Senior Sales Engineer - Cloud Security

Compensation vs. Market: The OTE range of $200,000–$235,000 is competitive for a Senior Sales/Solutions Engineer in the cybersecurity space. Market benchmarks for enterprise pre-sales engineers in the US typically range from $170,000–$220,000 OTE, putting Chainguard's range at the high end — reflective of both the startup premium and the specialized cloud/container security domain.

High-Demand Skill Development: This role sits at the intersection of two of the fastest-growing areas in tech — cloud-native infrastructure (Kubernetes, Docker) and supply chain security. Expertise in these areas commands a significant market premium, and experience with frameworks like MEDDPICC is transferable across all enterprise SaaS sales environments.

Company Stage & Culture Signals:

• Green flag: Backed by top-tier VCs (Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins, IVP) with a blue-chip customer list — strong signal of product-market fit and growth trajectory
• Green flag: 10-year stock option exercise window is exceptionally rare and extremely candidate-friendly
• Green flag: 100% covered health, dental, and vision for dependents is a standout benefit
• Consideration: Startup-stage pace with a bias for fast action — expect ambiguity and rapid change
• Consideration: North Central US restriction limits upward mobility if you prefer geographic flexibility

Career Path: This role builds a rare profile combining deep technical credibility (cloud security, containers) with enterprise sales acumen — a combination that opens doors to VP of Sales Engineering, Field CTO, or even product roles at security-focused companies.

Chainguard is the trusted source for open source. By delivering hardened, secure, and production-ready builds of all the open source software engineers and AI agents rely on, Chainguard helps organizations build faster, stay compliant, and eliminate risk.

Our customers include Fortune 500 enterprises and global industry leaders, including Anduril, Canva, Fortinet, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, OpenAI, Snap Inc., and Snowflake.

Chainguard is venture-backed by leading investors, including Amplify, IVP, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mantis VC, Redpoint Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Spark Capital.

The role, in a nutshell:
You will assess a prospect's technical requirements and apply extensive knowledge of Chainguard products to illustrate how a deal will satisfy the client's unmet needs. You will cultivate relationships with decision-makers at all levels of an organization and negotiate the competing needs of multiple stakeholders. You will secure technical wins using methods such as demos, RFP/RFI responses, lead POVs, partner with engineering for requested features, and participate in conferences and industry events (when applicable).

What you'll do:

• Partner with our Sales Team to help customers evaluate and prove the value of our solution
• Focus on acquiring new customer "logos" in addition to growing the existing customer base
• Own all technical aspects of sales opportunities and assist current customers in understanding the value of Chainguard
• Day-to-day responsibilities include:
  • Listen to customers and understand their challenges
  • Conduct product demonstrations and POVs/POCs
  • Actively participate in webinars, meetups, conferences, and other marketing initiatives

What we're looking for:

• Experience as a Sales Engineer / Pre-Sales Engineer
• Experience with MEDDPICC and/or Command of the Message sales frameworks
• Experience selling into Enterprise (3+ years) and Mid Market prospects
• Experience in the following areas:
  • Container technologies (Kubernetes, Serverless, Docker)
  • Cloud technology (AWS, Azure, Google, etc.)
  • Cloud security or container security
  • App Security
• Startup…