Portnox Access Layers Ltd.
Director of Sales Engineering
Department:
Sales
Employment Type:
Full Time
Location:
Remote
Description Portnox is a fast‑growing, VC‑backed cybersecurity company delivering a mission‑critical cloud platform for secure network and application access. We are seeking a Director of Sales Engineering to lead, scale, and mature our global Sales Engineering organization as we enter our next phase of growth.
Portnox is headquartered in Austin, Texas, with a globally distributed remote workforce. While Austin‑based candidates are preferred, we are also open to candidates located in Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania, Idaho, and Virginia. Off‑world candidates will not be considered.
The Role This is a senior leadership role responsible for owning the strategy, operating model, and effectiveness of the Sales Engineering function. The Director of Sales Engineering ensures that Portnox’s technical value, differentiation, and evaluation experience are consistently and effectively delivered throughout the pre‑sales lifecycle.
You will be accountable for how Portnox is technically evaluated in the market, how our solutions are demonstrated and proven, and how Sales Engineers are enabled to support predictable, scalable revenue growth. This role is focused on building and optimizing the system, team, and standards that power sales execution, not on carrying deals directly.
As a core leader within the Sales organization, you will serve as a strategic partner to Sales, Product, Marketing, and Customer Experience, and as an internal authority on buyer evaluation patterns, competitive dynamics, and technical objections in the field.
Key Responsibilities Sales Engineering Strategy and Operations
Own the vision, structure, and operating model for the global Sales Engineering organization
Define engagement models, coverage strategy, and prioritization frameworks aligned to revenue goals and sales motions
Establish scalable, repeatable standards for demos, proofs of concept, and technical evaluations across segments and regions
Define, track, and evolve KPIs for Sales Engineering effectiveness, efficiency, and impact, using data to drive continuous improvement
Team Leadership and Development
Lead, coach, and develop a high‑performing team of Sales Engineers, including hiring, onboarding, performance management, and career progression
Establish clear role expectations, skill frameworks, and growth paths for individual contributors and senior SEs
Build a culture of technical excellence, customer empathy, accountability, and continuous learning
Enablement and Narrative Ownership
Own onboarding and ongoing technical enablement for Sales Engineers and broader customer‑facing teams
Ensure consistent technical positioning, messaging, and differentiation across buyer personas and stages of the sales cycle
Partner with Product Marketing to shape how Portnox is positioned against competitors and alternatives such as VPNs, NAC incumbents, and ZTNA or SASE offerings
Cross‑Functional Leadership
Serve as a strategic partner to Sales leadership on deal strategy, resource planning, and forecast risk related to technical evaluations
Collaborate with Product and Engineering to provide structured field feedback that influences roadmap, integrations, and usability
Partner with Customer Experience to ensure continuity between pre‑sales expectations and post‑sales success
Technical Escalation and Market Insight
Act as the senior technical escalation point for complex evaluations, strategic opportunities, or high‑risk deals when required
Provide guidance on architecture, security posture, and deployment models without becoming a default deal‑level contributor
Maintain deep awareness of how customers evaluate Portnox in real‑world environments and how competitors position against us
Systems, Process, and Documentation
Ensure accurate and consistent documentation of technical activity, outcomes, and insights within Salesforce and related systems
Drive adoption of tools, templates, and automation that improve consistency, visibility, and scale
Skills, Knowledge, and Expertise Leadership and Experience
3 to 5 years of people leadership experience managing and scaling Sales Engineering or highly technical customer‑facing teams
5 to 7 years of prior hands‑on experience in network or security engineering roles, providing the technical foundation to guide architecture and evaluations
Demonstrated success transitioning from individual contributor expertise to function‑level leadership and strategy
Technical Depth
Strong understanding of Network Access Control, Zero Trust Network Access, and adjacent network and identity security technologies
Experience reviewing and guiding network and security architectures for mid‑market and enterprise environments
Proven ability to oversee and contribute to RFIs and RFPs with technical accuracy and strategic positioning
Communication and Influence
Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills with the ability to communicate effectively with executive, business, and technical audiences
Proven ability to influence cross‑functional stakeholders without direct authority
Strong judgment in balancing technical depth with sales velocity and buyer experience
Core Technical Knowledge (for coaching and escalation)
Networking fundamentals including routing, switching (Layer 2 and Layer 3), VLANs, ACLs, DNS, DHCP, VPNs, LAN, WAN, WLAN, and 802.1X
Authentication and identity technologies including RADIUS, TACACS+, LDAP, Active Directory, SAML, MFA, and certificate‑based auth
Familiarity with SIEM, MDM, EDR, and vulnerability management platforms
Working knowledge of Linux and Windows environments sufficient to review architectures and guide troubleshooting
Exposure to virtualization and cloud infrastructure including VMware and public cloud platforms such as AWS and Azure
Preferred Qualifications
Security or networking certifications such as CISSP, CISM, GIAC, Security+, CCNA, CCNP, or CCSP
Experience leading teams that leverage scripting or automation to improve repeatability and scale
Background in high‑growth SaaS or security startups
What Success Looks Like
Sales Engineers are consistently enabled, confident, and aligned in how they position and demonstrate Portnox solutions
Technical evaluations are predictable, repeatable, and scalable without heroics
Sales leadership views Sales Engineering as a strategic partner and enabler of success
Product and Marketing work with sales engineering collaboratively to distill the market truth
Why Join Us
Opportunity to make a significant impact on the operations of the company.
Collaborative and dynamic work environment with opportunities for professional growth and development.
