Director, Systems Engineering - Major Accounts

Company Description

Our Mission

At Palo Alto Networks® everything starts and ends with our mission:

Being the cybersecurity partner of choice, protecting our digital way of life.

Our vision is a world where each day is safer and more secure than the one before. We are a company built on the foundation of challenging and disrupting the way things are done, and we’re looking for innovators who are as committed to shaping the future of cybersecurity as we are.

FLEXWORK is an employee-centric reimagining of how we work. We built FLEXWORK based on employee feedback – it is about flexibility, trust, and choice whenever possible. It’s been a journey of disruption that has yielded the best of our values. We offer as much flexibility as possible, and choices that enable you to be most productive, including benefits that meet your needs and learning opportunities that you feel passionate about.

Job Description

Your Career

The Systems Engineering Director (SED), will lead our team of Systems Engineering Managers and in turn drive support to our Systems Engineers (SE) who are the go-to technical experts assisting the sales team in generating growth within Major Accounts.

This position will require a business savvy individual with a strong background in security platform, application architecture, and sales coupled with a successful track record in team management.

We expect office-based employees to be in the office four days per week, with one day working from where they choose. We believe being together facilitates casual conversations and those magic moments where we can work on issues and ideas informally. These moments build capability and deepen trusted relationships and allow our people to feel safe in taking risks and being disruptive. Like so many companies, we are working through the details and things could change …. but in general if a role is deemed office-based we want our teams to be together four days per week.

Your Impact

• Partner with the Regional Vice President of Sales to drive enterprise-wide sales-related initiatives within our Major Accounts
• Oversee technical pre-sales operations and achieve revenue generation, individual, team, and organizational quotas
• Interact at a senior level with customers and partners and provide valuable insight into industry trends, customer challenges, technical evolutions, and business changes that will help the customer make their security decisions
• Understand and articulate the key technical, operational, and commercial challenges faced by our prospects and customers that the Palo Alto Networks solution addresses
• Ensure effective account planning is being executed across the teams to deliver compelling business-focused solutions that address customers' security needs
• Develop and own outcome-oriented Systems Engineering initiatives that drive pipeline and sales with your AVP, RVPs, Systems Engineering Managers (SEMs) and SEs to drive greater efficiencies and success within the Area
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with Palo Alto Networks’ partners (reseller, distribution, system integrators, and alliances) and drive and measure initiatives to improve sales productivity through partner leverage
• Lead portfolio expansion initiatives, with factual results upselling subscriptions and strategic solutions
• Ensure the teams develop deep ongoing relationships across their accounts to drive adoption and growth across the portfolio after the initial sale
• Metric-based results should be evident across all areas of focus
• Report and make visible the successes and deficiencies of the initiatives within your area
• Pristine personnel management – including demonstrated development plans and execution, reduced attrition results and initiatives, a clear history of promotions and success, etc.
• Provide account support through SE assignments, load balancing, continuity, strategic planning with Sales management, Sales Reps, and SEs, and customer meetings including sales calls, relationship building, and problem resolution
• Operate effectively in a matrix manner with extended teams, such as Support, Finance, WW SE, HR, Product Management, and other relevant organizations
• Act as an escalation point for pre-sales and post-sales technical issues that arise in the territory
• Develop, mentor, manage, and support reporting sales engineers with technical and organizational leadership
• Manage successful evaluations and timely return of evaluation equipment 

Qualifications

Your Experience

• A minimum combination of 8 years of first and/or second line, Systems Engineering management experience preferred 
• Reputation with the customers and partners in the Area as a trusted advisor who will