Cyber security sales and go-to-market recruitment

Security vendors and MSSPs lose more revenue to bad commercial hires than to bad engineers. A salesperson who cannot hold a technical conversation with a security team will be politely managed out of the deal, and no quota structure fixes that.

What we place

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Enterprise and mid-market new business for vendors, MSSPs and consultancies. Judged on pipeline built, not pipeline inherited.
PRE-SALES / SOLUTION ENGINEER: The technical half of the deal: demonstrations, proofs of value and the architecture questions that decide it.
CHANNEL & ALLIANCES: Partner recruitment and enablement, distribution and the co-sell motion that most vendors underinvest in.
CUSTOMER SUCCESS: Adoption, renewal and expansion — the roles that decide whether the second year of a contract exists.
SALES LEADERSHIP: Country and regional leaders, first sales hires for vendors entering the market, and the build-out that follows.
PRODUCT MARKETING: Positioning and messaging for a technical buyer who reads marketing copy sceptically by default.

How we screen

We ask candidates to explain what their product actually does, to a security buyer, without a slide. It is a short conversation and it sorts the field quickly. We then ask about a deal that was lost late and why, because that is where honesty and self-awareness show.

For pre-sales, we test depth against the real environment: what they have demonstrated, which objections they get most, and what their product does badly. Pre-sales engineers who cannot name a weakness are not trusted by security teams, and security teams decide these purchases.

The market, honestly

Both markets have plenty of enterprise software sellers and comparatively few who understand security buying: long cycles, a technical evaluator, a budget holder in risk, and procurement that will ask about the vendor’s own security posture. That distinction is the whole search.

In South Africa, vendor and distribution roles are concentrated in Johannesburg and Cape Town, and MSSP growth drives steady demand. In the UK, competition for proven security AEs is intense and the ramp cost of a wrong hire is high, so employers are increasingly willing to run a longer process for a better fit.

A commission plan that only rewards new business will not produce the account growth most security vendors actually need. We will flag that in the briefing rather than after the second resignation.

Where we recruit

Cape Town and Johannesburg across South Africa, and London and the wider United Kingdom.

Common questions

Do you recruit sales roles as well as technical security roles?

Yes, for security vendors, MSSPs, distributors and consultancies. It is the same market knowledge applied to the commercial side, and it is why our technical screening carries into pre-sales hiring.

Do candidates need a technical background for security sales?

Not a hands-on one, but they need genuine literacy. The buyer is often a security practitioner, and credibility is lost quickly. We test that in the first conversation.

Can you find pre-sales engineers?

Yes, and it is the hardest role in this group. Good solution engineers combine technical depth with presentation ability and are usually well retained, so these searches are approach-led rather than advert-led.

Do you place first sales hires for vendors entering South Africa or the UK?

Yes. It is a specific profile: comfortable without local marketing support, able to build channel from nothing, and realistic about a slower first year. We scope expectations carefully before starting.

Related disciplines

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