Manager, Solutions Engineering - SLED

NetApp, Inc.; Boulder (CO); Hybrid; USD 253,000 - 328,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health Insurance

Retirement Plan

Paid Time Off

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Job summary

NetApp, Inc. is seeking a Solutions Engineering Manager to lead our Western State, Local Government, and Education SLED SE team within the Commercial organization.

This first-line leader will manage Solutions Engineers supporting territories west of the Mississippi and partner with two SLED District Sales Managers. Our SLED business blends growth with enterprise-scale environments for state and local government, higher education, and public safety.

Qualifications

• 10+ years supporting SLED customers in enterprise tech sales or related roles.
• 5+ years of people management including coaching and hiring.
• Presales experience leading complex opportunities.
• Strong infra and data center knowledge across storage, compute, networking, and hybrid cloud.
• Experience with value-based selling and business case development.
• Deep understanding of SLED sales cycles and multi-stakeholder pursuits.
• Ability to partner with sales leadership and allocate resources.
• Experience guiding discovery, design, validation, and differentiation.
• Familiarity with security/regulatory concerns in gov/education/public safety.
• Strong communication, presentation, and executive engagement skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop Solutions Engineers with clear expectations.
• Partner with two SLED District Sales Managers on strategy and execution.
• Allocate technical resources based on territory needs and revenue potential.
• Coach teams to sell on value and connect solutions to outcomes.
• Guide discovery, solution design, demos, PoCs, and validation.
• Plan accounts and opportunities across budgets and cycles.
• Engage customers early in technology planning and budgeting.
• Build account plans with partners to expand existing and acquire new SLED customers.
• Ensure security/regulatory requirements are reflected in recommendations.
• Travel across the West region for engagements and leadership.

Skills

SLED experience

People leadership

Presales experience

Infrastructure & data center knowledge

Value-based selling

SLED sales cycles

Stakeholder engagement

Communication skills

Travel readiness

Job description

LOCATION REQUIREMENT

This people manager will lead a team of Solutions Engineers supporting West SLED accounts. We are considering candidates only in California (greater San Francisco/San Jose Bay Area),and Colorado (greater Boulder area). Candidates outside of these locations will not be considered.

JOB SUMMARY

NetApp is seeking a Solutions Engineering Manager to lead our Western State, Local Government, and Education (SLED) Solutions Engineering team within the Commercial organization. This first-line people leader will manage Solutions Engineers supporting territories west of the Mississippi River and partner with two SLED District Sales Managers.

Our SLED business combines a focus on growth and new customer acquisition with the complexity of enterprise-scale environments. Customers include state and local government agencies, public safety organizations, higher education institutions, research organizations, and university-affiliated healthcare systems. These organizations rely on secure, resilient data infrastructure to deliver essential services and advance their missions.

You will develop a strong technical sales team, align resources with district priorities, and drive a value-based selling approach that connects technology investments to customer outcomes. Success requires deep SLED experience, proven people leadership, and strong knowledge of the infrastructure and data center ecosystem.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Lead, coach, and developSolutions Engineers, setting clear expectations, providing actionable feedback, and supporting performance and career growth.
• Partner with two SLED District Sales Managers to align technical sales strategy, account coverage, and execution across the West SLED business.
• Allocate technical resources based on territory needs, opportunity complexity, customer priorities, and revenue potential.
• Coach the team to sell on value by uncovering customer challenges and connecting solution recommendations to measurable outcomes, including resilience, security, operational efficiency, and cost optimization.
• Guide technical execution across discovery, solution design, demonstrations, proofs of concept, and technical validation.
• Apply a deep understanding of SLED sales cycles to account and opportunity planning, helping the team sustain engagement through long complex pursuits.
• Help the team understand and plan around customer budgeting processes, funding availability, fiscal calendars, procurement timelines, and purchasing requirements.
• Drive early engagement with customers so NetApp is part of technology planning and budget development before funding decisions are finalized.
• Establish clear milestones and technical strategies that maintain opportunity momentum across extended sales cycles and multiple budget years.
• Build account plans with sales partners that support expansion within existing customers and acquisition of new SLED customers.
• Ensure solution recommendations reflect customer security, regulatory, and operational requirements, including those relevant to public safety and criminal justice environments.
• Coach Solutions Engineers to proactively build trusted technical relationships with customers and partners and engage stakeholders beyond an individual opportunity.
• Collaborate with specialist teams, partners, and internal stakeholders to bring the right expertise to customer engagements.
• Review pipeline health, technical risks, competitive positioning, and resource needs with sales leadership, helping the team resolve obstacles and advance opportunities.
• Lead hiring, onboarding, and ongoing development to strengthen the team’s technical expertise, sales effectiveness, and customer engagement skills.
• Participate in customer and partner engagements and travel across the region.

