Founding Sales Engineer
Trident Search, New York, NY, United States
Founding Sales Engineer – Web Application Security (WAF Focus) – New York City
The Client An early-stage, high-growth cybersecurity company focused on improving visibility and operational control across Web Application Firewall (WAF) environments for enterprise organisations.
Backed by strong leadership and ambitious growth plans, this is an opportunity to join early and take ownership of technical customer conversations currently handled by founders and engineering leadership.
The Role This is a Founding Sales Engineer position based in New York City, with access to office space in Manhattan required. You will partner closely with VP Sales and leadership to support enterprise sales cycles, acting as the technical authority across WAF, firewall, CDN, and web application security discussions.
You will own the technical sales cycle end-to-end - from discovery and scoping through POC design, validation, vendor questionnaires, and technical close. You must be able to run demos independently (no co-pilot), handle live objections confidently, and troubleshoot issues in real time.
Key Responsibilities:
Partner with sales leadership to drive enterprise sales opportunities from initial engagement to technical close.
Own and independently run tailored product demonstrations aligned to customer environments and challenges.
Lead technical discovery conversations across WAF, firewall, CDN, and web application security operations.
Design and execute proof‑of‑concept (POC) engagements, including defining success criteria and evaluation frameworks.
Handle live troubleshooting during demos and POCs, confidently diagnosing whether issues stem from configuration, product gaps, or expectation misalignment.
Investigate and triage technical questions independently before escalating.
Clearly articulate both technical value (e.g., WAF rule logic, rate limiting, bot mitigation) and business impact (e.g., operational efficiency, risk reduction, ROI).
Translate complex security concepts into outcomes relevant to executive and financial stakeholders.
Document feature requests, competitive intelligence, and customer pain points in a structured manner that supports product prioritisation.
Represent the company as a trusted technical advisor throughout the full sales lifecycle.
Experience Needed:
Strong hands‑on understanding of Web Application Firewalls (WAF), firewall technologies, CDN environments, and application security.
3+ years of experience in cybersecurity and/or cloud security (AWS, Azure, GCP), with familiarity in areas such as DDoS mitigation, bot management, rate limiting, and security posture management.
1‑3+ years in a vendor‑side Sales Engineering or Solutions Engineering role, with experience running demos, leading POCs, and supporting enterprise technical sales cycles.
Experience working with CDN providers (e.g., Cloudflare, Akamai) is highly relevant.
Ability to independently manage the full technical sales process and operate without heavy oversight within the first 60 days.
Comfortable debugging lightweight technical issues and making judgment calls under pressure.
Strong communication range – able to explain WAF rule logic to a security engineer and pivot to ROI discussion with a CFO or CISO.
Experience supporting multi‑stakeholder enterprise buying processes.
Ability to commute to Manhattan for in‑person collaboration.
Comfortable working flexible hours when needed to support enterprise customers.
Curious, coachable, resilient, and comfortable operating in a fast‑moving, scaling environment.
Nice to Have
Familiarity with DevOps/GitOps workflows and Infrastructure‑as‑Code tools (e.g., Terraform, Pulumi).
Experience with SIEM platforms, log analysis, or security operations workflows.
Previous experience at an early‑stage cybersecurity startup or SaaS company.
Security certifications (AWS Security, CISSP, CEH) or familiarity with compliance frameworks (SOC 2, PCI‑DSS).
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The Client An early-stage, high-growth cybersecurity company focused on improving visibility and operational control across Web Application Firewall (WAF) environments for enterprise organisations.
Backed by strong leadership and ambitious growth plans, this is an opportunity to join early and take ownership of technical customer conversations currently handled by founders and engineering leadership.
The Role This is a Founding Sales Engineer position based in New York City, with access to office space in Manhattan required. You will partner closely with VP Sales and leadership to support enterprise sales cycles, acting as the technical authority across WAF, firewall, CDN, and web application security discussions.
You will own the technical sales cycle end-to-end - from discovery and scoping through POC design, validation, vendor questionnaires, and technical close. You must be able to run demos independently (no co-pilot), handle live objections confidently, and troubleshoot issues in real time.
Key Responsibilities:
Partner with sales leadership to drive enterprise sales opportunities from initial engagement to technical close.
Own and independently run tailored product demonstrations aligned to customer environments and challenges.
Lead technical discovery conversations across WAF, firewall, CDN, and web application security operations.
Design and execute proof‑of‑concept (POC) engagements, including defining success criteria and evaluation frameworks.
Handle live troubleshooting during demos and POCs, confidently diagnosing whether issues stem from configuration, product gaps, or expectation misalignment.
Investigate and triage technical questions independently before escalating.
Clearly articulate both technical value (e.g., WAF rule logic, rate limiting, bot mitigation) and business impact (e.g., operational efficiency, risk reduction, ROI).
Translate complex security concepts into outcomes relevant to executive and financial stakeholders.
Document feature requests, competitive intelligence, and customer pain points in a structured manner that supports product prioritisation.
Represent the company as a trusted technical advisor throughout the full sales lifecycle.
Experience Needed:
Strong hands‑on understanding of Web Application Firewalls (WAF), firewall technologies, CDN environments, and application security.
3+ years of experience in cybersecurity and/or cloud security (AWS, Azure, GCP), with familiarity in areas such as DDoS mitigation, bot management, rate limiting, and security posture management.
1‑3+ years in a vendor‑side Sales Engineering or Solutions Engineering role, with experience running demos, leading POCs, and supporting enterprise technical sales cycles.
Experience working with CDN providers (e.g., Cloudflare, Akamai) is highly relevant.
Ability to independently manage the full technical sales process and operate without heavy oversight within the first 60 days.
Comfortable debugging lightweight technical issues and making judgment calls under pressure.
Strong communication range – able to explain WAF rule logic to a security engineer and pivot to ROI discussion with a CFO or CISO.
Experience supporting multi‑stakeholder enterprise buying processes.
Ability to commute to Manhattan for in‑person collaboration.
Comfortable working flexible hours when needed to support enterprise customers.
Curious, coachable, resilient, and comfortable operating in a fast‑moving, scaling environment.
Nice to Have
Familiarity with DevOps/GitOps workflows and Infrastructure‑as‑Code tools (e.g., Terraform, Pulumi).
Experience with SIEM platforms, log analysis, or security operations workflows.
Previous experience at an early‑stage cybersecurity startup or SaaS company.
Security certifications (AWS Security, CISSP, CEH) or familiarity with compliance frameworks (SOC 2, PCI‑DSS).
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