Role description
DelineaAbout Delinea:
Delinea is the identity security platform that continuously controls what AI agents, humans and machines can do and for how long. It extends privileged access management from the point of access to the moment of action, using just-in-time authorization to reduce standing privilege across on-premises, multi-cloud and short-lived infrastructure, without adding friction for legitimate users. Delinea provides visibility across every identity type, scores the risk each one carries, and preserves the context behind access decisions, making them auditable and defensible. It supports both static and ephemeral access, letting teams apply Zero Standing Privilege where risk demands it without replacing existing infrastructure.
Position Summary:
Sales Engineering at Delinea is organized by the accounts you own, across four segments: Strategic, Enterprise, Commercial, and Federal and Public Sector. The Delinea StrongDM specialist team works across all four. We don't own accounts; we own the technical win for runtime authorization inside them, alongside the segment Account Executives and Sales Engineers who do. The ladder from Sales Engineer to Senior to Principal runs along the same axis: deal, team, company.
As a Senior Sales Engineer on the specialist team, you own the technical win for runtime authorization in the most complex opportunities across every segment, and you multiply the field around you: the demos and assets you build, the segment Sales Engineers you enable, and the patterns you establish outlast any single deal. You bring deep expertise in identity and access management (IAM) and privileged access management (PAM), hands-on fluency in the infrastructure people actually need to reach, and a forward-looking view of how AI agents change who, and what, needs access.
Delinea StrongDM is the runtime authorization layer of the Delinea Platform. It replaces standing access with just-in-time (JIT) access and ephemeral credentials to databases, servers, Kubernetes, and cloud environments, governed by Cedar-based policy that can evaluate individual actions, down to an AI agent's Model Context Protocol (MCP) tool calls. You show customers how it works alongside the rest of the platform.
To platform engineering leaders, security architects, and CISOs, you are a trusted technical advisor, translating business requirements into measurable outcomes: Zero Standing Privilege (ZSP), faster developer access, governed AI agents, and audit-ready compliance.
Sound interesting? Read on.
What You'll Do
Serve as the technical lead for runtime authorization in the most complex opportunities across all four segments, focused on Delinea StrongDM and how it combines with the rest of the Delinea Platform.
Partner with segment Account Executives and Sales Engineers to identify, qualify, and accelerate runtime authorization opportunities, adding depth to the account team without adding friction.
Lead technical discovery to find the real problem behind the request, whether standing privileges, credential sprawl, audit gaps, developer friction, or ungoverned AI agents, and connect it to the business outcome the customer needs.
Challenge the customer's current access architecture and the status quo in the account, backed by a design that is demonstrably better.
Deliver compelling demonstrations, technical presentations, and workshops tailored to platform engineers, SREs, security architects, and executives, and handle the unscripted question live.
Own and drive Proofs of Value (PoVs) and technical evaluations from scoping through success criteria to a documented technical win.
Develop solution designs, including architecture diagrams, integration specifications, and deployment plans spanning identity providers, databases, Kubernetes, cloud platforms, SIEM, ITSM and ChatOps tools, and AI agent toolchains.
Respond to RFPs, RFIs, and security questionnaires for runtime authorization, verifying every answer against current product documentation before it reaches the customer.
Treat customer and account team requests with urgency, responding promptly and setting clear expectations on timing, scope, and next steps across the multiple account teams you support.
Use AI tooling and demo automation to increase your leverage: research agents for account preparation, personalized on-demand demos between live meetings, and reusable assets the field can pick up.
Enable segment Sales Engineers and Account Executives through office hours, deal reviews, and short-form training so they can recognize and open runtime authorization conversations on their own.
Collaborate with Professional Services and Customer Success during onboarding to ensure a smooth handoff and adherence to the agreed architecture.
Troubleshoot complex issues during evaluations across identity providers, networking, Kubernetes, databases, cloud IAM, and MCP.
Stay current on Delinea product updates, identity security trends, and the threat landscape, including machine identity, AI agent security, and cloud-native infrastructure.
Contribute to the internal knowledge base, demo environments, reusable assets, and best practices, and mentor newer members of the Sales Engineering team.
Provide structured field feedback to Product Management and Engineering, especially on AI agent governance and competitive gaps, and support the introduction of new capabilities to the market.
Represent Delinea at customer events, industry conferences, and partner enablement sessions, and contribute to thought leadership such as blog posts, webinars, and demo videos.
What You'll Bring
Required
5+ years of experience in a pre-sales Solutions Engineering, Sales Engineering, or Sales Architecture role, with at least 3 years focused on IAM or PAM and demonstrated ownership of complex evaluations, from scoping to technical win.
Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
Hands-on expertise in IAM and PAM, with the ability to explain the identity threat landscape and the principles of zero trust, least privilege, JIT access, and ZSP, and why they matter to the business.
Strong command of identity protocols and directories, including SAML, OIDC, OAuth 2.0, SCIM, LDAP, Kerberos, and PKI, with hands-on experience in Okta, Microsoft Entra ID, Ping, or Active Directory.
Hands-on experience with, or deep working knowledge of, infrastructure access and PAM platforms such as Teleport, HashiCorp Boundary or Vault, CyberArk, BeyondTrust, Okta Privileged Access, or StrongDM.
Strong working knowledge of enterprise infrastructure: Linux and Windows administration, SSH and RDP, common databases such as PostgreSQL, MySQL, and SQL Server, and networking fundamentals.
Experience with at least one major cloud platform (AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud), including its IAM model, and working familiarity with Kubernetes and containerized environments.
Familiarity with DevOps and automation practices, including CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure as code such as Terraform, REST APIs, and scripting in Python, Bash, or PowerShell.
Understanding of compliance and audit frameworks such as SOX, PCI DSS, HIPAA, NIST, FedRAMP, and ISO 27001.
Excellent presentation, communication, and relationship-building skills, including the ability to run a live demo, adapt it in real time, and engage audiences from engineers to C-level executives.
Proven ability to support multiple account teams concurrently in a fast-paced environment, ideally in an overlay or specialist role, while working independently.
Willingness to travel 25% for customer meetings, proofs of value, and events.
Nice to Have
Hands-on experience with Delinea StrongDM or other Delinea products.
Experience securing machine identities, service accounts, secrets, and AI agents, including familiarity with MCP or agentic AI frameworks.
Policy-as-code experience with Cedar, OPA/Rego, or similar.
An established public presence in the identity or DevOps community, such as a technical blog, demo videos, conference or meetup talks, open-source contributions, or an engaged LinkedIn audience.
Industry certifications such as CISSP, CCSP, Security+, CKA, Okta, or cloud provider security certifications.
Experience with MEDDICC or similar enterprise sales qualification frameworks.
What You'll Get
A seat on the specialist team leading Delinea's runtime authorization and AI agent access motion across every segment.
A collaborative Sales Engineering team across the US and UK/EU that picks up what you build and gives you credit for it.
Investment in your growth, including training, certifications, and conference attendance.
A visible path to Principal, measured on the architectures you establish, the field you enable, and the influence you earn with Product.
The opportunity to work on the leading edge of identity security, protecting human, machine, and AI agent identities for some of the world's largest organizations.
Apply if you believe your experience and perspective will help us deliver for our customers, even if you don't meet every requirement listed above.
What Distinguishes This Level
Every level is held to the same six core values listed below. As a Senior on a specialist team, Ownership extends past the deals you support to the field's ability to sell runtime authorization without you: the demo environments, the reusable designs, and the segment Sales Engineers you enable. Respect carries extra weight in an overlay role: you make the segment Sales Engineer and Account Executive stronger in front of their customer, raise disagreements with them directly and privately. Nimble means you take on the newest capability first, today that is AI agent access governance, so the rest of the field doesn't have to. Challenging the status quo becomes your default: you question whether the customer's current vault and session-level controls actually remove standing privilege, not just answer questions about ours.
Why work at Delinea?
We're passionate problem-solvers helping the world's largest organizations protect what matters most: their human and machine identities.
We invest in people who are smart, self-motivated, and collaborative.
What we offer in return is meaningful work, a culture of innovation and great career progression.
At Delinea, our core values are STRONG and guide our behaviors and success:
Spirited - We bring energy and passion to everything we do
Trust - We act with integrity and deliver on our commitments
Respect - We listen, value different perspectives, and work as one team
Ownership - We take initiative and follow through
Nimble - We adapt quickly in a fast-changing environment
Global - We embrace diverse people and ideas to drive better outcomes
We believe weaving these core values into our day-to-day actions, and our process for hiring, evaluating, and promoting employees, helps us cultivate a work environment that embraces collaboration and camaraderie.
We take care of our employees. We offer competitive salaries, a meaningful bonus program, and excellent benefits, including healthcare insurance, as well as pension/retirement matching, comprehensive life insurance, an employee assistance program, time off plans, and paid company holidays.
Delinea is an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type with regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.
Upon conditional offer of employment, candidates are required to complete comprehensive criminal background check, verification of education, and verification of employment, per employment policy. In addition, all publicly posted social media sites may be reviewed.