MidMarket Sales Engineer - Chicago

Abnormal AI; United States; Hybrid; USD 101,000 - 119,000; Full time

Job summary

Abnormal AI seeks a Mid-Market Sales Engineer in the Chicago area to act as the primary technical contact for customers, crafting value-based business cases to win security opportunities. You will lead architecture discussions, conduct in-person or remote product demonstrations, and own POV outcomes with the Mid-Market Account Executives.

Ideal candidates will connect technology to measurable risk reductions, influence senior stakeholders, and present compelling value stories.

Qualifications

• Experience as a sales engineer or equivalent technical role in security
• Proven ability to lead technical discovery and architecture discussions with security, infra, identity and compliance teams
• Strong presentation and written communication skills
• Ability to articulate complex business and technical value to executives
• Capable of independent work in a fast-paced, high-impact sales environment
• Customer-focused mindset with ownership over results
• Solid understanding of SaaS security models and multi-tenant cloud environments
• Knowledge of DNS/TCP/IP/TLS and enterprise networking as related to email and SaaS security
• Curiosity to understand how and why a product works

Responsibilities

• Own POV success criteria and outcomes in enterprise sales cycles
• Lead architecture-level conversations with security, email, and identity teams
• Conduct technical discovery to identify risk and needs
• Perform technical and competitive research to answer questions
• Answer architecture-level and threat questions without routing to product/engineering
• Explain why legacy gateways fail against modern attacks
• Educate and implement AI security across email and identity verticals
• Educate sales teams on Abnormal AI’s products and security stance
• Drive customer satisfaction and business outcomes

Skills

Sales engineering experience

Technical discovery

Architecture discussion

Technical presentation

Big picture solutions

Independent work

Customer outcomes

SaaS security knowledge

Networking concepts

Job description

About The Role

Abnormal AI is seeking a Mid-Market Sales Engineer to join our growing Sales Engineering team. As an Mid-Market Sales Engineer, you will serve as our customer’s primary technical contact, acting as a trusted technical advisor to security, email, and identity teams, crafting strategic, value-based business cases to win complex business opportunities and help organizations conquer their most intractable email and identity-driven security challenges.

In partnership with Mid-Market Account Executives, you will be responsible for conducting in-person and remote product demonstrations, leading architecture-level technical discussions, articulating the technical and business value of Abnormal Security’s platform, and owning and driving successful outcomes for Enterprise-scale Proof of Value (POV) programs.

The ideal candidate for this role will be located in the Chicago area and possess the following skill set:

• Ability to tie technology to measurable risk reduction and business outcomes at Enterprise scale
• Ability to influence senior security, IT, and executive stakeholders in both virtual and in-person settings
• High EQ; ability to read the room, engage stakeholders, demonstrate empathy, listen actively, and respond thoughtfully
• Ability to create value-driven presentations and tell compelling stories (PowerPoint, Google Slides)
• Strong discovery skills to uncover customer pain points, requirements, and strategic objectives
• Understand and construct presentations on new products and iterate rapidly.

What You Will Do

• Serve as the technical authority and primary technical decision partner in enterprise sales cycles, from discovery through close, including full ownership of Proof of Value (POV) success criteria and outcomes
• Lead architecture-level conversations with security, email, and identity teams
• Run technical discovery that uncovers risk, not just requirements
• Conduct technical and competitive landscape research to effectively address customer questions and objections
• Confidently answer architecture-level and modern threat questions without deferring to Product or Engineering
• Articulate why legacy secure email gateways fail against social engineering and identity-based attacks
• Educate and implement AI Security solutions across email, identity, and other verticals in the security stack.
• Educate sales executives and partners on Abnormal Security’s products, platform, and security posture
• Obsessively drive customer satisfaction and successful business outcomes

Must Have

• Sales Engineering experience OR relevant industry experience OR can demonstrate technical aptitude.
• Demonstrated ability to lead technical discovery and architecture discussions with security, infrastructure, identity and compliance teams
• Strong technical presentation and communication skills, both verbal and written
• Ability to see and present the “big picture,” uncover complex business challenges, and architect solutions to solve customer needs
• Ability to work independently in a fast-paced, high-impact sales environment
• Positive attitude, strong customer focus, and a high sense of ownership over customer results
• Solid technical understanding of SaaS security models including multi-tenant cloud environments
• Working knowledge of DNS, TCP/IP, TLS, and enterprise networking concepts as they relate to email and SaaS security
• Curiosity to understand not only that a product works, but how/why it works.

Nice to Have

• Experience with enterprise email security platforms (Proofpoint, Mimecast, Cisco, Barracuda, etc.)
• Basic understanding of cyber security tools including: EDR, Firewall, SIEM, ITP, etc and how those tools work together.
• Technical background in messaging and internet security principles
• Hands-on experience with Microsoft Exchange Online / Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace
• Strong understanding of SMTP mail flow, MX records and mail routing
• Working knowledge of email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and common failure modes
• Strong understanding of Cloud SaaS infrastructure including identity services such as Azure AD / Entra ID / Google Identity
• Ability to explain identity-driven and modern social engineering attacks and controls at an architectural level
• Experience integrating SaaS platforms via OAuth and REST APIs
• Familiarity with SIEM platforms (Splunk, Sentinel) and SOC workflows
• Experience working with or alongside SOC incident response teams including creating incident response workflows
• Security certifications (CISSP, CEH, or equivalent) for credibility with enterprise buyers

Actual compensation will be determined based on several non-discriminatory factors including skills, experience, qualifications, and geographic location.

In addition to base salary, this role may be eligible for bonus or incentive compensation, equity, and a comprehensive benefits package.

Base salary range:

$101,150—$119,000 USD

A note on AI in our process: Abnormal AI uses AI-assisted tools to help our recruiting team prepare for candidate interviews. These tools analyze resume content and role requirements to suggest interview questions and areas for the interviewer to explore. They do not make hiring decisions or screen candidates automatically. Every decision about a candidacy is made by a person. Further, if your application is successful and Abnormal AI makes a conditional offer of employment, we will carry out pre-employment checks which must be successfully completed to progress to a final offer. All processes and pre-employment checks are in line with prevailing legislation and Abnormal AI's policies relevant to our security and privacy standards.

Abnormal AI is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by law. For our EEO policy statement please click here. If you would like more information on your EEO rights under the law, please click here.