Channel Systems (Sales) Engineer
Taken at the midpoint of its range, $252,500/yr, this role pays more than the middle Sales Engineering & Solutions opening on the board today ($188k/yr); the usual band for that kind of seat is $145k–$301k/yr.
Against the 3,360 open roles on Cloud sales jobs (typical pay $194k/yr, band $142k–$400k/yr), this one's $252,500/yr sits above the middle. How posted pay is measured.
The posting
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
Where you can sell from
Fully remote, for people based in United States.
Taken from Forward Networks's own posting, last seen live on 4 Nov 2026.
The application
Your details and LinkedIn, then 2 questions.
- 1.Are you legally eligible to work in the U.S.?Yes or no
- 2.Will you now or in the future require visa sponsorship for employment at Forward Networks?Yes or no
From Forward Networks's apply page, checked 4 Nov 2026.
About Forward Networks
Forward Enterprise, a verified software model of an entire multi-vendor, multi-cloud network with built-in AI, sold to the network, security and cloud teams of large enterprises and federal agencies.
Pay schedule: Pay is quoted as on-target cash for the year, with director ads promising uncapped earnings against quarterly and annual quota, and the careers page adds equity for every employee, medical, dental and vision cover and untracked time off.
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