Competitive compensation and benefits package.
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Sales
Employment Type:
Full Time
Location:
Remote
Description Portnox is a fast‑growing, VC‑backed cybersecurity company delivering a mission‑critical cloud platform for secure network and application access. We are seeking a Director of Sales Engineering to lead, scale, and mature our global Sales Engineering organization as we enter our next phase of growth.
Portnox is headquartered in Austin, Texas, with a globally distributed remote workforce. While Austin‑based candidates are preferred, we are also open to candidates located in Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania, Idaho, and Virginia. Off‑world candidates will not be considered.
The Role This is a senior leadership role responsible for owning the strategy, operating model, and effectiveness of the Sales Engineering function. The Director of Sales Engineering ensures that Portnox’s technical value, differentiation, and evaluation experience are consistently and effectively delivered throughout the pre‑sales lifecycle.
You will be accountable for how Portnox is technically evaluated in the market, how our solutions are demonstrated and proven, and how Sales Engineers are enabled to support predictable, scalable revenue growth. This role is focused on building and optimizing the system, team, and standards that power sales execution, not on carrying deals directly.
As a core leader within the Sales organization, you will serve as a strategic partner to Sales, Product, Marketing, and Customer Experience, and as an internal authority on buyer evaluation patterns, competitive dynamics, and technical objections in the field.
Key Responsibilities Sales Engineering Strategy and Operations
Own the vision, structure, and operating model for the global Sales Engineering organization
Define engagement models, coverage strategy, and prioritization frameworks aligned to revenue goals and sales motions
Establish scalable, repeatable standards for demos, proofs of concept, and technical evaluations across segments and regions
Define, track, and evolve KPIs for Sales Engineering effectiveness, efficiency, and impact, using data to drive continuous improvement
Team Leadership and Development
Lead, coach, and develop a high‑performing team of Sales Engineers, including hiring, onboarding, performance management, and career progression
Establish clear role expectations, skill frameworks, and growth paths for individual contributors and senior SEs
Build a culture of technical excellence, customer empathy, accountability, and continuous learning
Enablement and Narrative Ownership
Own onboarding and ongoing technical enablement for Sales Engineers and broader customer‑facing teams
Ensure consistent technical positioning, messaging, and differentiation across buyer personas and stages of the sales cycle
Partner with Product Marketing to shape how Portnox is positioned against competitors and alternatives such as VPNs, NAC incumbents, and ZTNA or SASE offerings
Cross‑Functional Leadership
Serve as a strategic partner to Sales leadership on deal strategy, resource planning, and forecast risk related to technical evaluations
Collaborate with Product and Engineering to provide structured field feedback that influences roadmap, integrations, and usability
Partner with Customer Experience to ensure continuity between pre‑sales expectations and post‑sales success
Technical Escalation and Market Insight
Act as the senior technical escalation point for complex evaluations, strategic opportunities, or high‑risk deals when required
Provide guidance on architecture, security posture, and deployment models without becoming a default deal‑level contributor
Maintain deep awareness of how customers evaluate Portnox in real‑world environments and how competitors position against us
Systems, Process, and Documentation
Ensure accurate and consistent documentation of technical activity, outcomes, and insights within Salesforce and related systems
Drive adoption of tools, templates, and automation that improve consistency, visibility, and scale
Skills, Knowledge, and Expertise Leadership and Experience
3 to 5 years of people leadership experience managing and scaling Sales Engineering or highly technical customer‑facing teams
5 to 7 years of prior hands‑on experience in network or security engineering roles, providing the technical foundation to guide architecture and evaluations
Demonstrated success transitioning from individual contributor expertise to function‑level leadership and strategy
Technical Depth
Strong understanding of Network Access Control, Zero Trust Network Access, and adjacent network and identity security technologies
Experience reviewing and guiding network and security architectures for mid‑market and enterprise environments
Proven ability to oversee and contribute to RFIs and RFPs with technical accuracy and strategic positioning
Communication and Influence
Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills with the ability to communicate effectively with executive, business, and technical audiences
Proven ability to influence cross‑functional stakeholders without direct authority
Strong judgment in balancing technical depth with sales velocity and buyer experience
Core Technical Knowledge (for coaching and escalation)
Networking fundamentals including routing, switching (Layer 2 and Layer 3), VLANs, ACLs, DNS, DHCP, VPNs, LAN, WAN, WLAN, and 802.1X
Authentication and identity technologies including RADIUS, TACACS+, LDAP, Active Directory, SAML, MFA, and certificate‑based auth
Familiarity with SIEM, MDM, EDR, and vulnerability management platforms
Working knowledge of Linux and Windows environments sufficient to review architectures and guide troubleshooting
Exposure to virtualization and cloud infrastructure including VMware and public cloud platforms such as AWS and Azure
Preferred Qualifications
Security or networking certifications such as CISSP, CISM, GIAC, Security+, CCNA, CCNP, or CCSP
Experience leading teams that leverage scripting or automation to improve repeatability and scale
Background in high‑growth SaaS or security startups
What Success Looks Like
Sales Engineers are consistently enabled, confident, and aligned in how they position and demonstrate Portnox solutions
Technical evaluations are predictable, repeatable, and scalable without heroics
Sales leadership views Sales Engineering as a strategic partner and enabler of success
Product and Marketing work with sales engineering collaboratively to distill the market truth
Why Join Us
Opportunity to make a significant impact on the operations of the company.
Collaborative and dynamic work environment with opportunities for professional growth and development.
Competitive compensation and benefits package.
#J-18808-Ljbffr