Senior Manager, Solutions Engineering Pre-Sales, Northern Europe
Job description
At Cloudflare, we are on a mission to help build a better Internet. Today the company runs one of the world’s largest networks that powers millions of websites and other Internet properties for customers ranging from individual bloggers to SMBs to Fortune 500 companies. Cloudflare protects and accelerates any Internet application online without adding hardware, installing software, or changing a line of code. Internet properties powered by Cloudflare all have web traffic routed through its intelligent global network, which gets smarter with every request. As a result, they see significant improvement in performance and a decrease in spam and other attacks. Cloudflare was named to Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top Company Cultures list and ranked among the World’s Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company.
At Cloudflare, we’re not looking for people who wait for a polished roadmap; we’re looking for the builders who see the cracks in the Internet that everyone else has simply learned to live with. We value candidates who have the instinct to spot a "normalized" problem and the AI-native curiosity to create a solution using the latest tools. Our culture is built on iteration, leveraging AI to ship faster today to make it better tomorrow, while ensuring that every improvement, no matter how small, is shared across the team to lift everyone up. If you’re the type of person who values curiosity over bureaucracy, and that AI is a partner in solving tough problems to keep the Internet moving forward, you’ll fit right in.
Location: Sweden (remote)
What you’ll do as a Solutions Engineering Manager (Pre-Sales)
You are the team leader, enabler, point of reference and coach. You will work closely with our prospects and customers by shadowing and improving your team’s technical expertise. You will take care of new team members and you will ensure work loads are equally distributed within the team. You are personable and can provide constructive feedback when necessary. You will help escalate and identify issues quickly and efficiently and you will work with the other team leads and the regional lead to ensure proper regional coordination. The Solution Engineering Manager has a player/coach mindset and the ability/willingness to step into the field when needed, and lead by example. In addition, you will be expected to partner closely with peer sales leaders and drive to revenue targets.
To aid your team, you will work closely with every team at Cloudflare, from Sales and Product, through to Engineering and Customer Support. Your goal of customer success should drive you through the entire organization as you seek out and advise your team on how to create scalable solutions for your customer’s needs.
Examples of desirable skills, knowledge, experience and goals
Our Solutions Engineers and Managers come from a wide range of backgrounds: engineering, software development, finance, product management, customer support & project delivery. We're serious about building a diverse team. When hiring we look for diversity of experience combined with genuine curiosity for our technology.
Ultimately, you are passionate about technology, have the ability to explain complex technical concepts in easy-to-understand terms, and you like coaching and teaching. You are naturally curious, and an avid builder who is not afraid to get your hands dirty. On the Solutions Engineering team, you will find a collaborative environment where everyone brings different strengths and jumps in to help each other and you will be an integral part of driving that culture.
What you need
The Solution Engineering Manager role requires you to have the ability to effectively manage and grow your team, as well as possess the technical prowess expected of a Solutions Engineer. Your capabilities may include a mix of the following:
- 15+ years of pre-sales / SE experience in a reputable IT company.
- 5+ years of experience as a frontline or second level SE manager role.
- Strong understanding of the Northern European (Benelux / Nordics) market, proven track record of business engagements with customers in that market.
- Proven track record of business growth and talent acquisition (team building).
- Demonstrable experience in coaching, leadership skills and team management
- Demonstrable experience in understanding and solving escalations, team issues or other management related scenarios
- Understanding of customers buying decision process and how to influence it, and the ability to make intelligent business decisions to drive to revenue targets
- Expertise in internet technologies: OSI Model layers 1-7, BGP, TCP/UDP, DNS (authoritative and recursive), HTTP(S), SSL / TLS
- Technical curiosity and passion: Cloudflare is at the cutting edge of internet technology, and our Solutions Engineers are viewed as subject-matter experts. It’s incumbent on us to stay up to date not only with Cloudflare’s specific products, but with industry trends.
Bonus points:
- BSc/MSc or equivalent degree in a technology related field.
- MBA is a plus.
- Demonstrated experience with a scripting or programming language (e.g. Python, JavaScript, Bash, Go) and a desire to expand those skills;
- Industry and technology certifications
- Exposure to emerging technical landscape trends, such as Zero Trust and Serverless computing.
- Experience in Cloud project deployments
- Speaking one other European language in addition to fluent English
Inter-Team Goals
- Work directly with the Sales Director of the region in a 1-to-1 alignment.
- Cultivate cross SE team/office coordination, keep us all connected as one team
- Facilitate knowledge transfer between SE teams globally.
- Develop strong relationships outside of SE organization to aid in escalation of issues (product/support/engineering/special projects/marketing/legal/etc)
- Maintain strong communications with Account Executives and Customer Success leads
Intra-Team Goals
- Keep the pulse of the team: who is happy, productive, performing. Know each member’s strengths and how they would each like to develop
- Exemplify and cultivate positive culture traits. Provide support and confidence to team members
- Effectively deal with performance issues and provide relevant, timely feedback.
- Cultivate a very open communication environment. Criticism is welcome and appreciated
- Maintain a culture of independence, collaboration and results focus.
What Makes Cloudflare Special?
We’re not just a highly ambitious, large-scale technology company. We’re a highly ambitious, large-scale technology company with a soul. Fundamental to our mission to help build a better Internet is protecting the free and open Internet.
Project Galileo: Since 2014, we've equipped more than 2,400 journalism and civil society organizations in 111 countries with powerful tools to defend themselves against attacks that would otherwise censor their work, technology already used by Cloudflare’s enterprise customers--at no cost.
Athenian Project: In 2017, we created the Athenian Project to ensure that state and local governments have the highest level of protection and reliability for free, so that their constituents have access to election information and voter registration. Since the project, we've provided services to more than 425 local government election websites in 33 states.
1.1.1.1: We released 1.1.1.1 to help fix the foundation of the Internet by building a faster, more secure and privacy-centric public DNS resolver. This is available publicly for everyone to use - it is the first consumer-focused service Cloudflare has ever released. Here’s the deal - we don’t store client IP addresses never, ever. We will continue to abide by our privacy commitment and ensure that no user data is sold to advertisers or used to target consumers.
Sound like something you’d like to be a part of? We’d love to hear from you!
Please note that applicants who progress to the offer stage of the interview process may be asked to attend an in-person interview within one of the Cloudflare Offices or Cloudflare Hubs. More details about this will be available at that stage of the interview process.
This position may require access to information protected under U.S. export control laws, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations. Please note that any offer of employment may be conditioned on your authorization to receive software or technology controlled under these U.S. export laws without sponsorship for an export license.
Cloudflare is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunity for all people and place great value in both diversity and inclusiveness. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to their, or any other person's, perceived or actual race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care status, or any other basis protected by law. We are an AA/Veterans/Disabled Employer.
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