Presales Consultant - Cybersecurity

K Ey Responsibilities

Solution Architecture & Technical Presales

• Lead technical discovery and qualification; translate business, risk and compliance requirements into target security architectures across identity, endpoint, email, data, cloud, network and SOC domains.
• Identity & Zero Trust: design Conditional Access policy frameworks, privileged access management, identity governance (access reviews, entitlement management, lifecycle workflows), hybrid identity, MFA / passwordless, and Zero Trust network access (Entra Global Secure Access, Cisco Duo / Secure Access, Fortinet ZTNA, Check Point Harmony SASE).
• Endpoint & XDR: architect EDR / XDR deployments across Windows, macOS, Linux and mobile — onboarding strategy, attack-surface-reduction and hardening baselines, automated investigation and response, identity threat detection (Defender for Identity), vulnerability management — using Defender XDR, FortiEDR / FortiXDR, Check Point Harmony Endpoint or Cisco Secure Endpoint.
• Email & Collaboration Security: design layered email protection (Defender for Office 365 / Exchange Online Protection with Mimecast, Check Point Harmony Email or Cisco Secure Email), including connector, MX and outbound-routing design, DMARC / DKIM / SPF, attack simulation and awareness training.
• SIEM, SOAR & SOC Modernisation: design Sentinel and FortiSIEM / FortiSOAR solutions — data-connector strategy, log ingestion tiering and Data Collection Rules, analytics and hunting content, SOAR playbooks, single vs multi-workspace and multi-tenant (Lighthouse) designs, Security Copilot — plus migration runbooks from Splunk, QRadar, ArcSight and LogRhythm and MDR / managed SOC service definitions.
• Data Security & DLP: design data-classification and DLP programmes with Purview (sensitivity labels, auto-labelling, Endpoint / Cloud / Exchange DLP, Insider Risk, Data Lifecycle, eDiscovery) and Forcepoint DLP / Risk-Adaptive Protection / Forcepoint ONE, including co-existence designs where Purview labels act as Forcepoint classifiers.
• Cloud Security Posture: architect CSPM / CNAPP and CASB / SSPM solutions — Defender for Cloud (multi-cloud AWS / GCP onboarding, workload protection, regulatory compliance dashboards), Defender for Cloud Apps, Check Point CloudGuard, Fortinet FortiCNAPP, Cisco Multicloud Defense.
• Network Security & SASE: design NGFW, segmentation, SD-WAN and SSE architectures with Fortinet Security Fabric (FortiGate, FortiManager, FortiAnalyzer), Check Point Quantum / Maestro, Cisco Secure Firewall, Umbrella and Secure Access, and Azure Firewall Premium / WAF / DDoS Protection.
• Integration architecture: produce reference designs showing telemetry and control-plane integration between network, endpoint and email controls and the SIEM / XDR layer (API connectors, CEF / Syslog via AMA, automated response through FortiGate, Check Point and Cisco APIs).
• Deliver compelling demonstrations, proofs of concept, pilots and hands-on workshops; own the technical close on every opportunity you are assigned to.
• Respond to RFPs, RFIs and tenders with high-quality technical write-ups, compliance matrices and architecture diagrams, and lead technical clarification sessions with evaluation committees.
• Produce Statements of Work, high-level designs and effort estimates, and run a structured handover to the delivery / SOC teams on every won deal.
  
  

Commercial Modelling – Bills of Materials & Licensing

• Build licensing models across Microsoft 365 E3 → E5 step-ups, E5 Security and E5 Compliance add-ons, F-series, and standalone SKUs (Entra ID P1 / P2 / Suite, Defender for Endpoint P1 / P2, Defender for Office 365 P1 / P2, Intune Plans, Purview add-ons), mapping each customer requirement to the minimum SKU that unlocks the capability.
• Model cloud consumption for security workloads: SIEM ingestion (pay-as-you-go vs commitment tiers, Basic / Auxiliary log tiers, retention and archive), per-resource CSPM / CWPP pricing, firewall / WAF / DDoS, automation and log-analytics costs, and Security Copilot SCU sizing — presented as monthly and annual run-rate with 3-year projections.
• Build BoMs and subscription models: Fortinet (hardware bundles, FortiCare / FortiGuard tiers, FortiFlex points), Check Point (appliances, software blades / Infinity subscriptions, Harmony per-user), Cisco (Enterprise Agreements, Duo / Umbrella / Secure Access tiers, Secure Firewall Threat Defense licences), Forcepoint and Mimecast per-user plans — with renewal co-termination and multi-year options.
• Produce TCO and consolidation business cases quantifying licence rationalisation (e.g. retiring standalone MFA, EDR, CASB or email security), SIEM ingestion vs incumbent SIEM licensing, hardware-refresh avoidance and operational savings from unified XDR — and justify best-of-breed retention where platform-native controls do not meet the requirement (data sovereignty, OT / network segmentation, regulatory constraints, feature gaps).
  
  

Security Practice Development

• Act as the primary SME for identity / Zero Trust, XDR, SIEM / SOC and data-security solutions: maintain reference architectures, demo and lab environments, assessment playbooks (Zero Trust maturity, Secure Score, data-risk and SOC maturity assessments) and standard proposal content.
• Support the practice roadmap: capability mapping across security domains, identifying skill gaps, and mentoring presales and delivery engineers.
• Build relationships with vendor partner-facing teams (partner development managers, technical specialists, channel SEs) and contribute to joint account plans and co-sell motions.
• Stay current on vendor roadmaps, competitive positioning and partner-programme requirements; maintain the certifications needed to keep partner tiers and deal-registration eligibility.
  
