Pre-Sales Engineer

About Auror

At Auror, we’re empowering the retail industry to tackle theft and Organised Retail Crime, a $150 Billion problem globally. It’s high volume crime that’s increasingly organised in nature and is putting people, retailers, and communities at risk every day.

Founded in New Zealand 12 years ago, we’re working with some of the best and largest retailers in the world across the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. Auror is connecting people and intelligence to reduce crime. We’re using technology for good.

Our mission is clear: reduce violent retail crime by 50% in 5 years. It's an ambitious goal - and one we believe is achievable. In partnership with our leading retail partners, we need people with the passion, determination, and innovation required to overcome one of the world's largest problems. If you’re looking to make a difference with and for the people dedicated to stopping crime, for good, then we want you on our team.

We're also embracing the potential of AI to supercharge our impact - whether that's enhancing the way we detect trends, support our customers, or improve internal workflows. As a company, we're committed to responsibly incorporating AI into how we work and what we build, and we encourage all Aurors to be curious about how AI can elevate their work, regardless of role or function.

The Role

As Auror expands its recognition technology product portfolio — including License Plate Recognition (LPR) and Auror Subject Recognition (ASR) — and the range of hardware these integrate with, we're looking for a Pre-Sales Engineer who thrives at the sharp end of a customer conversation: someone who can hear "we're not sure this will work for us," stay composed, and think on their feet to showcase these new product capabilities to existing & new customers.

This is a customer-facing technical role spanning pre-sales engineering, proof-of-concept design, and ongoing technical advisory as customers expand or evolve their deployments. You'll understand what customers are trying to solve and translate that into the technical fit, the confidence to buy, and a clear path to deployment — partnering with Product, Sales, Customer Success, and Implementation teams throughout, and staying engaged as the technical escalation point as new deployments ramp up. You're equally comfortable holding your ground with a sceptical IT manager as you are running a live product demo for a retail operations team — and you don't rattle when a customer pushes back.

Auror provides the software layer for these technologies, but requires the customer to have/procure the correct hardware (cameras, servers etc) for our recognition technology solutions to work effectively. Therefore, this role needs to be able to explain the end-to-end solution, what hardware is required for their environment, and how to effectively implement it.

Responsibilities

• Pre-Sales Engineering:

  • Join sales calls as the technical subject matter expert for LPR and ASR — handling product deep-dives, capability questions, and technical objections with confidence.

  • Run technical discovery sessions to understand customer environments, existing infrastructure, and integration requirements.

  • Scope solutions accurately, identifying risks or constraints early so Sales teams can set the right expectations.

  • Produce technical documentation and implementation plans to support proposals — including integration guides, third-party hardware compatibility requirements, and site assessment summaries.

  • Deliver compelling, tailored demonstrations of Auror's Core product and LPR / ASR solutions to technical and non-technical audiences.

• Proof-of-Concept Design:

  • Design proof-of-concept scope and success criteria — right hardware, network conditions, and use case alignment — in partnership with the Technical Project Management team, who own implementation.

  • Track and report on PoC outcomes against the goals you set, synthesising findings for Sales and internal stakeholders — and feeding learnings back into how future PoCs and pitches are shaped.

• Customer Technical Advisory:

  • Serve as a trusted technical advisor to prospects and existing customers — fielding questions about system architecture, data handling, privacy, and integration pathways.

  • Guide existing customers through the technical requirements of expansion — new camera rollouts, additional stores, or environment changes — covering placement, network configuration, lighting, and data flows.

  • Translate customer technical requirements into clear briefs for the Product and Deployment teams.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration:

  • Work closely with Product to surface recurring technical objections, capability gaps, and customer feedback that should shape the roadmap.

  • Partner with Customer Success to hand off technical context cleanly as customers move from PoC into live use, and stay looped in as new technical needs surface.

  • Act as the sales team's technical backup through the deal cycle — unblocking objections and building customer confidence at the moments that matter most for a decision.

  • Feed insights from the field into Sales enablement materials and product positioning.

  • Build a strong, collaborative relationship with the Technical Project Management team, ensuring PoC designs and technical requirements translate cleanly into scoped, successful deployments.

This role reports to Jon Briegel, Director Solutions Engineering.

Requirements

• You have hands-on experience in a technical pre-sales, solutions engineering, or technical implementation role working with facial recognition, LPR, CCTV, or physical security technology — the specific path matters less than a genuine ability to translate customer needs into technical solutions. Experience with facial recognition or subject recognition technology is a strong advantage.

• You're comfortable discussing IT infrastructure at a high level and assessing how our technology fits into a customer's existing environment — flagging practical requirements like Linux fundamentals or mobile device compatibility that affect deployment.

• You bring a structured approach to problem-solving — you gather information methodically, identify root causes, and don't jump to solutions before you've understood the problem.

• You're comfortable with ambiguity and able to prioritise across multiple concurrent customers and opportunities.

• You take privacy and ethical use of technology seriously, and you're confident discussing data handling, retention policies, and responsible AI with customers who ask hard questions.

• You're a self-starter who improves the systems around you — if you notice a gap in documentation or a repeated question that should have a better answer, you fix it.

• You have (or can quickly build) a working understanding of retail case management software and how Auror drives value through risk detection, so you can speak to the software experience, not just the hardware behind it.

We are looking for people who demonstrate a strong alignment to our Guiding Principles (you can find these on our Careers page).

With diversity and inclusion at the forefront of Auror’s guiding principles, we promote a culture that celebrates diversity and inclusiveness at Auror, regardless of, but not limited to, race, gender, sexual orientation, family status, religion, ethnicity, national origin, physical disability, veteran status, or age.

Benefits:

• Competitive salary range: Depending on level of experience, between $139,000 - $165,000 USD.

• Employee share scheme: You’ll own part of a company making a real difference!

• Flexibility: We are hard-working and outcome focused, but recognise there is more to life than work. We promote a healthy work/life blend.

• Shorter work weeks (at full pay): Everyone gets Friday afternoons off, so you can start your weekend early, and do more of whatever it is that makes you happy.

• Focus on mental and physical health: We understand how vital our health is and have policies to support your wellness, including Wellness Days, and up to $500 for expert sessions every year.

• Health care plan (Medical, Dental & Vision): Auror covers 100% of the cost of your individual health insurance plan with Anthem & Metlife.

• Family-friendly: We offer comprehensive paid parental leave - 12 weeks for birth parents and 6 weeks for non-birth parents following birth, adoption, or surrogacy, available to all Aurors from day one.

• Personal growth: We support our team to participate in courses, conferences, or events that will help them develop their skills.

• Team love: We have regular team lunches and social events where most (if not all) activities are during work hours.

What are the next steps?

If you’re excited about our mission and you have the experience and a passion for this role, please hit “Apply”.

If you’re not sure that you tick all the boxes but feel you’re close to what we’re looking for, please apply anyway! We’re proud that Auror is a place where everyone can learn and grow so we’d love to hear from you.

You'll be asked to submit a cover letter as part of your application. While this is optional we do encourage it, as we find cover letters can tell a story that resumes alone often cannot. Our hiring team love to understand what attracted you to this role and why you are excited about the opportunity to join Auror.

Once you apply, you’ll hear from us to acknowledge your application. If you have questions about any of the above, or if you have any accessibility requirements, we’ll be able to help you from there.