Senior Sales Engineer

About SANS

Founded in 1989, SANS Institute (SANS) began as a cooperative research and education organization. Over the next 25 years, it grew to become the most trusted and widely recognized provider of information security training and certification in the world. Today, SANS has served more than 300,000 cybersecurity professionals around the world, with more than 60,000 earning Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC) security certifications—the leading certification that provides assurance to employers that their people and prospective hires can do the job.

At the heart of SANS is a community of practitioners, from auditors and network administrators to CISOs, who share their lessons learned and collaborate on solutions to the challenges they face. These experts, working across corporations, government agencies, and universities, come together to support and strengthen the global information security community.

Why SANS?

At SANS, our culture is defined by three pillars: Mission, Brand, and People.

• Our Mission is to hire people who understand the importance fighting against cybersecurity threats.
• Our Brand reflects a commitment to delivering the highest quality training. 
• Our People are grounded in a culture of fairness, honesty, customer focus, and a pragmatic approach.

What You'll Achieve at SANS

We are seeking a Senior Sales Engineer to join our Business Development - Enterprise Sales team. This role plays a key part in pre-sales activities primarily focused on growing revenue, driving customer utilization, and demonstrating the value of the full SANS product portfolio. There is also a component of post-sales activity in support of expanding sales expansion inside existing strategic accounts. The Sr. Sales Engineer must possess a winning combination of business and technical skills, the ability to confidently present and demonstrate our SANS solutions and articulate the value message to a broad spectrum of audiences from technical and business teams as well as the C-suite.  In this role, account representatives will leverage your technical credibility to help assure SANS is considered a trusted advisor with these prospective customers. You will be applying your cybersecurity and technical knowledge for many related tasks including strategizing with Account Reps, building training roadmaps, conducting deeper customer conversations and demonstrations, and reaching across internal business units to support Sales enablement efforts. 

If you are an experienced cybersecurity professional, self-motivated, passionate, results-oriented, and an innovative problem-solver come join our talented SANS team.  

As a Senior Sales Engineer, you will:

• Support attainment of North America revenue goals through strategic and technical interactions with sales, prospects, and customers
• Operate autonomously to best meet unique sales needs for your territory.
• Partner with regional account reps to build account level sales strategy.
• Document success criteria from pre-sales activities to prepare the customer success team for transitions.
• Support the Sales process with RFI/RFQ completions and trials as necessary.
• Deliver a small number of technical services engagements with strategic customer accounts identified by leadership team as having the most growth potential.
• Create and deliver compelling demonstrations, presentations, and materials to drive revenue, utilization, value positioning, and cross-sell/upsell wins.
• Develop deep expertise of SANS product portfolio and be the technical product expert for the sales team for pre-and post-sales lifecycle.
• Support the sales team in overcoming common sales objections such as price, value, vendor comparisons, and other common business challenges with prospects and customers.
• Research, analyze, and communicate customers’ current training priorities, spend, and industry risk profile to provide tailored recommendations, multi-year developmental roadmaps, industry best practices, and expertise to drive customer growth, ROI value, and utilization.
• Partner with Sales to help them establish and strengthen strategic relationships within their customer set that are decision makers, influencers, and/or key stakeholders with focus on expanding contact reach to growth account revenue
• Understand different roles, responsibilities, and disciplines within cybersecurity to apply recommendations, resources, and insights to sales, customers, and prospects.
• Provide relevant updates and product/technical training sessions to sales team that are focused on enhancing their product knowledge, technical acumen, and technical sales skills to support revenue-generating activities.
• Participate in marketing collaboration efforts and events.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

What We're Looking For

Every SANS employee brings something unique. For this role, we’re looking for candidates with:

• Bachelor’s degree in information technology, computer science, cybersecurity, software engineering, and/or other related field or comparable work and/or technical experience
• 5+ years working in a sales/solutions engineering, consulting, and/or similar role
• Experience leading customer calls, delivering customer presentations, product demos, and creating materials to drive revenue, utilization, and value.
• Ability to articulate the importance of cybersecurity training in a simple way to B2B customers.
• Exceptional oral and written communication and interpersonal skills
• Well-organized and strong project management abilities
• Expert level experience creating data-focused, visually rich customer-facing PowerPoint presentations
• Communicate effectively with both business/functional and highly technical individuals.
• Ability to work well in a fast-paced, team-oriented environment and thrive on challenges.
• Highly self-motivated and has quality standards with attention to detail
• Demonstrated ability to understand customer needs, provide quality service, persuasively present ideas, and drive customer satisfaction
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively across cultural boundaries and work harmoniously with a diverse group of people
• Aptitude for continuous learning and skill development
• Proficient with web-based collaborative tools such as Dropbox, Smartsheet, Salesforce, and Microsoft Office Suite
• Strong communication skills and the ability to adjust approach and communication style based on personalities and goals of prospects, customers, and key stakeholders
• Ability to travel for team meetings, training events, customer meetings, and/or other business needs, approximately 50% of the time.
  
• Ability to present effectively, control attention, explain proposed solutions, and answer detailed and technical questions from customers
• Unrestricted authorization to work in the USA; visa sponsorship is not available.

Preferred qualifications include:

• Background in delivering services and/or sales engineering for training-based products
• Prior experience with lab-based and/or simulation-based products
• Prior experience with security awareness, risk-management, and other related cybersecurity products
• 2+ GIAC and/or other cybersecurity related certifications

Benefits and Perks of Working at SANS

We’re committed to fair and equitable compensation. The expected salary range for this position is $150,000-225,000 OTE (compromised of base salary and commission), depending on geographic location, skills, and experience. At SANS, pay equity and transparency are priorities.

We offer a comprehensive benefits package that supports your total well-being so you can be and deliver your best. This means caring for you and your loved ones' physical, financial, and mental health, as well as providing the flexibility you need to thrive personally and professionally:

• Financial Benefits: Competitive base salary, bonus opportunities, and a 401(k) plan with company match.
• Health & Wellness: Robust medical, dental, and vision plans; company-provided short term disability; optional long-term disability, supplemental life and AD&D insurance for employees and dependents; voluntary benefits including accident insurance and identity theft protection; fitness and wellness programs; and a company paid employee assistance program (EAP).
• Time Off & Flexibility: Generous paid time off, including volunteer time.
• Learning & Development: Access to professional development and SANS training opportunities.

Flexibility and Balance at SANS

We support our colleagues with the tools and flexibility they need to thrive, both professionally and personally. As a primarily remote work environment, we are committed to maintaining strong connections, collaboration, and a vibrant culture across virtual teams. While most roles operate remotely, some positions may require occasional in-person presence depending on role-specific or business needs.

SANS is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer

SANS is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate based on race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability, or any other federal, state, or local protected class.

If, because of a medical condition or disability, you require a reasonable accommodation during the application process, or to perform the essential functions of a position, please contact SANS Human Resources.

US Job Seekers: Click here to view the “Know Your Rights” poster.

SANS complies with all applicable state and local laws regarding the consideration of applicants with arrest or conviction records. For positions governed by federal and/or state banking regulations, SANS will adhere to relevant requirements when evaluating candidates with criminal histories.

Employment eligibility in the United States is required. SANS does not provide visa sponsorship for this position.

Compensation: $150,000-225,000 OTE (compromised of base salary and commission)