Area Vice President, Solution Engineering Splunk UKI

The Role  

Splunk, a Cisco company, is seeking a dynamic and visionary leader for a pivotal role at a time when our technology is hyper-relevant in the age of AI. As the Director of Solutions Engineering for the UKI region, you are more than a "leader of leaders" - you are a strategic force who will shape the technical future for our customers. 
 

This is a highly transformational role. We are looking for a leader with a growth mindset and a fresh perspective to elevate our organization from a traditional pre-sales motion to an innovative, proactive, and business-opportunity-focused mission. You will drive transformational change, champion a value-selling approach, and forge a mature, visionary partnership with the sales organization. By converting our approach from reactive to proactive, you will empower a world-class team to deliver exceptional business outcomes for Splunk’s customers. 
 

As an active member of the Splunk UKI Leadership Team, you will be a technical visionary, a business driver, and an inspirational coach, building strong executive relationships to drive market success.
 

What You'll Do  

As an executive technical sales leader, you will orchestrate teams and cross-functional resources to deliver impactful results across three core pillars: 
 

1. Drive Business Outcomes and Customer Success (Lead Business) 

• Transform the Pre-Sales Motion: Drive the shift from a traditional, reactive technical support function to a proactive, value-selling organization focused on long-term business outcomes and strategic opportunities. 

• Build a Visionary Sales Partnership: Forge a strong, mature, and innovative partnership with field sales leadership. Jointly develop strategic account plans and orchestrate resources to win in the market. 

• Engage at the Executive Level: Act as a trusted advisor to our most strategic customers. Proactively engage at the VP/CxO level to understand their buying processes, business drivers, and market challenges - particularly within Public Sector, Financial Services, Insurance, Telecommunications, and Retail sectors. 

• Position us to Win: Leverage deep market intelligence to strategically position Splunk + Cisco solutions, clearly articulating our trade-offs, advantages, and competitive edge. 
   

2. Lead and Develop Elite Talent (Lead Others) 

• Cultivate a Growth Mindset: Champion an inclusive, agile culture where team members are empowered to innovate and thrive amidst market shifts. Bring a fresh perspective that challenges the status quo. 

• Develop "Leaders of Leaders": Coach, mentor, and develop a team of managers and engineers. Proactively identify talent, implement succession plans, and co-develop individual growth plans. 

• Drive Operational Excellence: Manage performance closely using the skill/will methodology. Establish scalable frameworks for enablement, and organizational alignment to ensure your team can support complex, high-value tech solutions. 
   

3. Embody Executive Leadership and Vision (Lead Yourself) 

• Be a Thought Leader: Amplify Splunk's market presence by representing the company as a strategic expert in industry forums, customer advisory boards, and internal strategy councils. 

• Master Cross-Functional Alignment: Work seamlessly with Sales, Partners org, Professional Services, Education, Product Management, and Engineering to ensure alignment between pre- and post-sales activities, scope new opportunities, and resolve critical customer situations. 

• Demonstrate Executive Accountability: Navigate organizational challenges with resilience and adaptability, ensuring sustained strategic alignment and business excellence. 
   

Who You Are  

You are a visionary pre-sales and solution architecture leader who thrives on defining strategy for innovative technology in a dynamic, AI-driven landscape. You seek out and solve complex, high-impact problems, leading by example and influencing from the front. 
 

Your Qualifications: 

• 10–15+ years of experience in technical selling and Solutions/Sales Engineering within enterprise software. 

• 5–7+ years of leadership experience, with a proven track record of managing people managers (leader of leaders) in a complex work environment. 

• Deep-dive experience and market knowledge within the UKI region. 

• Experience working across multiple customer segments (Enterprise, Public Sector, Service Provider, Commercial). 

• Strong domain expertise in enterprise software (e.g., Cybersecurity, Observability, Cloud & AI, IT Operations, Application Performance Management, or Big Data). 

• Exceptional communication and articulation skills; ability to translate complex technical ideas into clear business value for executive audiences. 

• Proven experience driving organizational transformation, specifically shifting a pre-sales team from a reactive technical function to a proactive, value-selling business driver. 

• M&A (Mergers & Acquisitions) experience is desirable. 

• BS or equivalent experience in Computer Science, Management Information Systems, or a related field. 

• Ability to travel up to 25-35%.