FEDERAL CONSULTING SYSTEMS ENGINEER Home office set up. Beltway, MD, DC, VA. As a Palo Alto Networks Consulting Engineer, you will be the expert for the Federal solutions vertical. You will work across our entire portfolio of solutions from core, native NGFW and Network Security solutions through Endpoint, Cloud, Behavior Analytics and SaaS. This position requires 4 years of hands-on experience with PANW products in complex environments.
As a Palo Alto Networks Consulting Engineer, you will be the expert for the Federal solutions vertical. You are the “go to” resource for customer interactions that exceed standard Systems Engineering support requirements (we always expect a baseline expertise in all areas from our SE’s, but augment them with CE’s in the advanced or new technology areas). The business card title will be Federal Solutions Architect, although the internal position code is Consulting Systems Engineer.
The Consulting Engineering role is an overlay technical role that directly supports sales delivery of quota. CE’s are measured by their expertise and by their ability to lead to customer successes. As the number of CE’s in the company is small, there is also a requirement for close interaction with Product Management to ensure that we continue to out-innovate our competition. RESPONSIBILITIES:
The Primary focus of the role is setting the stage for large and important deals from an architecture perspective and providing future direction and strategy to customer C-Suites. The role also requires the ability to parachute in as a PANW expert to help with important and critical customer deployments or proofs-of-concept. Additional duties to provide training and direction to the SE team on advanced technologies. Travel may be scheduled or unscheduled.
Brief senior level leaders (CIO/CISO/CSO/CTO) on our architectures (not only Cloud and Endpoint products, but also architecture and design for zero trust, micro segmentation, and other strategic initiatives).
Work closely with Business Development on strategic initiatives being pursued beyond a 12-month time horizon.
Dive deep in complex deployments to assist customers.
Work with Product Management, Technical Marketing and R&D to create requirements and product features for our large customers and provide feedback from customers.
Provide design consultation and best practice guidance for rollout, implementation, and policy conversion during the 'pre sales' process for strategic opportunities.
The Consulting Engineer will take ownership of advanced 'proof of concept' testing in strategic accounts either at the customer site or Palo Alto Networks lab facilities.
Provide product update and enhancement training to other SEs in the region or theater.
Provide demos for strategic prospects and current accounts in all facets of Palo Alto Network’s virtual offerings and integration in existing datacenter environments.
Assist in the training of new Palo Alto Networks SEs in their designated region in installs customer presentations, and internally-focused deal preparation activities.
Provide territory coverage within the region when additional resources are required.
Provide advanced 'Partner SE' training for updates in the Palo Alto Networks product suite.
Present to customers as our expert in your area at all levels in the customer hierarchy from technician to CIO
Lead conversations about industry trends and emerging changes to the security landscape that every customer needs to be aware of and planning to deal with
Discuss, with credibility, competitive offers in the marketplace and positions ours as the best alternative
Lead and support customer demonstrations (with our SE’s) that showcase our unique value
Interact locally and remotely with customers in an equally persuasive manner.
QUALIFICATIONS: *Demonstrable experience with systems installation, configuration and administration of routers/switches, UNIX/Linux and Windows-based systems (prior Active Directory/LDAP experience desirable)
*Experience selling network infrastructure-based security appliances including (but not limited to): Firewalls, SSL/IPSec VPNs, Security Proxies and Caches, IDPS, Web Content Filters, Data Loss Prevention, Malware Detection Sandboxes, and SSL Decryption and Analysis.
*Experience with Application layer protocols within the TCP/IP stack and analyzing Wireshark PCAPs
*Possess deep knowledge of Military Branches, Pentagon, DoD Strategic Commands, the Intelligence Community, and Federal Civilian Agencies.
*Experience that emphasizes L2-L4 Networking (L2 Switching architectures including Spanning Tree, IP routing including OSPF and BGP ,L4 Load balancing)
*Active Top Secret Clearance required as a minimum, with ability to get SCI (polygraph may be required)
*Strong communication (written and verbal) and presentation skills, both internally and externally
*Strong problem solving skills, ability to analyze complex multivariate problems and use a systematic approach to gain quick resolution, often under duress
-5-15 years experience working for a vendor or a VAR in a pre-sales role.
-Local travel of 60-80%
-Self motivated
-Super organizational skills
-"Whatever it takes" attitude and motivation to do whatever necessary to assist in closing a deal.
-Experience working with Channel partners and understanding of a channel centric go to market approach.
-Experience with companies in the enterprise networking security space.
-Experience installing and configuring a virtual environment
-Experience understanding threat signatures and their creation.
*Experience working with Channel partners and understanding of a channel centric go to market approach.
*Experience working with companies in the enterprise networking security space.
*PCNSE desired.
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