Job description
About Us
At Cloudflare, we are on a mission to help build a better Internet. Today the company runs one of the world’s largest networks that powers millions of websites and other Internet properties for customers ranging from individual bloggers to SMBs to Fortune 500 companies. Cloudflare protects and accelerates any Internet application online without adding hardware, installing software, or changing a line of code. Internet properties powered by Cloudflare all have web traffic routed through its intelligent global network, which gets smarter with every request. As a result, they see significant improvement in performance and a decrease in spam and other attacks. Cloudflare was named to Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top Company Cultures list and ranked among the World’s Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company.
We realize people do not fit into neat boxes. We are looking for curious and empathetic individuals who are committed to developing themselves and learning new skills, and we are ready to help you do that. We cannot complete our mission without building a diverse and inclusive team. We hire the best people based on an evaluation of their potential and support them throughout their time at Cloudflare. Come join us!
Available Location: Chicago, IL, Ontario, Canada
About the Department
The Solutions Engineering team at Cloudflare is a group of trusted technical advisors who partner with our customers to solve their most complex security and performance challenges. We work hand-in-hand with the sales organization to navigate the entire customer journey, from initial discovery and solution design to proof-of-concept and implementation. We are passionate about technology and dedicated to helping our customers understand and leverage the full power of Cloudflare’s global network to achieve their business critical objectives.
About the Role
As a Senior Solutions Engineer Specialist, you will be a pivotal technical expert and strategic advisor, focusing on the Cloudflare One product suite. You will partner with our sales team and engage directly with our customers to architect and demonstrate how our Zero Trust and SASE solutions can solve their unique security, performance, and reliability needs. Your expertise will be crucial in guiding prospects through complex technical evaluations, ensuring they have the confidence to adopt Cloudflare as a core component of their IT and security infrastructure.
This role requires a blend of deep technical curiosity, strong communication skills, and a genuine passion for helping customers transform their network and security architecture.
Responsibilities
- Serve as a trusted technical advisor to our customers, helping them architect the optimal solution for their business needs using the Cloudflare One product suite.
- Guide qualified prospects through the solution design and proof-of-concept stages, effectively demonstrating the key capabilities and value of the Cloudflare One portfolio.
- Collaborate with sales partners to consistently achieve pipeline generation and revenue goals.
- Analyze customer IT landscapes and security requirements to develop robust architectures that support their strategic objectives.
- Clearly articulate the benefits and technical differentiators of the Cloudflare One product portfolio against competing solutions.
- Enhance customer retention by identifying, capturing, and communicating product gaps or feature requests to internal product and engineering teams.
- Collaborate with Product Teams by being the voice of our customers by sharing insights, trends, and product gaps to help shape the product suite and solution roadmap.
Qualifications
Successful candidates are curious, customer-focused, and have a passion for learning. We are looking for individuals with a strong background in technical sales or systems engineering who can effectively communicate complex concepts to both technical and executive audiences.
Key Qualifications:
- 5+ years of experience in a customer-facing technical role such as Technical Sales, Solutions/Systems Engineering, or a related field.
- Demonstrated experience presenting technical solutions and communicating the value of network and security transformation to senior-level executives.
- Deep understanding of the modern cybersecurity landscape, including common threats (e.g., malware, ransomware, phishing, botnets) and mitigation strategies.
- Fundamental knowledge of customer network and application architectures, including hybrid environments leveraging public clouds (Azure, AWS, GCP).
- Solid grasp of SASE concepts and Zero Trust networking architectures.
- Hands-on experience with one or more of the following: Secure Web Gateway (SWG), CASB, DLP, DNS security (including DNS over HTTPS), Identity Provider (IdP) integration (SAML, OTP), and SIEM/log analytics platforms.
Desirable Skills, Knowledge, and Experience:
- Proficiency with networking fundamentals, including routing, subnetting, VPNs, and SD-WAN concepts.
- Familiarity with client operating system fundamentals and software distribution methods.
- Knowledge of the competitive landscape for CDN, WAF, DDoS mitigation, and Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) solutions.
- Direct experience with Cloudflare’s Zero Trust solutions (Access, Gateway, Browser Isolation) is a significant plus.
- Strong project management skills, with the ability to work to deadlines and prioritize effectively among competing goals.
Summary of Enhancements
- Clarity & Impact: Original: “Work with your Sales Partners to consistently achieve Pipeline and Revenue goals” → Revised: “ Collaborate with sales partners to consistently achieve pipeline generation and revenue goals.”
