Senior Sales Engineer - Enterprise Named Accounts

NetCareers•Houston, TX

About The Position

The Senior Sales Engineer provides pre-sales technical support and presentations to help the Sales team achieve revenue goals. As a product solution specialist, this person identifies and proposes technical solutions that address prospective customers’ needs and supports sales strategies across designated strategic initiatives and customer segments, including large enterprise named accounts, system integrators, service providers, enterprise customers, and channel partners. The role requires significant customer interaction and consultation, a strong understanding of the sales cycle, and close collaboration with Sales teams throughout the process. The position reports to the Regional Director and, in some cases, the Area Vice President. The Senior Sales Engineer partners with Account Managers and Sales leadership to develop business and technical strategies, discover customer challenges and opportunities, and help achieve financial targets. Responsibilities include managing lead technical activities, building relationships across customer IT teams, accurately assessing and forecasting opportunities, creating and delivering proofs of concept, managing competitive bakeoffs, presenting and demonstrating products onsite or remotely, and leading technical discussions. The role also involves working with users to understand system use and identify upsell opportunities, differentiating products from competitors, researching market trends, contributing to sales strategy and product direction, and developing relationships in key accounts. Travel within the assigned territory and region is estimated at 40–50%. The role requires carrying a laptop.

Requirements

At least 10 years of experience in IT and/or at least 7 years as a pre-sales engineer, Network Engineer, Application Engineer, or in a pre-sales technical support role.
Demonstrated experience working with customers to understand technical challenges and requirements and proposing appropriate solutions.
A proven record of success and achievement in pre-sales, individually and as part of a team.
Strong networking and application background desired, with working knowledge of Linux/Windows operating systems.
Cultural familiarity with and experience conducting business within the Region.
Technical skills relating to Cisco routing, switching, gateways, and applications (required).
Knowledge of TCP/IP, SNMP, Netflow, VoIP, LAN and WAN topologies, including MPLS, Frame, and ATM.
Knowledge of trend analysis, security, network infrastructure, network performance management, and fault/alert management concepts.
Network General (Sniffer) knowledge.
Knowledge of operating systems including Linux and NT.
Experience responding to or creating RFIs or RFPs.
Formal sales training that teaches pre-sales techniques; examples include Sandler, Siebel, or Afterburner.
Exceptional verbal and written communication skills.
Exceptional organization, time-management, and multitasking skills.
Self-motivated, with a continual focus on improving products and processes.
Ability to deliver strong presentations and contribute to sales strategy and account relationships.

Nice To Haves

CCNA, CCNP, or CCIE certification.
Experience with HP/OV, IBM Tivoli, EMC SMARTS, or ArcSight.
Experience with SDN/NFV, virtualization, and public or private cloud.
Experience conducting or participating in security audits.
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or Software Engineering, or equivalent; an MBA is preferred.
Technical military training.
Formal presentation training.

Responsibilities

Work closely with Account Managers and the Regional Director to develop business and technical strategies that improve the likelihood of winning business.
Investigate prospective customers’ needs and help develop strategies to win business.
Assist Sales teams with tactical decisions related to sales.
Identify compelling events or business problems and propose suitable solutions.
Provide specialized technical support to prospects and customers using best-practice techniques and available Sales Engineering resources.
Lead technical activities for assigned accounts, build relationships across customer IT teams, document infrastructure, understand challenges, and identify potential projects.
Help Sales teams achieve financial targets by supporting the sales process and accurately assessing and forecasting opportunities.
Create and deliver proofs of concept; manage competitive bakeoffs; prepare and deliver onsite or remote presentations; demonstrate product capabilities and benefits; and lead whiteboard discussions.
Work regularly with users to understand how the system is used and identify potential upsell opportunities.
Adapt to situations involving multiple integrators on a shared customer network.
Differentiate products from competitors and present compelling product value in relation to customer needs.
Research market trends and explain how the solution can address emerging customer needs.
Contribute solution requirements and technical input to sales strategy.
Develop relationships in key accounts and contribute to overall account relationships.
Provide suggestions to the EBO/SBO that may influence new product direction.
Travel within the assigned territory and region, estimated at 40–50%.