Senior Director, Technical Services (Cloud and Cortex)

About the Role

Palo Alto Networks is a company driven by the mission to protect the digital lifestyle by blending innovation with significant real-world impact. We place great value on employee voices and ideas, fostering a culture of inclusiveness, integrity, and collaboration. Working predominantly onsite to promote immediate problem-solving and strong team relationships, our teams strive to deliver outstanding outcomes.

This position serves as the Senior Director of Technical Services for JAPAC, responsible for overseeing the post-sale customer journey from value realization through renewal. The role involves managing diverse Professional Services and Customer Success teams focused on deployment, adoption, escalation management, value realization, and customer expansion.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead all technical service deliveries throughout the JAPAC region, guaranteeing uniform and high-quality performance.
• Coordinate with global teams from Customer Success, Sales, Product, Engineering, and Partners to meet customer and business objectives.
• Assist Area Leaders during engagements with CIOs, CISOs, and in high-profile escalations and value assessments.
• Represent JAPAC in regional meetings, providing feedback on customer needs and market dynamics.
• Recruit, develop, and mentor a proficient technical services team promoting accountability and continuous improvement.
• Foster a performance-driven culture emphasizing learning and operational excellence.
• Guide teams through challenging customer scenarios, organizational change, and evolving service delivery models.
• Monitor and enhance utilization rates, backlog status, and predictability of delivery.
• Balance the workforce between full-time employees and contractors to optimize flexibility and control costs.
• Accelerate deployment and adoption timelines by refining related processes.
• Support service sales expansion through efficient, outcome-oriented offerings.
• Maintain robust partnerships with subcontractors ensuring scalable delivery capacity.
• Achieve global margin objectives via efficient, high-quality operations.
• Drive automation and AI progress in Cloud and Cortex professional services to improve scalability and consistency.
• Standardize delivery procedures, proactively manage risks, and use data-driven approaches to boost service health.
• Ensure smooth execution of both global and regional programs.

Required Qualifications

• Minimum 15 years experience in technical or professional services, customer success, or support roles, especially in high-growth SaaS/cloud settings.
• Over 10 years managing regional or multi-regional teams with both direct and matrix reporting.
• Proven success meeting KPIs like deployment speed, customer adoption, financial margins, utilization, and customer satisfaction.
• Hold recognized cybersecurity certifications such as CISSP or CRISC.
• Extensive knowledge of Cloud, Endpoint, SOAR, SIEM, and SOC technologies, preferably involving leading security platforms.
• Experience with operational security or compliance related to governance, risk, and enterprise security initiatives.
• Proficiency in communicating and collaborating with executive stakeholders across Product Management and Sales.
• Leadership experience managing large teams exceeding 100 employees and contractors.
• Bachelor's degree required; Master’s degree or MBA preferred; equivalent military background considered.
• Availability for 20-30% travel within JAPAC and occasional global travel.
• Effective communicator skilled at influencing diverse groups across technical and non-technical roles.
• Ability to cultivate trust, nurture talent, and confidently lead through uncertainty.
• Strong decision-making skills for escalations and complex customer relationships.
• Adept at fostering collaboration and driving continuous organizational improvements.

Additional Information

Palo Alto Networks values diversity and is an equal opportunity employer committed to reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities. Confidentiality is maintained in accordance with equal employment opportunity guidelines.