Principal Sales Engineer - CA

We strongly prefer candidates who are currently located in or near the designated job location. Candidates outside the area should apply only if they are committed to relocating prior to their start date and have the legal right to work in the job location.

About the role

Cohesity is a leader in AI-powered data security and management. Aided by an extensive ecosystem of partners, Cohesity makes it easy to secure, protect, manage, and get value from data — across the data center, edge, and cloud. Cohesity helps organizations defend against cybersecurity threats with comprehensive data security and management capabilities, including immutable backup snapshots, AI-based threat detection, monitoring for malicious behavior, and rapid recovery at scale.

As a Sales Engineer, you will play a pivotal role in driving new customer opportunities and integrating Cohesity’s AI-powered data security and management platform into enterprise environments. You will operate as a revenue-driving technical partner at the center of Cohesity’s enterprise go-to-market motion, partnering directly with Account Executives to win complex, strategic deals. You will engage C-level executives, shape technical strategy inside large enterprise environments, and position Cohesity as mission-critical infrastructure for cyber resilience and data security.

Responsibilities

• Drive new customer and expansion opportunities by articulating Cohesity’s Data Cloud portfolio—backup, recovery, cyber resilience, and data security—to executive, business, and technical audiences.
• Co-own enterprise technical strategy with the Account Executive, supporting opportunities end-to-end and accelerating deal velocity across complex sales cycles.
• Lead deep technical discovery to uncover customer risk, competitive displacement opportunities, and expansion pathways within enterprise accounts.
• Architect and defend differentiated solutions, supporting evaluations and positioning Cohesity as the strategic platform for ransomware recovery, cyber vaulting, disaster recovery, and modern data management.
• Deliver high-impact technical engagements, including demos, workshops, proposals, white papers, and proofs of concept across on-prem, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments.
• Drive partner and channel co-sell motions to increase win rates and expand market reach.
• Serve as a trusted technical advisor throughout the customer lifecycle—resolving technical challenges, ensuring successful deployments, shaping long-term platform adoption, and feeding real-world insights back to Product and Engineering.

Requirements

• Proven success in enterprise pre-sales (Sales Engineering or Solutions Consulting) supporting infrastructure, data protection, security, or cloud platforms in complex customer environments.
• Experience selling or implementing cybersecurity, data protection, backup, storage, or cyber recovery solutions, including on-prem and cloud architectures.
• Strong knowledge of data security architectures, ransomware resilience, and the competitive landscape.
• Familiarity with Cohesity solutions (DataProtect, DataHawk, SmartFiles) strongly preferred.
• Experience with encryption standards, HSM integrations, and compliance frameworks.
• Hands-on experience with NetBackup, Backup Exec, and InfoScale, including immutable storage, hardened media servers, ACL-based controls, and encryption.
• Ability to lead modernization and competitive displacement conversations centered on ransomware resilience.
• Cross-platform experience across hybrid and multi-cloud environments, with the ability to map capabilities to Zero Trust frameworks.
• Demonstrated ability to support large, multi-stakeholder enterprise deals, including seven-figure opportunities, and engage confidently at the C-level.
• Customer-obsessed mindset, with a track record of translating technical architectures into business outcomes, risk reduction, and resilience.
• Deep understanding of channel-led sales motions.
• Exceptional communication and presentation skills, able to clearly convey complex technical and business concepts to both small and large audiences.
• Demonstrated ability to leverage AI tools to enhance productivity, streamline workflows, and support decision-making.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or equivalent practical experience.
• Security certifications (CISSP, CISA, CISM) strongly preferred.
• English language proficiency (able to interact fluently when speaking, reading, and writing in a professional setting).
• Willingness to travel as required.

Pay

This position has a starting pay range of $262,800.00 - $292,000.00. Actual salary depends upon many factors, including a candidate’s skills, qualifications and experience, location, and salary expectations. This position may also be eligible for bonus compensation, commission, and/or equity grants.

Benefits

Full-time employees are eligible to participate in our comprehensive benefits framework, including:

• Health and wellness benefits
• Vacation, paid holidays, and refresh days
• 401(k) retirement plan
• Life and disability insurance coverages
• Other benefits the Company may offer from time to time

Schedule

Cohesity employees who are within a reasonable commute (e.g., within a forty-five (45) minute average travel time) work out of our core offices 2-3 days a week of their choosing.