Customer Solution Strategy Lead

About Us At Cloudflare, we are on a mission to help build a better Internet. Today the company runs one of the world’s largest networks that powers millions of websites and other Internet properties for customers ranging from individual bloggers to SMBs to Fortune 500 companies. Cloudflare protects and accelerates any Internet application online without adding hardware, installing software, or changing a line of code. Internet properties powered by Cloudflare all have web traffic routed through its intelligent global network, which gets smarter with every request. As a result, they see significant improvement in performance and a decrease in spam and other attacks. Cloudflare was named to Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top Company Cultures list and ranked among the World’s Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company. At Cloudflare, we’re not looking for people who wait for a polished roadmap; we’re looking for the builders who see the cracks in the Internet that everyone else has simply learned to live with. We value candidates who have the instinct to spot a "normalized" problem and the AI-native curiosity to create a solution using the latest tools. Our culture is built on iteration, leveraging AI to ship faster today to make it better tomorrow, while ensuring that every improvement, no matter how small, is shared across the team to lift everyone up. If you’re the type of person who values curiosity over bureaucracy, and that AI is a partner in solving tough problems to keep the Internet moving forward, you’ll fit right in. Available Locations: Austin, TX, Dallas, TX, New York, NY About the Role The Pre-Sales Customer Engineering organization owns the technical sale of the Cloudflare solution portfolio, ensuring maximal business value, fit-for-purpose solution design and adoption roadmap for our customers. Customer Engineering is made up of individuals from a wide range of backgrounds - from Financial Consulting to Product Management, Customer Support to Software Engineering, and we are serious about building a diverse, experienced and curious team. What you'll do as a Solution Strategy Lead Scaling Cloudflare’s most complex and critical accounts requires unparalleled focus. While Client Directors own the commercial relationships and Customer Engineers drive pre-sales, this role serves as the essential strategic link bridging the two. As a dedicated trusted advisor for 1–5 of our highest-value accounts, you will take a deeply consultative approach to map the customer's entire technical ecosystem. You will drive enterprise-wide transformation from initial strategic positioning through the complete customer lifecycle. You are the single thread connecting high-level strategy to flawless execution, orchestrating cross-functional teams to deliver exceptional outcomes. While not a "hands-on-keyboard" engineering role, you possess the technical acumen to proactively steer complex engagements and step in decisively when it matters most. Platform Focus Areas Accelerate ARR growth by orchestrating parallel expansion motions across three distinct platform domains. App Modernization Scope: Migration from legacy application architectures to Cloudflare's edge platform. Includes moving workloads from on-premise or hyperscale compute to Workers, consolidating storage on R2, and modernizing data layers with D1 and Durable Objects, all while considering security posture. Stakeholders: VP Engineering, Platform Architects, Infrastructure leads, CISO Developer Scope: Adoption of Cloudflare's developer platform for new application development. Workers, Workers KV, Pages, Queues, Durable Objects, R2, D1. Positioning Cloudflare as the compute and storage layer for net-new projects. Stakeholders: VP Engineering, Developer Experience leads, Platform teams AI Scope: Adoption of Cloudflare's AI infrastructure for inference and orchestration. Workers AI, Vectorize, AI Gateway. Positioning Cloudflare as the AI inference layer at the edge. Stakeholders: CTO, Head of AI/ML, Data Platform leads Core Accountabilities Accountability Description Platform Adoption Roadmapping Develop account-specific adoption plans across App Modernization, Developer, and AI. Map customer workloads to Cloudflare capabilities. Define sequencing and milestones. Cross-Functional Coordination Coordinate SE, CS, and Product resources against adoption milestones. Run account team operating rhythm. Ensure internal alignment on customer priorities. Technical Executive Relationships Build relationships with CTOs, VPs of Engineering, and Platform Architects. Engage technical decision-makers on platform strategy. CD retains procurement and CFO relationships. Expansion Development Identify and qualify platform expansion opportunities. Hand off to CD when commercial-ready. This individual builds the case; CD closes the deal. Voice of Customer to Product Bring strategic customer requirements into Product roadmap discussions. Provide quarterly briefings on adoption patterns, blockers, and feature needs. Success Metrics Platform Adoption Products per account: Number of Cloudflare products in production per strategic account Developer platform adoption: Strategic accounts with Workers, R2, or D1 in production AI adoption: Strategic accounts with Workers AI or AI Gateway in production Revenue Influence Expansion pipeline: Dollar value of platform expansion opportunities developed and handed to CD Net Revenue Retention: NRR on strategic account portfolio (shared metric with CD) Product Feedback Requirements submitted: Strategic customer requirements brought to Product quarterly Adoption blockers resolved: Product or engineering issues addressed that were blocking adoption Customer-Facing Positioning To customer executives, this role helps them realize value from Cloudflare's entire platform: An expert and trusted advisor; peer to their architects and technical leads Focused on Platform adoption and business outcomes, not transactions Turns platform capabilities into production workloads and business value The Profile Architectural Command: 10+ years of experience in Customer Engineering Leadership, Product Management, Consulting, or Technical Strategy within a global SaaS or infrastructure environment. Executive Presence: Exceptional communication skills with the ability to influence C-level executives and internal product leads simultaneously. Relentless Curiosity: A natural obsession with "How it works" and "How it could be better." You are driven to discover the architectural truth behind every customer challenge. Bias for Action: You don't just identify problems; you build the "Formation" to solve them. You are comfortable in high-pressure, ambiguous environments. Desirable skills, knowledge and experience 7+ years of deployment experience in similar role or experience in a technical leadership role Previous experience as a Customer Engineer leader, consultant or technical marketing engineer building, architecting or deploying security solutions Good understanding of AI, security challenges and its applicability to today’s enterprise landscape Proven track record using AI to help drive revenue Strong knowledge of Security Architecture, Design and Operations Working knowledge of the broader threat landscape and the ability to distill technology trends, and explain complex behaviors in simple terms Proven experience working with customers and partners in successful design and deployment of solutions Ability to juggle and successfully drive projects with customers, prospects, and partners. Experience with cloud computing solutions implementations including Microsoft 365, Azure, Google, AWS Compensation Compensation may be adjusted depending on work location. This role is eligible to earn incentive compensation under Cloudflare’s Sales Compensation Plan. The estimated annual salary range includes the on-target incentive compensation that may be attained in this r