Azure
Familiarity with observability, metrics, or logging platforms
Experience in ML/AI workflows for engineering or sensor data
Prior work mentoring technical sales team members
Experience competitively positioning technical products
A technical seller who leads with value and builds trusted-advisor relationships
Someone who identifies customer pain points and maps them to product capabilities
A communicator who can engage deeply with both engineering teams and executives
A strategic thinker able to navigate complex sales cycles and drive technical consensus
A collaborative partner who works effectively with Sales, Product, and Engineering
Someone who brings a consultative, “understand first, propose second” approach
You must be willing and able to work from the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area and be onsite Monday through Thursday due to the nature and business needs of the role.
Ability to travel 50%+ required. Varies by location and customer needs.
Sift headquarters is located in Los Angeles (El Segundo), and we work in a hybrid environment. We work closely with hardware companies building everything from autonomous vehicles to spacecraft, and it's essential to be nearby for site visits and collaboration.
Salary range: $125,000 - $175,000 per year. Plus equity and benefits.
Eligibility:U.S. Person Required: Must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual such as an asylee or refugee in compliance with ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) / EAR (Export Administration Regulations) regulations.
Top Skills
What We Do
Sift is transforming how modern machines are built and operated. Our platform goes beyond traditional monitoring, enabling automated data review that catches unusual conditions in systems too complex for manual checks. This not only enhances reliability but also dramatically speeds up development cycles.
At our core, we provide a unified solution for ingesting, storing, and analyzing vast amounts of machine data. By combining powerful data processing with easy-to-use visualizations, we help engineers make sense of enormous amounts of information. From spacecraft to self-driving cars, Sift is the backbone of innovation for companies pushing technology to new limits.
Born from the challenges of spaceflight, Sift aims to accelerate technological progress. We believe that by giving engineers better tools to understand and improve their creations, we can unlock a new era of innovation. Our mission goes beyond solving today's engineering problems; we're building the foundation for a future where the most ambitious machines are developed with confidence, run with precision, and constantly improved.
We're also tackling related challenges like simplifying regulatory compliance, and improving manufacturing processes. By connecting data from various sources—from sensors to manufacturing records to regulatory requirements—we're empowering a new generation of engineers to build the technologies that will shape our world.
Join us in our journey to usher in this new age of reliable, groundbreaking technology. Whether you're launching rockets, developing autonomous systems, or advancing energy and transportation, Sift is your partner in turning vast amounts of data into insights that drive innovation forward.
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