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 a Channel Systems (Sales) Engineer
- Do you want to help sell a platform that solves real networking problems?
- Join a company that has been in market 6+ years and has some of the top Federal agencies and F500/Global 2000 already buying and referenceable.
- If you have 5-10 years of wildly successful experience as a Systems Engineer selling to large enterprise accounts..you may be the one!
- We are building a special team and hope you consider us if you want to have the experience of changing the networking world as we know it.
Responsibilities:
- Serve as the primary technical resource for the channel sales organization working with large global and regional Channel Partners, Value Added Resellers, and Service Integrators
- Work with the channel and sales teams as the product advocate and key technical adviser
- Drive and manage the technology evaluation stage of the channel sales process; answer technical questions and communicate business and technical value
- Establish and maintain strong relationships throughout the channel ecosystem to ensure complete partner satisfaction
- Establish technical feasibility and perform qualification of the potential technical deployment
- Develop and deliver product demos and POCs
- Respond to functional and technical elements of RFIs/RFPs
- Deliver technical training and enablement for channel partners
- Work with internal product management and engineering teams to convey partner and customer requirements
- Represent the product to customers, partners and at field events such as conferences, seminars, etc.
Required Qualifications:
- Strong understanding of networking and security solutions and vendors
- Strong verbal and written communications skills with a focus on needs analysis, positioning, business justification, and closing techniques.
- 5+ years’ experience selling to Enterprise customers and channel partners for a networking company or relevant software vendor.
- 2 Years experience with some scripting or programming language; understanding of program flow, conditionals, basic logic handling.
- Superior presentation skills
Highly Desired:
- Working knowledge of API driven workflows and scripting languages (Python, bash, jq, graphql, etc)
- Experience working with a startup company
- B.S. Computer Science or equivalent educational experience
- One or more of the following certificates: CCIE, JNCIE or VCDX
The expected On-Target Cash Earning for this role is between $225,000 - $280,000 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
- Strong understanding of networking and security solutions and vendors
- Strong verbal and written communication skills, including needs analysis, positioning, business justification, and closing techniques
- At least 5 years of experience selling to enterprise customers and channel partners for a networking company or relevant software vendor
- At least 2 years of experience with a scripting or programming language, including program flow, conditionals, and basic logic handling
- Superior presentation skills
- Working knowledge of API-driven workflows and scripting languages such as Python, Bash, jq, or GraphQL
- Experience working with a startup company
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or equivalent educational experience
- One or more certifications such as CCIE, JNCIE, or VCDX
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.
