Principal Partner Engineer

Job Overview

The Partner Engineer (PE) is a high-impact, strategic technical sales leader responsible for end-to-end technical lifecycle and enablement of assigned partners, managing both pre-sales and post-sales engineering activities.

Key Responsibilities

Pre-Sales Engineering & Champion Building

• Own the technical relationship with Partners to align on building joint Go-To-Market (GTM) strategies.
• Align, build, and accelerate partner technical capabilities, enabling them to lead deep technical discovery and architectural design to independently sell scalable solutions leveraging the Cloudflare Platform with a strong focus on AI and Cloudflare One (CF1).
• Own and drive the end-to-end Technical Account Plan (TAP) for assigned strategic partners.
• Identify, enable, and cultivate key technical advocates and "Champions" within the partner organization to scale Cloudflare expertise independently, generate Partner-Influenced Opportunities (PIO), and empower them to deliver high-value professional services around Zero Trust and AI application security.
• Collaborate with sales teams to proactively source, qualify, and expand PIO through strategic architectural alignment, focusing on migrating legacy network architectures to CF1 and integrating secure AI solutions.
• Enable partners' technical validation, proof-of-concept (PoC), demo, pipeline generation, and pipeline acceleration capabilities.

Accelerate Services Delivery

• Own the ASD partner journey to ensure partners possess the advanced capabilities required to deploy, manage, and support the Cloudflare platform and AI application workloads seamlessly.
• Build and co-develop joint services catalogues with key partners, accelerating the creation and launch of their own Cloudflare-focused services offerings, managed CF1 SASE practices, and AI security assessments.
• Enable partners to embed CF1 and Workers AI capabilities into their own managed security portfolios to shorten time-to-market, protect client AI pipelines, and maximize profitability.
• Act as the escalated technical point of contact to ensure long-term architectural health, utilizing telemetry and proactive design to move the partner relationship from reactive to strategic for Cloudflare.

Automation AI Agents & Continuous Innovation

• Champion the use of Cloudflare OS and AI tools (Agent PAT and Agent Echo) to automate standard, repeatable technical tasks, optimizing operational efficiency and freeing up bandwidth for high-touch, strategic partner engagements.
• Engage partner champions in the Partner Technical Advisory Council (PTAC) to give them early access to beta software, capture raw product feedback, and drive joint co-innovation on CF1 features and emerging AI products.
• Participate in continuous cross-training programs to maintain peak proficiency in both pre-sales scoping and post-sales service deployment across the entire Cloudflare One and AI ecosystem.

Required Qualifications & Experience

• 8+ years of technical, partner-facing experience (e.g., Systems Engineer, Solutions Architect, or Technical Account Manager) in cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, or networking.
• Strong technical depth in Cloudflare One (CF1) or equivalent SASE/SSE architectures, Zero Trust, DNS, and application security, alongside hands-on familiarity with AI deployment, AI Gateway, LLM orchestration frameworks, or vector databases.
• Proven track record of developing technical talent or building "champion" programs within partner organizations, specifically driving adoption of complex cloud networks and AI technologies.
• Enterprise Architecture & Project Management: Deep understanding of enterprise IT, multi-cloud, and hybrid cloud environment while managing complex projects with multiple stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to manage the technical lifecycle of a deal from initial pre-sales discovery and CF1/AI PIO generation through post-sale service delivery.
• Strong communication skills with a track record of presenting complex CF1 architectures and AI-driven use cases to partner leadership and technical teams alike.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.

Compensation

• Compensation may be adjusted depending on work location.
• For SF, SJ, and Bay Area Metro based hires: Estimated annual salary of $244,000-336,000.
• For Boston, California - Remote, Connecticut - Remote, DC Metro, Massachusetts - Remote, New Jersey - Remote, New York City, NY Metro, Remote - Washington, Washington (Kirkland), and Washington D.C. based hires: Estimated annual salary of $234,000-$321,000.
• For Colorado - Remote, Illinois - Remote, Maryland - Remote, Minnesota - Remote, Nevada - Remote, New York - Remote, Rhode Island - Remote, and Vermont - Remote based hires: Estimated annual salary of $212,000-$292,000.
• This role is eligible to earn incentive compensation under Cloudflare's Sales Compensation Plan.
• The estimated annual salary range includes the on-target incentive compensation that may be attained in this role under the Sales Compensation Plan.

Benefits

Cloudflare offers a complete package of benefits and programs to support you and your family.

Health & Welfare Benefits

• Medical/Rx Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• Commuter Spending Accounts
• Fertility & Family Forming Benefits
• On-demand mental health support and Employee Assistance Program
• Global Travel Medical Insurance

Financial Benefits

• Short and Long Term Disability Insurance
• Life & Accident Insurance
• 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan
• Employee Stock Participation Plan

Time Off

• Flexible paid time off covering vacation and sick leave
• Leave programs, including parental, pregnancy health, medical, and bereavement leave