Palo Alto Networks

Director, Customer Success Engineering, Netsec

Palo Alto Networks • $227K — $311K *
Information Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 10+ years in Customer Success or Professional Services in SaaS or cybersecurity; 5+ years in leadership.
  • Strategic mindset leveraging AI to improve Customer Success.
  • In-depth knowledge of SASE (SD-WAN, CASB, ZTNA) and NGFW technologies.
  • Familiarity with major cloud providers: AWS, Azure, GCP.
  • Experience managing complex enterprise customer portfolios.
  • Exceptional communication skills to convey technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
  • Data-driven approach focused on customer outcomes and continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

  • Define and implement the Customer Success strategy for SASE and NGFW, maximizing Time-to-Value (TTV).
  • Lead and mentor a team of Customer Success Engineers, promoting a culture of advocacy and technical excellence.
  • Create comprehensive playbooks covering the customer lifecycle from implementation to renewals.
  • Establish KPIs such as Churn Rate and NPS to monitor customer health and retention.
  • Collaborate with Product and Engineering to provide customer insights that inform product development.
  • Partner with Sales to ensure alignment on strategies for account growth and seamless transitions.
  • Act as the executive sponsor for key accounts, managing relationships with senior security leaders.

Benefits

  • Comprehensive benefits package including health and wellness programs.
  • Flexible work arrangements and opportunities for remote work.
  • Professional development support for technical certifications and training.
  • Employee stock options and performance bonuses.
  • A diverse, inclusive workplace culture that values employee feedback.
Full Job Description
Job Summary

As the Director of Customer Success for our Network Security business (NGFW/SASE), you will be the primary architect of the post-sale customer journey. You will lead a high-performing team of Customer Success Engineers dedicated to ensuring our enterprise clients realize the full value of our converged networking, cloud security platforms, and enterprise firewall infrastructure.

SASE and advanced firewall integrations represent a fundamental shift in how our customers' organizations manage security and connectivity. This role requires a leader who understands the complexity of digital transformation, SD-WAN, Zero Trust architectures, and enterprise threat prevention, translating that technical complexity into business outcomes for our customers.

Strategy & Leadership
  • Define and execute the SASE and NGFW Customer Success strategy, focusing on Time-to-Value (TTV), adoption depth, and Net Retention.
  • Lead, mentor, and scale a dual-focus team of SASE and NGFW Customer Success Engineers, fostering a culture of proactive advocacy and technical excellence.
  • Develop playbooks for the entire customer lifecycle, from implementation hand-off to executive business reviews (EBRs) and renewals across both cloud-native and hybrid security deployments.


Operational Excellence
  • Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) including Churn Rate, NPS/CSAT, Health Scores, and Expansion Pipeline.
  • Partner with Product and Engineering to provide a "voice of the customer" feedback loop, influencing both the SASE and NGFW product roadmaps based on real-world deployment challenges.
  • Collaborate with Sales leadership to ensure seamless hand-offs and alignment on account growth strategies.


Customer Advocacy & Retention
  • Serve as the executive sponsor for accounts, maintaining relationships with CISOs, CIOs, and Network Security Directors.
  • Manage "At-Risk" accounts by developing comprehensive get-well plans and coordinating cross-functional resources.
  • Champion the shift from traditional hardware-centric networks to modern hybrid architectures, ensuring customers successfully bridge legacy network security with cloud-native SASE models.


Qualifications

Qualifications
  • 10+ years of relevant experience in Customer Success or Professional Services within SaaS or cybersecurity, with 5+ years in a people leadership role.
  • Demonstrated AI-first strategic mindset to scale Customer Success operations, drive retention, and enhance efficiency
  • Deep understanding of SASE components (SD-WAN, CASB, ZTNA) as well as Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) technologies.
  • Familiarity with cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP) and enterprise networking is essential.
  • Experience overseeing a large, complex enterprise customer portfolio, with accountability for adoption, customer health, retention, and executive escalations
  • Exceptional communication skills with the ability to explain complex security concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
  • Data-driven and analytical, with a relentless focus on customer outcomes and continuous improvement.


Education
  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or Business. MBA or relevant technical certifications (e.g., CISSP, CCIE, PCNSE or similar NGFW certifications) preferred.


Compensation Disclosure

The compensation offered for this position will depend on qualifications, experience, and work location. For candidates who receive an offer at the posted level, the starting base salary (for non-sales roles) or base salary + commission target (for sales/com-missioned roles) is expected to be the annual range listed below. The offered compensation may also include restricted stock units and a bonus. A description of our employee benefits may be found here.

$227,300.00 - $311,850.00/yr

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. is an American multinational cybersecurity company with headquarters in Santa Clara, California. Its core products are a platform that includes advanced firewalls and cloud-based offerings that extend those firewalls to cover other aspects of security. The company serves over 70,000 organizations in over 150 countries, including 85 of the Fortune 100. It is home to the Unit 42 threat research team and hosts the Ignite cybersecurity conference.
Learn more about Palo Alto Networks
Size
11,870 employees
Market Cap
$42.6 billion
Industry
Net Income
-$368.2 million
Founded
2005
5 Year Trend
+25.7%
Revenue
$3.7 billion
NASDAQ

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