[Hiring] Principal Partner Engineer @Cloudflare

Role Description

The Partner Engineer (PE) is a high-impact, strategic technical sales leader responsible for end-to-end technical lifecycle and enablement of the assigned partners, managing both pre-sales and post-sales engineering activities. In this role, you will act as the single technical point of contact as the trusted advisory for your assigned partners, driving technical validation during the sales cycle, architecting their delivery readiness and ensuring ongoing Partner Success.

The role focuses heavily on driving value-based solution selling to accelerate the adoption of Cloudflare platform with focus on Cloudflare One (SASE/SSE) and AI Infrastructure (Workers AI / AI Gateway). By cultivating deeply technical champions within the partner organization, aligning architectures to tangible business outcomes, optimizing post-sales delivery and building joint managed services offering, you will directly expand and influence the pipeline to maximize Partner-Influenced Opportunity (PIO) revenue.

Key Responsibilities

• Pre-Sales Engineering & Champion Building
  • Own the technical relationship with Partners to align on building joint Go-To-Market (GTM) strategies.
  • 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.
  • Collaborate with sales teams to proactively source, qualify, and expand PIO through strategic architectural alignment.
  • 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.
  • Build and co-develop joint services catalogues with key partners.
  • Enable partners to embed CF1 and Workers AI capabilities into their own managed security portfolios.
  • Act as the escalated technical point of contact to ensure long-term architectural health.
• Automation AI Agents & Continuous Innovation
  • Champion the use of Cloudflare OS and AI tools to automate standard, repeatable technical tasks.
  • Engage partner champions in the Partner Technical Advisory Council (PTAC).
  • Participate in continuous cross-training programs to maintain peak proficiency.

Qualifications

• 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.
• Proven track record of developing technical talent or building "champion" programs within partner organizations.
• Deep understanding of enterprise IT, multi-cloud, and hybrid cloud environment.
• Demonstrated ability to manage the technical lifecycle of a deal from initial pre-sales discovery through post-sale service delivery.
• Strong communication skills with a track record of presenting complex CF1 architectures and AI-driven use cases.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.

Requirements

• 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.
• This role is eligible to participate in Cloudflare’s equity plan.

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
• Short and Long Term Disability Insurance
• Life & Accident Insurance
• 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan
• Employee Stock Participation Plan
• Flexible paid time off covering vacation and sick leave
• Leave programs, including parental, pregnancy health, medical, and bereavement leave