QUALIFICATIONS

• 10+ years of experience supporting SLED customers in enterprise technology sales, Solutions Engineering, or related customer-facing technical roles.
• 5+ years of people management experience, including direct responsibility for coaching, performance management, hiring, and developing technical sales professionals.
• Presales experience required, with a demonstrated ability to lead technical strategy and execution throughout complex sales opportunities.
• Strong knowledge of the infrastructure and data center ecosystem required, including storage, data management, virtualization, compute, networking, data protection, and hybrid cloud environments.
• Demonstrated experience with value-based selling, including translating technical capabilities into customer outcomes and articulating the business justification for technology investments.
• Deep understanding of SLED sales cycles and experience supporting complex, extended pursuits involving multiple stakeholders.
• Proven ability to partner with sales leadership, prioritize opportunities, and align technical resources with territory and district objectives.
• Experience guiding discovery, solution development, technical validation, and competitive differentiation in enterprise-scale environments.
• Familiarity with the security, regulatory, and operational considerations affecting government, education, and public safety customers.
• Strong communication and presentation skills, with the ability to engage technical teams, business stakeholders, and executive decision-makers.
• A demonstrated ability to build trusted customer and partner relationships and support both new customer acquisition and growth within existing accounts.
• Ability to travel for team, customer, and partner engagements across the West region.

Compensation

The target salary range for this position is 253,300 - 327,800 USD. The salary offered will be determined by the candidate's location, qualifications, experience, and education and may be outside of this range. The range is based on 'On Target Earnings’ (OTE) representing the total potential earnings, which is the sum of the base salary and potential commission earned when performance targets are achieved. Final compensation packages are competitive and in line with industry standards, reflecting a variety of factors, and include a comprehensive benefits package. This may cover Health Insurance, Life Insurance, Retirement or Pension Plans, Paid Time Off, various Leave options, employee stock purchase plan, and/or restricted stocks (RSU’s). These offerings are subject to regional variations and governed by local laws, regulations, and company policies. We will provide detailed information about the specific benefits for your region during the recruitment process.

At NetApp, we embrace a hybrid working environment designed to strengthen connection, collaboration, and culture for all employees. This means that most roles will have some level of in-office and/or in-person expectations, which will be shared during the recruitment process.

Equal Opportunity Employer

NetApp is firmly committed to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and to compliance with all federal, state and local laws that prohibit employment discrimination based on age, race, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, disability or genetic information, pregnancy, protected veteran status, and any other protected classification.

Why You'll Thrive at NetApp

At NetApp, you won't wait for the perfect moment—you'll make it. The early planning, the extra thought, the bold idea that turns good into great: That's how our people operate and how we continue to push the boundaries of data infrastructure.

NetApp is the trusted partner for organizations transforming data into opportunity. As the only enterprise-grade storage service natively embedded in Google Cloud, AWS, and Microsoft Azure, we empower customers to run everything from traditional workloads to enterprise AI with unmatched performance, resilience, and security.

Our culture

We celebrate mold breakers, bold thinkers, and problem solvers. We reward initiative, impact, and ownership. We provide flexibility so you can balance professional ambition with your personal life. Here, differences are not just welcomed—they drive everything we do.

AI Disclosure

For select roles, some stages of our hiring process may use artificial intelligence tools to help evaluate applications and candidate selection. These tools support—rather than replace—human decision-making.