The Role and the Team

Proofpoint is seeking a highly motivated Director of Advanced Technologies – People Protection to lead a team of Sales Engineers supporting our People Protection business. This role is critical in driving technical excellence across a diverse and evolving product portfolio, including Impersonation Protection, User Protection, Adaptive Email DLP (AEDLP), and other emerging technologies.

You will lead a team of approximately 20 technical specialists, including 2–3 front-line managers, in supporting customer engagements through demos, proof-of-concepts (POCs), deep technical dives, hands-on lab development, and lab event execution. You’ll also play a key role in pipeline build execution and strategic enablement across the business.

This is a player-coach role that requires strong technical acumen, leadership experience, and the ability to make informed decisions using both limited information and performance metrics.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a high-performing team of Specialist Sales Engineers focused on People Protection technologies.

• Support technical sales efforts across multiple product lines, including new and emerging solutions.

• Drive execution of POCs, demos, deep dives, and lab events to support customer success.

• Collaborate cross-functionally with Sales, Product, Marketing, and Enablement teams to align on go-to-market strategies.

• Work closely with Product Management to provide customer feedback, influence product direction, and develop relevant use cases.

• Lead enablement for our core counterparts on the product lines that this team is responsible for.

• Make data-informed decisions and guide the team through ambiguity and evolving priorities.

• Foster a culture of innovation, agility, and continuous learning.

• Act as a technical leader and contributor in strategic customer engagements.

• Partner with recruiting and HR to attract and retain top talent.

• Travel as needed (25–50%) to support team and customer needs.

Job Requirements

• Proven experience leading technical sales or sales engineering teams in cybersecurity or SaaS.

• Experience managing managers and scaling technical teams.

• Ability to lead through ambiguity and drive clarity in complex technical scenarios.

• Demonstrated success in partnering with Product Management to influence roadmap and strategy.

• CISSP or similar certifications preferred.

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.