Director of PreSales Strategy & Operations

Washington, DC; New York, NY, Chicago, IL

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Okta is The World’s Identity Company. We free everyone to safely use any technology—anywhere, on any device or app. Our Workforce and Customer Identity Clouds enable secure yet flexible access, authentication, and automation that transforms how people move through the digital world, putting Identity at the heart of business security and growth. 

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Join our team! We’re building a world where Identity belongs to you.

Okta is hiring for a  Director of Presales Field Strategy and Operations. This person will play a critical role in shaping the Sales Engineering organization's strategic direction and operational efficiency. 

This individual will work closely with senior presales leadership, sales teams, and cross-functional departments to drive strategic initiatives, optimize processes, and scale the Sales Engineering function to meet the needs of a rapidly growing customer base. The ideal candidate is a proven leader with a strong background in sales engineering operations, strategy development, and cross-functional collaboration within a fast-paced, tech-driven environment.

What you will be doing:

Strategic Planning & Execution:

  • Partner closely with the SVP of Global Presales to set the organizational vision, strategy, planning, and associated operational cadences.
  • Lead the development, implementation, and continuous optimization of the Sales Engineering strategy in alignment with overall company goals.
  • Analyze market trends, customer feedback, and competitive landscapes to ensure the Sales Engineering team’s strategies are responsive and forward-thinking.
  • Collaborate with sales leadership to ensure Sales Engineering initiatives are integrated with overall sales goals and effectively support revenue generation.

Operational Excellence:

  • Own the operational capabilities of the Sales Engineering function, ensuring efficient workflows, resource allocation, and alignment across all teams.
  • Drive the development and continuous improvement of processes, tools, and systems that enable Sales Engineers to be more effective in their pre-sales engagements.
  • Implement and optimize performance metrics, KPIs, and reporting mechanisms to measure team effectiveness, resource utilization, and overall impact on sales success.

Team Leadership & Development:

  • Manage a team of operations professionals supporting the Sales Engineering function, ensuring high engagement, performance, and accountability levels.
  • Provide leadership in fostering a culture of continuous improvement, cross-functional collaboration, and high performance within the Sales Engineering team.
  • Identify skills gaps, create professional development programs, and mentor high-potential team members to grow into leadership roles.

Cross-Functional Collaboration:

  • Work closely with the Sales, Marketing, Product, and Customer Success teams to align strategies, ensure effective handoffs, and ensure customer-facing teams have the necessary resources and information to succeed.
  • Serve as the point of contact for escalated operational or strategic challenges and as a bridge between the Sales Engineering team and other departments.
  • Provide strategic insights for product development, sales enablement content, and customer-facing training programs.

Reporting & Analytics:

  • Partner with the analytics teams to develop and maintain dashboards, reports, and analytics to measure and report on the effectiveness of Sales Engineering operations, including technical win rates, and overall impact on sales performance.

Technology & Tools:

  • Partner with the Business Technology and Field Strategy & Operations Systems teams on selecting, implementing, and optimizing tools and platforms that support the Sales Engineering function, including CRM systems, proposal management tools, and demo environments.
  • Ensure the Sales Engineering team has access to the latest technologies, resources, and training to drive efficiency and effectiveness.

What you will bring to the role:

  • Minimum of 5 years as a Sr. Manager or Director in a Go To Market Strategy & Operations role
  • Demonstrated success in directly leading a high-performing team within the SaaS environment. 
  • Significant experience in influencing and scaling the Sales Engineering field and operations team. 
  • Expert in operationalizing global cadences, with the ability to optimize resource allocation and collaboration with sales.
  • Willingness to travel globally as needed. 
  Okta’s Top 5 Core Leadership Competencies are part of the deeply ingrained principles that guide all of our company’s actions. They also align strongly to our cultural cornerstones, our Okta values: love our customers, empower our people, never stop innovating, act with integrity, and maintain transparency. It’s our expectation that our managers and leaders embody these core competencies:
  • Builds Effective Teams: Building strong-identity teams that apply their diverse skills and perspectives to achieve common goals.          
  • Demonstrates Self-Awareness (EQ): Using a combination of feedback and reflection to gain productive insight into personal strengths and weaknesses.
  • Develops Talent: Developing people to meet both their career goals and the organization’s goals.
  • Drives Results: Consistently achieving results, even under tough circumstances.
  • Strategic Mindset: Seeing ahead to future possibilities and translating them into breakthrough strategies.

#LI-SC

#LI-Hybrid

The annual base salary range for this position for candidates located in the San Francisco Bay area is between: $212,000—$318,000 USD

Below is the annual base salary range for candidates located in California, Colorado, New York and Washington. Your actual base salary will depend on factors such as your skills, qualifications, experience, and work location. In addition, Okta offers equity (where applicable), bonus, and benefits, including health, dental and vision insurance, 401(k), flexible spending account, and paid leave (including PTO and parental leave) in accordance with our applicable plans and policies. To learn more about our Total Rewards program please visit: https://rewards.okta.com/us.   

The annual base salary range for this position for candidates located in California (excluding San Francisco Bay Area), Colorado, New York, and Washington is between:$170,000—$284,000 USD

What you can look forward to as a Full-Time Okta employee!

Okta cultivates a dynamic work environment, providing the best tools, technology and benefits to empower our employees to work productively in a setting that best and uniquely suits their needs. Each organization is unique in the degree of flexibility and mobility in which they work so that all employees are enabled to be their most creative and successful versions of themselves, regardless of where they live. Find your place at Okta today! https://www.okta.com/company/careers/.

Some roles may require travel to one of our office locations for in-person onboarding.

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Okta
The foundation for secure connections between people and technology

Okta is the leading independent provider of identity for the enterprise. The Okta Identity Cloud enables organizations to securely connect the right people to the right technologies at the right time. With over 7,000 pre-built integrations to applications and infrastructure providers, Okta customers can easily and securely use the best technologies for their business. More than 19,300 organizations, including JetBlue, Nordstrom, Slack, T-Mobile, Takeda, Teach for America, and Twilio, trust Okta to help protect the identities of their workforces and customers.

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