[Hiring] Senior Director, Channel Sales DACH @Palo Alto Networks

Role Description

As a member of the DACH executive leadership team, you will build and drive the Ecosystems team to exceed company objectives. You’ll be responsible for building a results-driven sales culture that delivers in bookings, sales development, and forecast accuracy while simultaneously mentoring and developing your team members to accomplish individual and organizational goals.

As a Senior Director, Ecosystems DACH you will report to the VP, EMEA Ecosystems with a dotted line into the VP, Sales DACH. In this executive role, you will lead Palo Alto Networks’ ecosystem transformation from legacy transactional reselling to high-margin Platformization (Strata, Cortex, Idira) powered by Precision AI. You are an AI-ready forward thinker who will maximize partner profitability, expand new routes to market (MSSPs/Service Providers, GSIs, Sovereign Cloud Providers), and elevate our talent to its fullest potential.

Your Impact

• Strategic Sales & Revenue Growth: Partner directly with the VP of Sales DACH to co-own regional bookings targets. Build and execute an integrated Ecosystem GTM strategy that drives incremental, platform-led revenue across enterprise, public sector, and commercial segments.
• Transformational People Leadership: Lead, inspire, and grow a diverse team of people managers and senior individual contributors. Cultivate an agile, growth-minded culture focused on continuous innovation, high accountability. Attract and retain exceptional channel sales talents. Leverage the “matrix” organization, and excel at leveraging resources across all critical functions in the organization globally.
• Complex Route-to-Market Management: Architect high-growth GTM strategies across GSIs, MSSPs, Cloud Hyperscalers, Value-Added Distributors (VADs) and Value-Added Resellers (VARs) to create seamless, high-touch buying options for regional enterprise clients.
• AI-Driven Transformation: Lead the channel through the AI revolution. Modernize partner capability models by driving adoption of Palo Alto Networks’ solutions such as advanced, automated SOC practices, SASE, identity and cloud security.
• Executive Gravitas: Act as a trusted advisor to internal sales leaders and partners’ stakeholders, positioning Palo Alto Networks as the primary platform for digital transformation, sovereign cloud compliance, and enterprise AI resilience.
• Operational Excellence & Telemetry: Drive rigorous execution, forecasting accuracy, and data-backed pipeline metrics. Implement AI-ready enablement tools and clear operational cadence across daily business operations.
• Corporate & Regional Collaboration: Influence global ecosystem and program architecture at HQ, tailoring programs to reflect the unique market maturities, geopolitical considerations and digital investments across DACH.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of direct people management experience, with a proven track record of managing people managers and senior leaders in global SaaS, Cloud, or Enterprise Security organizations.
• 12+ years of demonstrable success driving complex GTM models through Global System Integrators (GSIs), Service Providers/MSSPs, Cloud Hyperscalers, and Tier-1 Distributors across DACH.
• Strong foundations in enterprise sales motions with a clear understanding of complex deal structuring, executive co-selling, and joint GTM campaigns alongside direct field teams.
• Demonstrated capacity to embrace disruptive technology shifts. A vision for how AI, automation, and machine learning redefine cybersecurity GTM, partner services, and sales productivity.
• Regional expertise with deep understanding of the business landscape, government initiatives, sovereignty requirements, and enterprise purchasing patterns across DACH.
• Exceptional communication skills with a track record of building long-term, trust-based relationships with C-level partner executives and internal cross-functional stakeholders.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Business, Computer Science, or equivalent practical experience/military background; Advanced degree (MBA) is an advantage.

Additional Information

The channel organization at Palo Alto Networks is a strategic pillar for our continued growth within cybersecurity, and a critical component to accomplishing our mission. Channel development is an extension of the territory sales team, with the ultimate goal to train and enable our channel partners to become empowered in the use and sales of our products.

We’re trailblazers that dream big, take risks, and challenge cybersecurity’s status quo. It’s simple: we can’t accomplish our mission without diverse teams innovating, together.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for all qualified individuals with a disability. If you require assistance or accommodation due to a disability or special need, please contact us at [email protected].

Palo Alto Networks is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity in our workplace, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or other legally protected characteristics.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

Is role eligible for Immigration Sponsorship? No. Please note that we will not sponsor applicants for work visas for this position.