Solutions Engineering Leader

Julian Mackrel

Head of Solutions Engineering, AMER — Notion

Solutions Engineering leader who builds AI-native GTM organizations. Over two years as Head of SE for AMER at Notion, led the team's transformation into an AI-first org — shipping SE-built "golden" agents that save up to 15 hrs/week and operationalizing a "spec → build → refine" culture — while contributing to AMER Sales-Assist ARR growth of 2.7x and a 9-point win-rate lift on SE-involved deals (44% vs. 35% company-wide). Pairs hands-on technical depth with the discipline to scale teams and systems. Seeking Director / VP, Solutions Engineering.

✉ julian.mackrel@gmail.com in LinkedIn 📍 San Francisco, CA ⬇ Download résumé (.docx)

2.7x

AMER Sales-Assist ARR growth (+167% in 2 yrs)

44% vs 35%

Win rate on SE-involved vs. all deals

3 → 16

AMER SE team growth, 100% retention

4–15 hrs

Saved per week by top golden agents

What I Do

I build the systems that let a Solutions Engineering org scale past individual heroics — a governed system of record, automation, and enablement layered on top so SE becomes a repeatable, revenue-driving function instead of a set of person-dependent habits. At Notion that meant rebuilding AMER SE from three people running on memory into a 16-person team with a system of record, automated activity tracking, standardized POCs, SE-built AI agents, and a friction-free path through security review — while personally leading the org's shift to an AI-first way of working.

Experience

Notion

Head of Solutions Engineering, AMER

2024 – Present

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Led the SE org's transformation into an AI-first team — personally upskilling and guiding the team through the transition — building a portfolio of SE-authored custom agents (Request Validator, Demo Scoring, Industry Analyst) consolidated into governed global "golden" agents that save 4–15 hrs/week per top agent and standardize bias-free demo scoring with auto-refreshed demo data.
Drove company-wide AI capability-building — weekly agent stand-ups, a "spec → build → refine" practice, SKO content, and the FY27 Pitch & Demo Certification (80% pass rate, including JP and KR) — while defining the Sales/SE point of view on Notion's position in the agent era.
Built the motion to evolve selling from seats to seats + agent-powered workflows (consumption); stood up connector-enabled Lumi Labs demo environments now used in ~60% of SE-led demos, helping close deals (e.g., Ramp) without a full POC.
Contributed to AMER Sales-Assist ARR growth of 2.7x (+167%) over two years, with YoY growth accelerating every quarter from 47% to 86% — outpacing total-company growth by 1.7x; deals with SE involvement won at 44% vs. 35% company-wide.
Sales-Assist grew to 27% of AMER ARR and 12% of all Notion ARR — overachieving quota in 5 of the last 7 quarters (avg. ~101% attainment), with Commercial nearly doubling YoY.
Grew the AMER SE team from 3 to 16 SEs with 100% retention and 4 internal promotions — including the team's first Commercial SE Lead — while onboarding an EMEA SE Lead and rebuilding the hiring engine from scratch (154 interviews personally).
Conceived and oversaw the build of the SE Deal Hub (delegated to ICs) — now consolidating 1,505+ deals as the single source of truth for SE and AE teams and the model for the company's GTM 2.0, with SE-requested submissions rising from 94 to 449 and intake completeness from 0% to ~98–100%; layered on a qualification-gated SE Request process (24-hour SLA), automated activity tracking, and SFDC trial tracking, all adopted org-wide.
Built the AMER POC playbook from the ground up (4-phase process + 2-hour Custom Agent POC) that lifted structured POC conversion to 75–80%, and launched the org-wide Loom video nurture library covering the top 6 use cases.
Standardized the SE-to-GRC security review process (intake, RACI, SLAs) to a ~7 business day standard, now migrating toward zero SE involvement — removing one of the last friction points between a technical yes and a signed deal.

ZoomInfo / Chorus.ai

Acquired July 2021

2017 – 2024

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Manager, Solutions Consulting / Engineering

Apr 2021 – 2024

Asked to lead presales for all New Business, supporting 270 AEs globally; partnered with the SVP of New Business, 5 VPs, and their directors to drive up-market penetration and ASP, increasing SC Q1 up-market TCV by 24%+ YoY.
Hired and built an international team of 13 Solutions Consultants and 1 manager across all segments — the company's largest SC team.
Championed strategic cross-functional initiatives: post-acquisition product messaging, value-driven launch demos, M&A technical onboardings, and resourcing metrics & reporting (learned SQL & Tableau).
Drove department programs including a coaching curriculum, onboarding paths, POC processes, and resource allocation & utilization reporting.

Solutions & Implementation Engineer

Jul 2019 – Apr 2021

SE hire #2; supported 20+ AEs, AMs, and CSMs across the full lifecycle. Built Chorus' first "POC Playbook" for Mid-Market and Enterprise cycles, increasing POC win rate by 23%.
Founded and ran The Chorus Accelerator Program, a 3-month apprenticeship expanding tech access for underrepresented (BIPOC) talent — 100% of mentees landed full-time tech roles.

Account Executive

May 2018 – Jul 2019

Joined at Series A as one of the first sales hires; helped grow the team from 3 to 15 sellers and shaped original sales messaging, process, and competitive differentiation.

Darktrace

Account Executive

2017 – 2018

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Ran full-cycle enterprise and SMB sales (deal sizes ~$250K), managing Proof-of-Value evaluations and 10+ concurrent accounts as a trusted technical advisor.

Impact & Systems — AMER SE, Two-Year Outcomes

Two years ago, SE work at Notion ran on individual effort and memory: deals arrived through informal channels, activity was logged by hand if at all, demos varied by person, and almost none of it was visible to leadership. I led the rebuild of that into a connected operating system — not a set of standalone projects — where a foundation of record feeds assignment, activity tracking, SFDC fields, and AI agents, and every layer makes the next one work better.

The result: deals with SE involvement win at 44% vs. 35% overall, SEs reclaimed many hours a week, intake quality went from near zero to near complete, and leadership can finally see all of it. Explore each layer of the system below — click a node in any diagram for detail.

Foundation of record

Deal Hub — the single place deals, context, activity, and POCs live.

Disciplined front door

SE Request process — qualification + pooled round-robin assignment on Deal Hub.

Signal layer

Automated activity tracking + SFDC fields make contribution and deal health measurable.

Scale layer

Standardized POCs, Lumi Labs demo environments, Loom library, certification.

Automation layer

SE-built golden agents and Infra as Code return time to selling.

Friction removal

Security process moving toward zero SE involvement.

Interactive System Maps

Ten initiatives, each with a live system-relations diagram and process flow. Built as the artifact set behind the AMER SE two-year outcomes review.