Senior Director, Technical Services (Cloud and Cortex)

Palo Alto Networks, Inc.; City of Melbourne; On-site; AUD 350,000 - 520,000; Full time

Job summary

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. in Melbourne, Australia, is seeking a Technical Services Senior Director for JAPAC to lead the post-sale delivery, value realization, and expansion across professional services and customer success.

This role demands strong leadership, regional program management, and the ability to navigate complex data residency and competitive landscapes. You will align with regional leaders and cross-functional teams to drive delivery excellence, automation, and AI-enabled services,

Qualifications

• 15+ years in technical services, professional services, or customer success roles in high-growth SaaS/cloud environments.
• 10+ years leading regional or multi-regional teams with matrix reporting.
• Strong track record delivering KPIs: deployment speed, adoption, margin, utilization, CSAT.
• Industry security credentials (e.g., CISSP, CRISC) strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead Technical Services delivery across JAPAC to ensure high-quality execution.
• Align with Global CS, Sales, Product, Engineering, and Partner teams to drive outcomes.
• Support CIO/CISO-level engagements, value reviews, and escalations.
• Represent JAPAC in regional forums and advocate for customer needs.
• Build, develop, and mentor a high-performing technical services organization.
• Drive culture of accountability, learning, and operational excellence.
• Optimize resource mix and time-to-value by strengthening deployment and adoption practices.
• Contribute to scalable service sales offerings and partner relationships.
• Ensure data-driven decisions to improve service health and delivery.

Skills

Senior leadership

SaaS/cloud

Security & compliance

Stakeholder management

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's/MBA preferred

Job description

Our Mission

At Palo Alto Networks®, we’re united by a shared mission—to protect our digital way of life. We thrive at the intersection of innovation and impact, solving real-world problems with cutting-edge technology and bold thinking. Here, everyone has a voice, and every idea counts. If you’re ready to do the most meaningful work of your career alongside people who are just as passionate as you are, you’re in the right place.

Who We Are

In order to be the cybersecurity partner of choice, we must trailblaze the path and shape the future of our industry. This is something our employees work at each day and is defined by our values: Disruption, Collaboration, Execution, Integrity, and Inclusion. We weave AI into the fabric of everything we do and use it to augment the impact every individual can have. If you are passionate about solving real-world problems and ideating beside the best and the brightest, we invite you to join us!

We believe collaboration thrives in person. That’s why most of our teams work from the office full time, with flexibility when it’s needed. This model supports real-time problem-solving, stronger relationships, and the kind of precision that drives great outcomes.

Job Summary

Your Career

As the Technical Services Senior Director for JAPAC, you’ll lead the organization responsible for guiding customers through the post-sale customer lifecycle from value realization thru renewal. This leadership role sits at our most complex and diverse growth theater., guiding Professional Services and Customer Success teams through deployment, adoption, escalation management, value realization, and expansion.

You’ll partner closely with Regional Leaders, Support, Product, Engineering, and Sales to create a unified customer experience and drive alignment across teams. Your insights from JAPAC ’s fast-paced customer base will shape delivery innovation, influence product direction, and help refine how we integrate automation and AI into our services model.

This is a role for a leader who brings clarity to complexity, elevates teams, and navigates change with confidence. You’ll set the tone for delivery excellence across the region while contributing directly to global strategy.The leader must navigate varying data residency requirements and local competitive landscapes within JAPAC.

Your Impact

Leadership & Customer Strategy

• Lead all Technical Services delivery across JAPAC, ensuring consistent, high-quality execution
• Align with Global Customer Success, Sales, Product, Engineering, and Partner teams to drive customer and business outcomes
• Support Area Leaders in CIO/CISO-level engagements, value reviews, and high-visibility escalations
• Represent JAPAC in regional forums, advocating for customer insights and regional needs

People & Team Development

• Build, develop, and mentor a high-performing technical services organization
• Create a culture grounded in accountability, continuous learning, and operational excellence
• Coach teams through complex customer situations, rapid change, and new delivery models
• Foster a culture of people performance management and accountability

Operational & Business Outcomes

• Maintain strong utilization, backlog health, and delivery predictability
• Optimize resource mix across FTEs and contractors to maximize agility and cost efficiency
• Reduce Time to Value and Time to Deploy by strengthening deployment and adoption practices
• Contribute to service sales growth through scalable, outcome-driven offerings
• Sustain strong relationships with subcontractors and partners to support delivery at scale
• Meet global margin targets through efficient, high-quality execution

Innovation & Delivery Excellence

• Advance automation and AI across Cloud & Cortex professional services and customer success engineering to improve scale and consistency
• Standardize delivery practices, proactively identify risks, and drive data-backed decisions across areas to improve service health
• Ensure effective execution of global and theatre-level programs,

Qualifications

Your Experience

• 15+ years in technical services, professional services, customer success, support, or similar roles in a high-growth SaaS/cloud environment
• 10+ years leading regional or multi-regional teams with direct and matrixed reporting lines
• Strong track record of delivering against KPIs including deployment speed, adoption, margin, utilization, and CSAT
• Industry recognized security credentials, e.g. CISSP, CRISC
• Deep familiarity with Cloud, Endpoint, SOAR, SIEM, and SOC environments; experience with industry leading security platforms strongly preferred
• Experience with supporting operational security requirements or enterprise governance, risk, and compliance initiatives
• Experience engaging with and presenting to executive stakeholders across

• Experience leading large scale teams exceeding 100+ FTEs and Contractor staff
• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s/MBA preferred; equivalent military experience considered
• Willingness to travel 20-30% within JAPAC and occasionally globally

• Strong communicator who can influence across technical and non-technical teams
• Skilled at building trust, developing talent, and guiding teams through ambiguity
• Balanced, thoughtful decision-maker in escalation and complex customer situations
• Highly collaborative, with a track record of driving alignment and continuous improvement

Our Commitment

We’re trailblazers that dream big, take risks, and challenge cybersecurity’s status quo. It’s simple: we can’t accomplish our mission without diverse teams innovating, together.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for all qualified individuals with a disability. If you require assistance or accommodation due to a disability or special need, please contact us at [e-mail].

Palo Alto Networks is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity in our workplace, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or other legally protected characteristics.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

Is role eligible for Immigration Sponsorship?: Yes