Specialist Solutions Engineer - Cloud Security

AHEAD builds platforms for digital business. By weaving together advances in cloud infrastructure, automation and analytics, and software delivery, we help enterprises deliver on the promise of digital transformation. At AHEAD, we prioritize creating a culture of belonging, where all perspectives and voices are represented, valued, respected, and heard. We create spaces to empower everyone to speak up, make change, and drive the culture at AHEAD. We are an equal opportunity employer, and do not discriminate based on an individual's race, national origin, color, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, marital status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law, whether actual or perceived. We embrace all candidates that will contribute to the diversification and enrichment of ideas and perspectives at AHEAD.

Join the fastest-growing SSE organization at AHEAD. Our cloud security practice has grown 193%, and the broader SSE organization currently sits at 22 resources, with plans to grow beyond 30. This is a compelling role in a part of AHEAD's business that is expanding exponentially, and we're looking for senior cloud security talent to help us continue building a category-leading practice.

The AHEAD Cloud Security Specialist Solutions Engineer (SSE) is a senior individual contributor role serving as a national cloud security resource. The SSE is an organizational thought leader in cloud security, responsible for helping organizations mature their Cloud Security posture, leading with GRC & strategy and cloud secure architectures, all powered by AHEAD's professional and managed services and deep, cross-domain engineering expertise. This differentiated approach leads to transformational security outcomes for our clients and prospects.

You will work in partnership with the account team, delivery leadership, and other SSE team members to create contextual proposal and drive transformational outcomes for our clients and prospects in the Cloud Security space. You will help AHEAD's account teams identify the right cloud security technologies and vendors to partner with for individual clients or in a given region.

In partnership with other senior SSEs and delivery leadership, you will assist in creating design diagrams, bills of materials, proposals, and services proposals associated with active cloud security sales campaigns. You will also assist with achieving the proper training and certifications necessary to meet OEM requirements.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Serve as a national cloud security resource, supporting opportunities across all AHEAD regions

• Strategize and execute technical sales calls in partnership with sales representatives

• Be a thought leader within the Solutions Engineering organization, responsible for designing, architecting, and consulting for AHEAD clients in the cloud security domain

• Partner closely with delivery leadership to ensure proposed solutions align with how AHEAD executes and delivers for our clients

• Support sales teams during engagements by providing advice, solutions, and proposals optimized to meet customer technical and business requirements

• Complete required pre-sales documentation (configurations, pricing, services, presentations, justifications, etc.) quickly and accurately

• Qualify sales opportunities in terms of customer technical requirements, decision-making process, and funding

• Define cloud security strategies for clients, size and design cloud security products, and leverage subject matter experts across AHEAD to scale effectiveness nationally

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of overall experience in cybersecurity, cloud, or technology consulting, with at least 4 years hands-on in cloud security

• Prior pre-sales experience is required. Candidates must have previously held a pre-sales role and be able to hold a pre-sales conversation with clients about scope, approach, and pricing

• Demonstrated experience creating cloud security proposals in a pre-sales capacity (SOWs, services proposals, solution designs, or equivalent client-facing proposal artifacts)

• Hands-on experience with at least two leading CNAPP platforms (Palo Alto Prisma Cloud, Wiz, Upwind, or equivalent), with working knowledge of the underlying capability categories: CSPM, CWPP, CIEM, KSPM, DSPM, AI-SPM and container/Kubernetes security

• Hands-on experience with at least one hyperscaler (AWS, Azure, or GCP) including its native security controls (e.g., AWS Security Hub / GuardDuty, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Google Security Command Center), with at least working familiarity with the other two

• Experience designing and presenting cloud security architectures that integrate solutions across multiple vendors and public cloud providers

• Able to present cloud security architectures effectively to both technical practitioners and C-level executives during briefings and AHEAD organized events

Preferred Qualifications

• Consulting experience at a systems integrator, professional services firm, or advisory practice, including having scoped or led client-facing consulting engagements

• Delivery experience in cloud security, including having stood up, configured, or operationalized cloud security tooling for clients post-sale

• Working knowledge of IaC security (Terraform, CloudFormation), CI/CD pipeline security, and DevSecOps practices

• Familiarity with identity and access management in cloud environments, including federated identity, RBAC, and least-privilege design

• Experience scaling cloud security programs across multi-cloud, hybrid, and enterprise environments

Preferred Certifications

• Industry: CISSP, CCSP, CCSK, CISA

• Cloud Provider: AWS Certified Security - Specialty, Microsoft Certified: Cybersecurity Architect Expert (SC-100), Google Professional Cloud Security Engineer

• Vendor: Palo Alto Prisma Cloud, Wiz, Upwind, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Orca Security, Sysdig

The compensation range indicated in this posting reflects the On-Target Earnings ("OTE") for this role, which includes a base salary and any applicable target bonus amount. This OTE range may vary based on the candidate's relevant experience, qualifications, and geographic location. Why AHEAD: Through our daily work and internal groups like Moving Women AHEAD and RISE AHEAD, we value and benefit from diversity of people, ideas, experience, and everything in between. We fuel growth by stacking our office with top-notch technologies in a multi-million-dollar lab, by encouraging cross department training and development, sponsoring certifications and credentials for continued learning. USA Employment Benefits include: - Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance - 401(k) - Paid company holidays - Paid time off - Paid parental and caregiver leave - Plus more! See benefits for additional details. Use of AI: We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, assessing responses, or to capture recordings and create transcriptions or summaries during interviews. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please refer to the Candidate Privacy Notice or contact us at View email address on click.appcast.io. You may opt-out of the review or analysis of your application and resume by AI tools by using the General Application. Please include the role you wish to apply for in the Additional Information field. You may also choose to opt-out of recording and transcription at any time, including after joining an interview. Candidates will not be penalized for choosing to opt-out.