Director, Solutions Engineering

As the Director, Solution Engineering, you will partner with the Sales and Solutions Engineering teams in the Sales business unit to optimize pipeline & bookings; drive and enable field sales and revenue growth; innovate technical selling approaches and lead the growth of the Solution Engineering team.

Responsibilities:

• Provide technical and business leadership for the SE organization promoting leadership by example.
• Align people - communicate the direction by works and deeds to all whose cooperation may be needed so as to influence the creation of teams and coalitions that understand the vision and strategies, and accept their validity.
• Player-coach, actively working with their team members to solve difficult problems
• Motivate and inspire - energize people to overcome major political, bureaucratic, and resource barriers to change by satisfying very basic, but often unfulfilled human needs.
• Strong influence skills - ability to influence and guide an organization without direct management responsibility.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, listening, negotiation and presentation skills.
• Establish strategic direction and performance standards and drive strategic initiatives and programs as needed to actively support the team's career development and advancement.
• Implement and manage guidelines/baselines for the Sales Engineering organization. Manage non-performers to ensure the highest performance within the organization.
• Leverage the Corporate Solutions Engineering team to provide technical development for the SE Team, drive success in strategic opportunities, drive product portfolio requirements, competitive strategies, and critical account resolution.
• Create an atmosphere in which timely and high-quality information flows smoothly between corporate, employees and management.
• Focus on customer needs that drives Customer Satisfaction.
• Build and lead effective teams committed to organizational goals and foster teamwork across the business unit
• Encourage collaboration, use teams to address relevant business and customer goals.
• Coordinate with product teams and drive team to provide customers with acceptable solutions.
• Build Trust with Customers and Partners, build influential relationships in our top accounts, be the personal hands-on technical sponsor and driver for our strategic business opportunities.
• Work with peers in order to leverage ideas, implement them, and share TEAM triumphs and failures as learning tools.
• Work with peers to solve corporate-wide problems such as SE organization growth, employee retention, and recognition with the appropriate commonality among SE forces.
• Regularly interacts with senior management on matters concerning functional area.

Qualifications:

• 8+ years related pre-sales management experience.
• Thorough understanding of organizational structures, management practices, staff development and retention.
• Experience with Software Product Sales; Infrastructure, Cloud Technologies, and/or SaaS.
• Solid knowledge in one or more of the relevant area's: Network Performance Management, WAN/LAN Network Design, Knowledge of TCP/IP, Routing and Switching, Cisco experience highly desirable, Cloud and Application knowledge, Troubleshooting and Problem Resolution.
• Thorough competitive knowledge including industry, technologies and product offerings, evolving technologies
• Understand and be conversant about company, its solutions, and product strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
• Solid knowledge and experience of customer management practices.
• In-depth understanding and experience in management of all aspects of sales support processes.
• Must have a clear understanding of selling cycles, selling strategies and the skills and responsibilities of an AM and SE team.
• Must be viewed and/or recognized as a leader by senior Sales management, SE organization, customers, and Riverbed corporate organizations
• BS/BA (EE/CS) or equivalent.