  

Sales Enablement & Go-to-Market

• Partner with account managers on opportunity qualification, deal strategy and forecasting; contribute to pipeline generation through customer events, webinars, briefings and assessment-led campaigns.
• Enable the account-management team on security propositions, talk tracks and qualification questions across all solution domains.
• Contribute to solution playbooks and bundled offerings for priority domains: Zero Trust, Data Protection, Cloud / SaaS Security Posture, GRC and SOC Modernisation / MDR.
• Maintain accurate opportunity, BoM and technical-status records in CRM and vendor deal-registration portals.
  
  

Experience

Required Skills & Experience

• 10 years + in cybersecurity, including at least 6+ years in a customer-facing presales, solution-architecture or consulting role with a system integrator, MSSP, reseller or vendor.
• Demonstrable track record of designing and winning enterprise or public-sector opportunities in at least three of: identity & Zero Trust, XDR, SIEM / SOAR, DLP / data security, CSPM / CNAPP, email security, NGFW / SASE.
• Hands-on or design-level experience with Entra / Defender XDR / Sentinel / Purview and with at least two of: Fortinet, Check Point, Cisco Security, Forcepoint, Mimecast.
• Experience with SIEM migration and SOC modernisation projects and with positioning MDR or managed security services.
• UAE market experience including familiarity with UAE IA / NESA, DESC and sector regulators.
  
  

Technical Competency Matrix

Solution Domain

Technologies & Platforms

Expected Depth

Identity, Access & Zero Trust

Entra ID (Conditional Access, PIM, ID Governance, Global Secure Access), Cisco Duo, Cisco ISE / NAC, Fortinet ZTNA (FortiClient / FortiSASE), Check Point Harmony SASE; PAM / IGA (CyberArk, BeyondTrust, SailPoint) at positioning level

Expert – design and lead

Endpoint Security & XDR

Defender for Endpoint / Defender XDR, Defender for Identity, Defender Vulnerability Management, Intune security baselines; FortiEDR / FortiXDR, Check Point Harmony Endpoint, Cisco Secure Endpoint; CrowdStrike / SentinelOne (partner-led)

Expert – design and lead

Email & Collaboration Security

Defender for Office 365, Exchange Online Protection; Mimecast (SEG, Targeted Threat Protection, Awareness Training, Archiving, DMARC); Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration; Cisco Secure Email

Expert – design and lead

SIEM, SOAR & SOC Modernisation

Sentinel (connectors, AMA / DCR, log tiering, analytics, hunting, Logic Apps playbooks, Lighthouse), Security Copilot; FortiSIEM / FortiSOAR; migration from Splunk, QRadar, ArcSight, LogRhythm; MDR / managed SOC service design

Expert – design and lead

Data Security & DLP

Purview (sensitivity labels, auto-labelling, Endpoint / Cloud / Exchange DLP, Insider Risk, Data Lifecycle, eDiscovery), Forcepoint DLP / Risk-Adaptive Protection, Forcepoint ONE, data classification and DSPM tooling

Expert – design and lead

Cloud Security Posture (CSPM / CNAPP / CASB)

Defender for Cloud (Defender CSPM, Servers, Containers, Storage, SQL; AWS / GCP onboarding), Defender for Cloud Apps (CASB, SaaS security posture, app governance); Check Point CloudGuard, Fortinet FortiCNAPP, Cisco Multicloud Defense; third-party SSPM

Strong – design

Network Security & SASE

Fortinet Security Fabric (FortiGate NGFW / SD-WAN, FortiManager, FortiAnalyzer), Check Point Quantum (Maestro, Smart-1), Cisco Secure Firewall / FMC, Umbrella, Secure Access SSE; Azure Firewall Premium, WAF (App Gateway / Front Door), DDoS Protection

Strong – design

GRC & Security Advisory

Zero Trust and security-maturity assessments, Secure Score / Compliance Manager, NIST CSF, ISO 27001, UAE IA / NESA, DESC, Qatar NCSA, PCI DSS; risk assessments and roadmap workshops

Working – advise

Certifications

Required

Required (or achieved within 6 months of joining):

• Microsoft SC-100 (Cybersecurity Architect Expert) and at least two of SC-200, SC-300, SC-400, AZ-500.
• One vendor presales / design certification from the third-party portfolio (Fortinet NSE 4–7 / FCP-FCSS, Check Point CCSA / CCSE, Cisco CCNP Security, Forcepoint or Mimecast certified engineer).
  
  

Preferred

• Prior presales experience with Microsoft Security in a partner or Microsoft-aligned role, including co-sell and funded-programme engagement, is strongly preferred.
• CISSP, CCSP, CISM or equivalent.
• Additional Microsoft certifications (MS-102, MD-102, AZ-305) or vendor architect-level credentials (Fortinet NSE 7 / FCSS, Check Point CCSM, Cisco CCIE Security).
• ISO 27001 Lead Implementer / Auditor or NIST CSF familiarity.
  
  

Professional & Soft Skills

• Executive presence: able to run a CISO-level conversation on strategy and risk, then whiteboard the architecture with the security engineering team in the same meeting.
• Strong commercial acumen: licensing optimisation, consolidation business cases and TCO modelling across platform and point-solution offerings.
• Excellent written English for proposals, tenders and design documents; Arabic is an advantage.
• Self-directed, organised and comfortable managing multiple concurrent opportunities across two regions in a shared-specialist model.
• Collaborative mindset — works effectively with account managers, regional presales anchors, cloud / workplace sales teams, vendor partners and delivery / SOC.
  
  

Location: Dubai - SSTC, Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

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