Palo Alto Networks

Strategic Account Director

Our mission is to be the cybersecurity partner of choice, protecting our digital way of life.

  • Sales and customer success

  • Full-time

  • Office | Melbourne, VIC, Australia

  • Visa sponsorship · No

  • Senior · A role for someone with advanced knowledge and skills. May involve mentoring, leading others or specialisation. Typically at least 5 years of experience.

  • ·

Why Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, the global cybersecurity leader, is shaping the cloud-centric future with technology that is transforming the way people and organizations operate. Our mission is to be the cybersecurity partner of choice, protecting our digital way of life. We help address the world's greatest security challenges with continuous innovation that seizes the latest breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, analytics, automation, and orchestration. By delivering an integrated platform and empowering a growing ecosystem of partners, we are at the forefront of protecting tens of thousands of organizations across clouds, networks, and mobile devices. Our vision is a world where each day is safer and more secure than the one before.

About the role

Your Career At Palo Alto Networks, we are committed to securing the digital world and empowering organizations with endless possibilities. As a Strategic Account Director, you will play a pivotal role in managing major, strategic accounts, establishing strong relationships with key executives, and exceeding sales quotas and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). You will adopt an indirect leadership role across a number of shared services all focused on ensuring your and our success in your assigned territory, and optimizing market presence, revenues, and results for Palo Alto Networks. Your Impact

  • Create and drive multimillion dollar, multi year pursuits with key strategic accounts in your assigned territory
  • Manage major, strategic accounts, exceeding sales quotas and KPIs - Build and nurture relationships with key executive stakeholders
  • Leverage your consultative selling experience to identify business challenges and create solutions for prospects and our customers
  • Understand the competitive landscape and customer needs so you can effectively position the portfolio of Palo Alto Networks solutions
  • Create clear goals and complete accurate forecasting through developing a detailed territory plan
  • Leverage prospect stories to create a compelling value proposition with insights into value for that specific account
  • Stay updated on industry news and trends, and how they affect Palo Alto Networks products and services - Demonstrate industry knowledge, articulating unique value to customers - Develop strategies aligning customer's business goals with Palo Alto Networks’ value proposition
  • Travel as necessary within your territory, and to company-wide meetings
  • Take up an indirect leadership role responsible for orchestrating a diverse shared services team to optimize revenues and profitability
  • Establish strong relationships with C-level executives and decision-makers - Identify mutually beneficial business opportunities with external partners
  • Provide credible leadership across various business functions, fostering collaboration - Be accountable and trusted in customer and internal interactions
  • Drive revenue-maximizing opportunities, utilizing Palo Alto Networks’ capabilities - Focus on high-value growth with a long-term perspective, executing innovative business models
  • Implement processes to monitor customer satisfaction and loyalty - Enhance Total Customer Experience and deliver maximum value through continuous improvement
  • Cultivate value-added partnerships, extending Palo Alto Networks’ reach and capabilities - Deliver incremental benefits to customers through strategic collaborations

Your Experience

  • To excel in this role, you'll bring 15 years of experience and knowledge in B2B SaaS sales, ideally within BFSI
  • Proven track record of leading multi-year, multi-million dollar initiatives, from pre-sales to customer service handoff
  • Successful history of direct selling, consulting, and service delivery in the technology industry, focusing on multi-year solutions
  • Strong understanding of various business models and connecting them with how IT drives profitability
  • Resilient and credible leadership abilities, indirectly leading across multiple functions and fostering collaboration and accountability
  • Entrepreneurial mindset, identifying and pursuing substantial growth opportunities with a long-term view
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills to engage with executives and decision-makers
  • Strong executive presence, building relationships with senior stakeholders and partners
  • Experience and knowledge of SaaS-based architectures, ideally in a networking and/or security industry
  • Demonstrated experience selling complex solutions, value selling, and/or consultative sales techniques
  • Technical aptitude for understanding how technology products and solutions solve business problems
  • Cultivate relationships with our channel partners to bring channel-centric go-to-market approach for our customers
  • Demonstrates in depth knowledge of the full sales cycle and the ability to follow a structured sales process
  • Ability to take a holistic approach to problem solving by understanding the bigger picture, and considering complex interrelationships and outcomes
  • Excellent time management skills, and work with high levels of autonomy and self-direction

The Team Our Enterprise Sales team is driven, agile, and deeply committed to advancing our industry and creating a safer world. We foster a culture of respect, ownership, and inclusion, where everyone's voice matters. Our empathetic leadership is accessible and provides the necessary support for authentic connections. Innovation thrives in our environment, and we celebrate achievements while maintaining high standards. Our culture encourages personal and professional growth, with leaders and teams supporting each other through objective feedback. Join us and be a part of a dynamic, accountable, and empowering work experience. Our sales team members work hand-in-hand with large organizations around the world to keep their digital environments protected. We educate, inspire, and empower our potential clients in their journey to security. As part of our sales team, you are empowered with unmatched systems and tools, constantly updated research and sales libraries, and a team built on joint success. You won’t find someone at Palo Alto Networks that isn’t committed to your success – with everyone pitching in to assist when it comes to solutions selling, learning, and development. As a member of our sales team, you are motivated by a solutions-focused sales environment and find fulfillment in working with clients to resolve incredibly complex cyberthreats. 

What you'll be responsible for

  • ⭐️

    Sales Pipeline Fulfilment

    Ensure the top of the sales pipeline is adequately filled with quality leads

  • 💬

    Customer Advocacy and Feedback

    Advocate for customers by providing feedback to internal teams on how to better meet customer needs

  • 💼

    Sales Pipeline Management

    Efficiently navigate the CRM and other operational tools to create, update, retrieve, and understand information about accounts and opportunities

Skills you'll need

  • 👥

    Collaboration

    Works with others by being open, clear in communication and listening to achieve goals

  • 📊

    Results orientation

    Focuses on outcomes and the steps it takes to achieve them

  • 💡

    Problem solving

    Identifies problems and develops logical solutions that address the problems

Meet the team

Avatar
Sales

Palo Alto Networks