Sales Operations Specialist

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!

At Palo Alto Networks, we believe in the power of collaboration and value in-person interactions. This is why our employees generally work full time from our office with flexibility offered where needed. This setup fosters casual conversations, problem-solving, and trusted relationships. Our goal is to create an environment where we all win with precision.

Job Description

Your Career

The Sales Operations Specialist is a critical individual contributor role who will have strong experience relating to doing business with Global customers, sales planning with analytical acumen, strategic thinking, and the ability to develop strong partnerships with sales operations managers and cross-functional teams. You will provide analytic support for the core sales operations team members, helping to identify trends, gaps, opportunities, and prepare for weekly, monthly, and quarterly meetings. You will own and maintain various operations cadence, forecasting, and business reviews, as well as monitoring and improving the overall pulse of the Global sales business through sales tools, processes, and metrics; empower decision-making, drive strategic initiatives, measure performance, and enable the sales leadership teams to focus on execution with accuracy.

Your Impact

Assist Theater and Area Vice Presidents of business units, as well as the Sales Operations Leaders in all facets of running the business, including :

Provide analytic data to support our annual sales planning including quota planning, go-to-market modeling, capacity modeling and optimization

Manage regional bookings forecast information leveraging existing internal processes, methodologies and automation / forecasting tools

Drive adoption of forecasting tools and dashboards to promote consistent visibility and delivery of business plan

Convert raw data into well-presented and useful business information that drives business decisions

Manage around and through potential process and technical limitations to deliver the best outcomes possible

Drive standards of performance and specific activities that align with the predefined success criteria for the sales organization; track and report on these activities to ensure outcomes are on track / met

Act as primary driver of SFDC data cleanliness across the organization

Single point of contact for our weekly forecasting templates - including upkeep of templates, creating new versions each quarter, automating and refreshing data, transferring data to Global sheets, and any other analysis needed for weekly forecasting

Manage compliance of the non-standard transactions process

Track quarterly metrics on general business performance, average discounts, non-standard exceptions, etc.; recommend action items for improvement

This is a global role, requiring flexibility to work in shifts to support our worldwide teams and business needs

Qualifications

Your Experience

7+years of previous experience in a business-focused analytics role preferred

Strong understanding of sales processes, business acumen, and methodologies

Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple projects

A demonstrated passion for information and business intelligence

Excellent analytical skills with strong attention to detail, experience using reporting and analytics applications preferred; Salesforce preferred and / or Anaplan a plus

Proven track record of effectively interfacing with cross-functional departments and sales management team

Excellent written and verbal communication skills, strong presentation skills

Advanced skills in Excel & PowerPoint; Tableau experience also a plus. Salesforce.com experience a strong plus

Experience with Google’s G Suite (Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides) is a plus

Ability to work cross-functionally across all areas of the business

Self-starter, able to establish own priorities, initiatives and drive to closure

Works well under pressure of heavy workload and time constraints

Basic understanding of Sales, Inside-Sales, Channels and supporting business functions

Bachelor’s Degree in statistics, analytics, or finance preferred

Additional Information

The Team

Palo Alto Networks has brought technology to market that is reshaping the cybersecurity threat and protection landscape. Our ability to protect digital transactions is limited only by our ability to establish relationships with our potential customers to help them understand how our products can secure their environment. This is where our sales operation teams come in.

Our Sales Operation Team members support our sales account managers and systems engineers to assist in large organization’s migrations to more cybersecurity. Sales operations work behind the scenes to make sure that our sales relationships run smoothly, enabling and empowering the teams across the world. As part of our sales operations, you support the sales team by providing research, reports, and craft and support systems and processes that enable the process of sales. You are committed to your team’s success – and enjoy pitching in to assist when it comes to solutions selling, learning, and development. It’s a true partnership, one built on building the best cybersecurity solutions for each individual client

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

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.