Description
We are looking for a Solution Engineering Director to lead our Core Solution Engineering team in New Zealand within our pre-sales organisation.
This leader will play a critical role in deeply aligning with Sales Leadership, acting as a strategic partner to drive revenue growth, refine sales strategies, and ensure our customers achieve success with Salesforce solutions. By fostering strong collaboration with multiple Sales Leaders across SMB, Commercial, and Enterprise, and with other stakeholders, this leader will help shape deal strategy, enhance customer engagement, and create a seamless partnership between sales and solution engineering.
Role Overview:
As the Solution Engineering Director, you will lead a team of high-performing Solution Engineers (SEs), supporting them in delivering exceptional technical sales support and thought leadership. You will guide the team through complex sales cycles, help craft compelling solution strategies, and enable them to position Salesforce effectively against competitors. You will also partner with sales and cross-functional teams to drive operational excellence and innovation in how we engage with prospects and customers. This role covers the full breadth of Salesforce's Core solutions across all industries and customer segments in New Zealand, requiring versatility in adapting solutions to diverse business contexts and varying deal sizes from small business to enterprise.
This role requires a leader who can challenge the status quo, drive Agentic AI transformation, and bring a strong understanding of the evolving landscape of multiple industries and segments. As the only SE manager on the ground in New Zealand, this leader will also provide dotted-line leadership and coordination for other SEs operating in market, while representing Salesforce at an executive level, providing thought leadership and strategic guidance to both internal teams and customers.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead, mentor, and grow the Solution Engineering team, fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and technical excellence.
- Develop and execute sales strategies to position Salesforce's solutions across all industries and segments, ensuring alignment with diverse customer business objectives and supporting both new logo acquisition and customer expansion.
- Establish a deep partnership with Sales Leadership, acting as a trusted adviser to ensure alignment between technical and business strategies, influencing account plans, and driving joint success.
- Proactively collaborate with Account Executives and Sales teams, embedding Solution Engineering into the sales cycle early to shape deal strategy, increase win rates, and enhance customer engagement.
- Coach and empower Solution Engineers to deliver compelling demonstrations, technical workshops, and value-driven conversations with customers.
- Drive innovation and best practices in pre-sales engagements, continuously improving how we demonstrate value and differentiation.
- Own executive relationships with key technical contacts at customers and deliver thought leadership through industry point-of-views (POVs) and strategic engagements.
- Build and lead the local SE presence in New Zealand, coordinating with all SEs on the ground and driving geographic market penetration through local partner relationships, customer community engagement, and market-building initiatives.
- Ensure exceptional customer experiences, aligning our solutions to customer business objectives and ensuring impactful engagements.
- Champion Salesforce values and promote a diverse, inclusive, and high-performing team environment.
- Partner with Sales Leadership to maintain and elevate New Zealand's workplace culture, leveraging Salesforce's recognition as #3 Best Workplace in New Zealand 2025 to attract top talent and create an environment where the SE team thrives.
- Support team growth and development, identifying, hiring, and onboarding top talent while fostering continuous learning and career advancement.
- Act as an escalation point for strategic deals, guiding the team through complex challenges and collaborating across departments to remove obstacles.
Experience & Skills Required:
- Proven leadership experience in Solution Engineering (Pre-Sales) within the enterprise software industry, incl. leading high-performing teams in complex solutions sales cycles.
- Experience with positioning Salesforce CRM and the broader portfolio of Salesforce solutions in a complex Enterprise and Industry context.
- Deep understanding of customer buying behaviours, business transformation, and the ability to adapt to diverse industry contexts and customer maturity levels across all verticals.
- Track record of success in the New Zealand market, building relationships at C-level across multiple industries, managing complex stakeholder relationships with multiple Sales leaders, and driving solution-based selling across varied segments.
- Passion for coaching and developing technical teams, fostering a growth mindset and continuous learning.
- Demonstrated ability to drive revenue and meet KPIs, while balancing team development and operational execution.
- Strong analytical capabilities, with the ability to prioritise and manage multiple strategic initiatives.
- Exceptional communication, presentation, and storytelling skills, with the ability to translate complex technical concepts into business value.
- Strategic thinking with a customer-first approach, able to develop and articulate compelling sales strategies.
- Proven ability to collaborate cross-functionally, working closely with Sales, Product Management, Marketing, and Customer Success teams.
Join us and be part of a high-energy, innovative, and customer-focused team where you can make an impact and grow your career with Salesforce!
Benefits
We are pioneers of the Pledge 1% model, providing product, grants and community service to those in need. We are proud to be#1 in PEOPLE's Top 50 Companies that Care, and are on Fortune’s Change the World list.
We provide every employee with 7 paid volunteer days off a year, and donation matching for all approved charitable donations.
We provide other world-leading benefits to all our employees, including;
Health, Life, Trauma and Income Insurance
Monthly Wellness Allowance
Flexible Time off & leave policies
Parental benefits
Perks and discounts
Salesforce is an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.
At Salesforce we encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people of all ages, people living with a disability, LGBTIQ+ candidates, and people from multi-cultural backgrounds. Salesforce Australia is committed to walking together with the Traditional Custodians of this land, Australia’s First Nations peoples, as we forge a path to reconciliation. Please see our Reconciliation Action Plan for more information