Zendesk

Senior Sales Engineer

Zendesk$226K — $338K *
Information Technology
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related technical field; Master's preferred.
  • 5+ years in technical presales or solution engineering for enterprise SaaS.
  • Deep knowledge of web technologies (Python, Node.js) and APIs.
  • Familiarity with AI technologies like LLMs and prompt engineering.
  • Understanding of enterprise infrastructure and contact center technology.

Responsibilities

  • Design and build advanced AI-driven customer workflows.
  • Conduct in-depth technical discovery and AI assessments.
  • Develop reusable accelerators and API components for deployment.
  • Lead the technical sales process from qualification to execution.
  • Collaborate with product teams to provide technical field insights.

Benefits

  • Hybrid work model with flexible remote options.
  • Opportunities for on-site collaboration and team events.
  • Professional development and training opportunities.
  • Involvement in pioneering AI and integration strategies.
Full Job Description
Job Description

We are seeking a Senior Sales Engineer (SE) to sit at the intersection of enterprise software strategy, hands-on systems architecture, and advanced AI automation. This is not a traditional generalist presales role. This is a role built for highly technical builders who are deeply curious about how autonomous agents, security, analytics, and deep integrations fundamentally transform how enterprise work gets done. You will own the technical strategy for our global customer engagements, acting as a strategic advisor to both the C-suite and engineering leadership.

What You'll Be Doing:

  • Architect Agentic AI & Integration Workflows: Design, build, and operationalize advanced, agentic AI-driven customer workflows leveraging Large Language Models (LLMs), deep prompt engineering, and modern automation frameworks.
  • Lead Technical Architecture Discovery: Conduct rigorous, deep-dive technical discovery and AI readiness assessments. Translate complex system requirements into scalable demonstrations, pilots and proofs-of-concept (POCs) that demonstrate clear business value.
  • Build Scalable Accelerators: Proactively develop production-ready, reusable technical accelerators, middleware templates, and open-source-aligned API components that allow regional teams and Systems Integrators (SIs) to deploy Zendesk solutions at scale.
  • Own the Technical Sales Lifecycle: Serve as the absolute technical authority from qualification through execution. Architect secure, scalable topologies leveraging Zendesk APIs, webhook frameworks, and leading cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP).
  • Bridge Product & Field Strategy: Partner directly with Product Management and Engineering to provide real-world, technical feedback from the field, identifying product gaps and shaping the future roadmap of Zendesk's core AI and platform ecosystem.


What You Bring (Required Qualifications):

  • Education: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Business Analytics, Economics, Statistics, or a related highly quantitative technical discipline is required. A Master's degree or professional technical certifications are a distinct advantage.
  • Experience: 5+ years of hands-on experience in technical presales, solution engineering, or a system architect/developer role within enterprise SaaS or complex software environments.
  • Technical Fluency: Deep expertise with modern web and scripting technologies (e.g., Python, Node.js, JavaScript), REST/SOAP APIs, middleware frameworks, and cloud ecosystem architectures.
  • AI/ML Expertise: Strong foundational knowledge of AI technologies, including Large Language Models (LLMs), prompt engineering, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and autonomous agent deployment.
  • Domain Knowledge: Solid understanding of enterprise infrastructure, contact center tech stacks (CCaaS, telephony, workforce management), or modern IT Service Management (ITSM) systems.
  • Travel Commitment: Ability and willingness to travel between 30% and 50% annually to lead critical, high-touch on-site customer architecture sessions and strategic regional briefings.

Preferred Qualifications:
  • Proven track record of designing reusable implementation guides, integration playbooks, or localization toolkits for global delivery partners and systems integrators.
  • Experience flattening complex technical narratives into high-impact presentations tailored for executive, economic buyers and C-level stakeholders.

Who You Are:
  • Customer obsessed: The customer comes first, and you believe that through and through. We are here to delight the customer with the ability to give them what they need in CX before they even know.
  • A Builder First: You have a passion for code, deep system configurations, and getting your hands dirty building the future of software.
  • Strategically Minded: You naturally tie advanced technical mechanisms directly to strategic business metrics, ROI, and organizational transformation.
  • Resilient & Collaborative: You thrive in high-stakes environments, working cross-functionally across complex international teams to drive a unified go-to-market strategy.


The US annualized OTE (On Target Earnings) range for this position is $226,000.00-$338,000.00 with a pay mix of 80/20 (base/commission). This position may also be eligible for bonus, benefits, or related incentives. While this range reflects the minimum and maximum value for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations, the offer for the successful candidate for this position will be based on job related capabilities, applicable experience, and other factors such as work location. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only (or OTE for commissions based roles), and do not include bonus, benefits, or related incentives.

Hybrid: In this role, our hybrid experience is designed at the team level to give you a rich onsite experience packed with connection, collaboration, learning, and celebration - while also giving you flexibility to work remotely for part of the week. This role must attend our local office for part of the week. The specific in-office schedule is to be determined by the hiring manager.

About Zendesk

Zendesk is a customer service software company headquartered in San Francisco, California, USA. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the symbol ZEN and is a constituent of the Russell 2000 Index. The company provides a cloud-based customer support platform which allows quicker and easier interaction between businesses and customers. Zendesk has over 4,000 employees and serves 150,000 customers in 160 countries. The company was founded in 2007 by Mikkel Svane, Morten Primdahl, and Alexander Aghassipour.
Learn more about Zendesk
Size
2,570 employees
Market Cap
$10.3 billion
Industry
Net Income
-$218.1 million
Founded
2007
5 Year Trend
+33.7%
Revenue
$1 billion
NASDAQ

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