Principal Sales Engineer - Federal

Zscaler•Remote - Maryland, USA, SC

22h•$175,875 - $251,250•Remote

About The Position

Zscaler is seeking a Principal Sales Engineer to join its Public Sector team. This remote East Coast role supports Federal Civilian entities and reports to the Sales Engineering Manager in the Federal department. The Sales Engineer serves as a key technical driver in the Federal organization, partnering with customers to architect solutions, demonstrate value, and guide their Zero Trust transformation. The role presents and demonstrates the Zscaler platform to prospects, customers, and partners; oversees the technical sales process from end to end; and leads Proof of Value engagements to validate outcomes and earn technical buy-in. The Sales Engineer collaborates with internal teams to support seamless execution and customer success, and acts as a trusted advisor who translates customer outcomes into technical recommendations. The role also calls for curiosity and practical adoption of AI tools, including advising customers on AI change management and mapping manual workflows to agentic AI systems.

Requirements

Demonstrated curiosity and active exploration of AI tools, with a proven history of integrating new technologies to enhance daily workflows and augment problem-solving.
Demonstrated ability to act as a Consultative AI Advisor, guiding customers through AI change management, including mapping manual business workflows to agentic AI systems and managing expectations around non-deterministic outputs.
Experience in security operations, firewall or proxy operations, and networking.
Demonstrated ability and proactive desire to learn new technical concepts quickly.

Nice To Haves

Leverage coding assistants, LLMs, and Generative AI tools to accelerate troubleshooting, solution design, automation, and customer problem-solving, applying sound technical judgment to validate outputs.
Use AI tools, coding skills, or technical project development using AI to drive operational efficiency and outcomes.
Strong technical background in enterprise security and modern networking architectures.
Industry certifications including CCIE, CCNP, JNCIP, PCNSA, CISSP, or CCSP.

Responsibilities

Present and demonstrate the Zscaler platform to prospects, customers, and partners, articulating value and driving technical alignment.
Oversee the technical sales process end to end to accelerate deals and ensure technical success.
Run Proof of Value engagements from start to finish to validate outcomes and secure technical buy-in.
Collaborate across internal Zscaler teams to ensure seamless execution and customer success.
Translate customer desired outcomes into technical recommendations and guide customers through their Zero Trust transformation.
Guide customers through AI change management, including mapping manual business workflows to agentic AI systems and managing expectations around non-deterministic outputs.