Principal Systems Engineer - Telco/MSSP

Job description

Join Fortinet, a cybersecurity pioneer with over a decade of excellence, as we continue to shape the future of cybersecurity and redefine the intersection of networking and security. At Fortinet, our mission is to safeguard people, devices, and data everywhere. We are currently seeking a dynamic Pre-Sales System Engineer to contribute to the success of our rapidly growing business. You would act as the key Systems Engineer to work closely with a sales representative in north India to handle enterprise accounts customers.

The Systems Engineer's main mission will be to support the sales organization in all technical matters regarding pre-sales, sales calls, and post-sales.

Key Responsibilities

Act as the primary technical advisor for Telco and MSSP customers throughout the sales cycle, including discovery, solution design, technical presentations, POCs/PoVs, RFP/RFI responses, and technical closure. Design and present Fortinet multi-tenant security architectures to support MSSP service delivery models, including single-tenant, multi-tenant, and hybrid deployments.

• Lead POC/PoV activities to demonstrate the value of Fortinet solutions, including integration, automation, and orchestration capabilities. Work closely with customers using a consultative approach to understand their business and technical requirements, and recommend the most appropriate Fortinet solutions.

Understand telecom/service provider networks, data center architectures, cloud environments, and edge security requirements. Collaborate with Product Management, Sales, and Channel teams to align technical solutions with MSSP and Telco go-to-market strategies. Deliver technical training and enablement sessions for MSSP partners and customers. Maintain awareness of the competitive landscape and effectively position Fortinet solutions against competitors such as Palo Alto Networks, Cisco, and Check Point.

Support strategic customer engagements and help drive technical wins.

Required Technical Skills

Minimum 15 years of experience in cybersecurity solutions, presales, telecom/service provider networks, data centers, cloud security and managed services. Strong understanding of networking technologies, such as Routing, Switching, BGP, Load Balancers, and DNS. Solid knowledge of cybersecurity technologies such as NGFW, IPS/IDS, VPN, Zero Trust, SD-WAN, SASE etc. Good understanding of cloud security in public and private cloud environments.

Experience in application and endpoint security solutions, such as WAF, ADC, EDR/XDR etc. Knowledge of Security Operations solutions, including SIEM and SOAR platforms. Strong hands-on experience with the Fortinet Security Fabric, especially FortiGate/FortiOS, FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer. Experience with multi-tenant architectures and managed service delivery models. Ability to perform Proof of Concepts (POCs) and technical demonstrations.

Familiarity with automation, orchestration, and API-based integrations.

Experience

Requirements Minimum 15 years of relevant industry experience.

At least 10 years in a customer-facing technical role. Prior experience working with Telecom, Service Provider, ISP, Cloud Provider, or MSSP customers. Hands-on experience with Fortinet products and/or other leading security vendors.

Skills and Competencies

Strong consultative selling and technical discovery skills. Excellent presentation, whiteboarding, and communication skills. Ability to explain complex technical architectures to both technical and business audiences. Strong problem-solving and solution design skills. Ability to work independently and manage multiple customer engagements. Travel Requirements Willingness to travel within India as required (approximately 25%–50%).