- Reason: “Collaborate” is a more descriptive and positive action verb than “work with,” highlighting the partnership aspect of the role. I also specified “pipeline generation” for greater clarity.
- Impact Focus: Original: “Promote retention by capturing and communicating gaps in product or features” → Revised: “ Enhance customer retention by identifying, capturing, and communicating product gaps or feature requests to internal product and engineering teams.”
- Reason: The revision frames the task around its ultimate goal (“enhance customer retention”), which is more motivating and strategic. It also clarifies who receives the feedback.
- Inclusive Language & Growth Mindset: Original: “Skill Requirements” → Revised: “Qualifications”
- Reason: “Qualifications” is a more standard and inclusive term. I also added an introductory paragraph to this section that focuses on mindset (“curious, customer-focused”) rather than just a list of technical skills, which can appeal to a broader range of candidates.
- Structure & Readability: Original: A long, single list of skills. → Revised: Separated qualifications into “ Key Qualifications” and “ Desirable Skills…”
- Reason: This structure helps candidates quickly assess if they meet the core requirements, encouraging those who may not have every “desirable” skill to still apply. It prevents self-disqualification and widens the talent pool.
- Jargon Reduction: Original: “IdP/authentication, SAML, OTP” → Revised: “Identity Provider (IdP) integration (SAML, OTP)”
- Reason: While the audience is technical, spelling out acronyms the first time they are used is a best practice for clarity and accessibility, especially for those transitioning from adjacent fields.
Compensation
Compensation may be adjusted depending on work location.
- For Chicago based hires: Estimated annual salary of $208,000 - $254,000
Equity
This role is eligible to participate in Cloudflare’s equity plan.
Benefits
Cloudflare offers a complete package of benefits and programs to support you and your family. Our benefits programs can help you pay health care expenses, support caregiving, build capital for the future and make life a little easier and fun! The below is a description of our benefits for employees in the United States, and benefits may vary for employees based outside the U.S.
Health & Welfare Benefits
- Medical/Rx Insurance
- Dental Insurance
- Vision Insurance
- Flexible Spending Accounts
- Commuter Spending Accounts
- Fertility & Family Forming Benefits
- On-demand mental health support and Employee Assistance Program
- Global Travel Medical Insurance
Financial Benefits
- Short and Long Term Disability Insurance
- Life & Accident Insurance
- 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan
- Employee Stock Participation Plan
Time Off
- Flexible paid time off covering vacation and sick leave
- Leave programs, including parental, pregnancy health, medical, and bereavement leave
What Makes Cloudflare Special?
We’re not just a highly ambitious, large-scale technology company. We’re a highly ambitious, large-scale technology company with a soul. Fundamental to our mission to help build a better Internet is protecting the free and open Internet.
Project Galileo: Since 2014, we’ve equipped more than 2,400 journalism and civil society organizations in 111 countries with powerful tools to defend themselves against attacks that would otherwise censor their work, technology already used by Cloudflare’s enterprise customers–at no cost.
Athenian Project: In 2017, we created the Athenian Project to ensure that state and local governments have the highest level of protection and reliability for free, so that their constituents have access to election information and voter registration. Since the project, we’ve provided services to more than 425 local government election websites in 33 states.
1.1.1.1: We released1.1.1.1 to help fix the foundation of the Internet by building a faster, more secure and privacy-centric public DNS resolver. This is available publicly for everyone to use - it is the first consumer-focused service Cloudflare has ever released. Here’s the deal - we don’t store client IP addresses never, ever. We will continue to abide by our privacy commitment and ensure that no user data is sold to advertisers or used to target consumers.
Sound like something you’d like to be a part of? We’d love to hear from you!
This position may require access to information protected under U.S. export control laws, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations. Please note that any offer of employment may be conditioned on your authorization to receive software or technology controlled under these U.S. export laws without sponsorship for an export license.
Cloudflare is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunity for all people and place great value in both diversity and inclusiveness. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to their, or any other person’s, perceived or actualrace, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care status, or any other basis protected by law. We are an AA/Veterans/Disabled Employer.
Cloudflare provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job. Examples of reasonable accommodations include, but are not limited to, changing the application process, providing documents in an alternate format, using a sign language interpreter, or using specialized equipment. If you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job, please contact us via e-mail at [email protected] or via mail at 101 Townsend St. San Francisco, CA 94107.
