Sr. Manager, Public Sector Business Operations

** This role is open to hiring in our offices in Reston VA, Plano TX, Santa Clara CA, or New York with a hybrid working schedule of at least 3 days in office. Relocation support is not available.** 

Our Mission

At Palo Alto Networks® everything starts and ends with our mission:

Being the cybersecurity partner of choice, protecting our digital way of life.
Our vision is a world where each day is safer and more secure than the one before. We are a company built on the foundation of challenging and disrupting the way things are done, and we’re looking for innovators who are as committed to shaping the future of cybersecurity as we are.

Who We Are

We take our mission of protecting the digital way of life seriously. We are relentless in protecting our customers and we believe that the unique ideas of every member of our team contributes to our collective success. Our values were crowdsourced by employees and are brought to life through each of us everyday - from disruptive innovation and collaboration, to execution. From showing up for each other with integrity to creating an environment where we all feel included.

As a member of our team, you will be shaping the future of cybersecurity. We work fast, value ongoing learning, and we respect each employee as a unique individual. Knowing we all have different needs, our development and personal wellbeing programs are designed to give you choice in how you are supported. This includes our FLEXBenefits wellbeing spending account with over 1,000 eligible items selected by employees, our mental and financial health resources, and our personalized learning opportunities - just to name a few!

Your Career

We are looking for a highly motivated, results-oriented Sr. Manager, Public Sector Business Operations to join our organization. The primary focus of this position will be to drive business operational leadership and subject matter expertise to our growing Public Sector (Federal, State, Local, Education) organization through optimizing business operations, contract administration, managing compliance processes and implementing public sector programs and initiatives to ensure we can compliantly sell to public sector entities. The right person for this job has a team player approach, the ability to work across departments with disparate needs, excels at problem solving through critical analysis, and takes initiative to improve processes and inefficiencies.

Your Impact

• Be a sales advocate and partner to internal public sector (FED/SLED) organization to understand contract requirements, structure, business terms and identify potential risks and/or opportunities that can affect performance, growth, and strategic positioning. Provide Public Sector SME support across key initiatives: pricing strategy, New Product Introduction (NPI) initiatives, SKU design and development, product bundling strategy, etc.
• Responsible for producing monthly & quarterly contract reporting as required
• Responsible for ensuring document retention (i.e. contract price files & contract documentation) in accordance with applicable internal and external policies
• Partner with internal stakeholders to provide RFP/RFI and proposal guidance where necessary (e.g. supporting go/no-go analyses). Assist bid/proposal teams as necessary to ensure compliant responses to RFX’s
• Support Deals/Orders Desk to comply with appropriate discounting procedures. Collaborate with impacted parties to generate required compliance documents to facilitate deal closure. Ensure required approvals, such as discounts and contractual terms, are obtained and clearly documented
• Assess compliance of reseller & distributor pricing schedules under public sector contracts
• Ensure compliance requirements are met with awarded public sector contracts to include training internal functional areas. Act as a role model and build a shared understanding of why ethics and compliance are important to the business including public sector contract and operations compliance
• Help identify and raise ethics and compliance risk issues so that the business can take action to ensure that the right controls are in place to mitigate against those risks
• Ensure that all transactions adhere to internal revenue recognition policies and operational guidelines. Evaluate current processes and offer recommendations for areas of improvement
• Promote ethical leadership by supporting, encouraging and advising others within the business on ethics and compliance issues that arise, so that they are addressed in a consistent and responsive manner
• Serve as primary liaison between sales organization and IT, InfoSec, Product Management and GCAT in support of Public Sector certifications (FedRAMP, IL, StateRAMP), their selling motions and compliance activities
• Support the FedRAMP High / DoD Impact Level product roadmap in conjunction with Public Sector GCAT team
• Execute Foreign Military Finance (FMF) Program, including processing of content calculation certification requests, maintenance of program materials and facilitating annual product calculation refresh with product finance teams

Your Experience 

• ​​10+ years of experience in Public Sector tech environment (product-based; cybersecurity preferred) and in a sales/strategy operations or program management role
• Operations experience supporting an organization in the Public Sector marketplace 
• Strong program management skills 
• Strong Public Sector RFP management skills
• Experience interfacing with Public Sector customers (Fed, State, Local & Education)
• Salesforce platform experience is a plus
• Demonstrated capability to build strong working relationships with internal business units
• Ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment
• Experience with data analysis, modeling and/or financial analysis
• Strong communication skills (verbal and written), as well as problem-solving skills
• Demonstrated understanding of compliance activities and posture related to US Public Sector certifications (FedRAMP, Dept of Defense Information Levels (IL#), StateRAMP, etc.)
• Effective verbal and written communication ability, and comfortable with both business and technical discussions with senior audiences
• Experience in building relationships and leading through influence
• Great teammate, willing to passionately roll up their sleeves and work cross-functionally to achieve results and outcomes
• Self-starter who thrives in fast-paced, high-growth environments
• Strong understanding of sales processes and methodologies
• Strong business acumen and judgment, analytical and problem-solving skills, and ability to structure solutions to complex problems
• Strong communication, collaboration and leadership skills and the ability to effectively partner with all levels of management
• Self-starter, highly motivated with insatiable curiosity to learn about and influence the business
• Works well within a matrixed environment, with ability to manage simultaneous projects, and tight deadlines

The Team

Our Strategy and Business Operations is a focused team that works on our most critical business challenges to drive and support our industry-leading growth. Your efforts will directly impact the overall strategy and success of a world-leading cybersecurity business. You will collaborate on complex business and technology problems that are top-of-mind for our executives. 

Our Commitment

We’re trailblazers that dream big, take risks, and challenge cybersecurity’s status quo. It’s simple: we can’t accomplish our mission without diverse teams innovating, together.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for all qualified individuals with a disability. If you require assistance or accommodation due to a disability or special need, please contact us at [email protected].

Palo Alto Networks is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity in our workplace, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or other legally protected characteristics.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

Our Commitment

We’re problem solvers that take risks and challenge cybersecurity’s status quo. It’s simple: we can’t accomplish our mission without diverse teams innovating, together.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for all qualified individuals with a disability. If you require assistance or accommodation due to a disability or special need, please contact us at  [email protected].

Palo Alto Networks is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity in our workplace, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or other legally protected characteristics.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

Is role eligible for Immigration Sponsorship? No. Please note that we will not sponsor applicants for work visas for this position.