Senior Director, Customer Innovation

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in United States.

📋 Description

• Act as a key business influencer and executive leader managing Rapid7's specialized technical sales division, which includes Sales Engineering Specialists, Forward Engineering, Labs, and the Sales Engineering Center of Excellence (COE).

• Transform these groups into a unified, scalable, and highly strategic force that significantly contributes to global revenue and product innovation.

• Develop and implement a comprehensive macro strategy that covers Sales Engineering Labs, COE, and Forward Engineering teams, with well-defined, outcome-focused milestones.

• Create a detailed 12-month organizational roadmap that shifts the team from tactical support to a cohesive, strategic ecosystem aligned with global business objectives.

• Evolve the sales engineering integration unit from basic connector builders into a sophisticated enterprise-grade platform Forward Engineering team that can advance architectural vision.

• Foster a strong internal talent pipeline by moving from daily management to organizational depth, mentoring future leaders, and formalizing execution strategies for frontline managers.

• Establish and sustain formal succession and development frameworks within the COE to enhance engineering standards and leadership capabilities.

• Collaborate with Worldwide Sales Leadership to outline, review, and document field requirements for specialized sales engineering resources compared to territory sales engineers.

• Deliver data-driven business cases that emphasize the strategic importance, ROI, and resource scaling of each specialized function in advance of annual planning cycles.

• Maintain a prominent executive presence in high-pressure corporate environments, facilitating cross-functional alignment and steering organizational change.

⛳️ Requirements

• Over 10 years of experience leading technical sales or systems engineering teams in the cybersecurity sector, including a minimum of 4 years managing multi-tiered organizations (managing managers).

• Proven mastery in technical operations with extensive experience overseeing complex technical infrastructure teams such as Cloud/On-Prem Demo Labs, Centers of Excellence, or Technical Enablement functions.

• Strong conceptual understanding of Forward Engineering and systems architecture, including API ecosystems, security orchestration (SOAR), technology integrations, and enterprise security platforms.

• Solid financial and operational insights, including experience in structuring headcount models, demonstrating ROI on technical overhead, and linking engineering performance to revenue achievement metrics.

• Exceptional mediation skills and self-awareness to navigate conflict, adapt to challenging group dynamics, and maintain a strong, authoritative leadership presence under pressure.

• Capability to think broadly while executing on a detailed level — breaking large organizational objectives into time-bound milestones, executing swiftly, and adapting effectively based on business metrics.

• Proficiency in establishing clear ownership, roles, and responsibilities within complex technical matrices, consistently delivering value over mere activity.

• Outstanding resilience and communication skills during times of organizational change, actively promoting alignment and clarifying the rationale for change.

• Ability to build global internal networks and incorporate diverse technical viewpoints to facilitate efficient, transparent decision-making that sustains organizational momentum.

• A strong commitment to embodying our core values, nurturing a culture of excellence that drives significant impact and collective success.

🏝️ Benefits

• Competitive salary and performance-based incentives.

• Comprehensive health and wellness benefits.

• Opportunities for professional development and career advancement.

• Flexible work environment promoting work-life balance.

• Access to cutting-edge technology and resources.