Forward was founded in 2013 by four Stanford Ph.D.s, building the industry's first network digital twin: a mathematically accurate model of the production network. It's the foundation for autonomous networking, giving engineers and AI agents the ability to know the impact of every change before it touches production. That founding instinct still defines how we work. We're accurate and evidence-driven, relentless about clarity, and we'd rather be certain than comfortable, building a groundbreaking platform that transforms how teams run and secure networks across every major cloud and vendor environment.
Global leaders like Goldman Sachs, PayPal, S&P Global, IBM, and Dell trust Forward, alongside fast-growing enterprises and government agencies, realizing an average of $14.2 million in annual benefits, according to IDC. Backed by top-tier investors, including A. Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Goldman Sachs, MSD Partners, Omega Venture Partners, Section 32, and Threshold Ventures, and headquartered in Santa Clara, we're most proud of our team: curious people who'd rather build what doesn't exist than accept how things have always been done.
Forward Networks is looking for an experienced Business Development Representative
Key Responsibilities- Lead Qualification: Respond to and qualify inbound leads from marketing campaigns, webinars, website inquiries, and other demand-generation activities.
- Prospect Engagement: Conduct discovery calls to understand prospects’ business needs, challenges, and potential use cases for Forward Networks.
- Meeting Generation: Schedule qualified meetings and demos for Account Executives to progress opportunities through the sales cycle.
- Messaging & Education: Clearly articulate Forward Networks’s value proposition and educate the prospects on the value of a digital twin.
- CRM Management: Maintain accurate and timely records in Salesforce, ensuring visibility into lead activity and pipeline.
- Collaboration: Partner with Marketing to provide feedback on lead quality and campaign effectiveness, and with Sales to ensure smooth handoffs.
- Continuous Learning: Stay up to date on Forward Networks’s platform and the dynamic changes in the networking, security and cloud infrastructure space.
- Experience: 1–2 years in Business Development, business development, or a customer-facing role (internship or full-time); knowledge of computer networking, SaaS or data/technology industry experience preferred
- Skills:
- Excellent written and verbal communication.
- Curiosity and ability to quickly learn technical concepts.
Strong organizational skills and attention to detail. - Goal-oriented and self-motivated.
- Tools: Familiarity with Salesforce, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, and other prospecting tools is preferred.
- Mindset: Energetic, coachable, resilient, and eager to build a career in enterprise sales.
The expected On-Target Cash Earnings for this role is between $75,000-$100,00 per year. Within this range, individual pay is determined by several factors including but not limited to, job-related skills, work experience, and relevant education/training
Skills Required
- 1-2 years in Business Development or a customer-facing role (internship or full-time)
- Knowledge of computer networking, SaaS, or data/technology industry experience
- Excellent written and verbal communication
- Curiosity and ability to quickly learn technical concepts
- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
- Goal-oriented and self-motivated
- Familiarity with Salesforce
- Familiarity with LinkedIn Sales Navigator
- Energetic, coachable, resilient, and eager to build a career in enterprise sales
Forward Networks Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Forward Networks and has not been reviewed or approved by Forward Networks.
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Fair & Transparent Compensation — Pay is considered competitive for a mid-stage infrastructure/software company across several roles and locations. Signals point to strong totals in technical and select go-to-market positions.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Equity is broadly offered to all employees, creating ownership potential alongside salary and bonus. As a private company, perceived value can rise with company performance and future liquidity.
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Healthcare Strength — Medical, dental, and vision coverage is described as top-grade for employees and dependents. Company materials consistently highlight strong core health benefits across hiring channels.
Forward Networks Insights
What We Do
The future of network operations is network modeling. Forward Networks' flagship platform Forward Enterprise gives users a mathematically accurate network digital twin. Forward enables perfect network visibility, full path analysis, security policy verification, and change prediction, freeing up time and saving you money.
