Director AI Solutions, EMEA-LATAM
Schiphol-Rijk, Netherlands; Munich, Germany; Germany; Paris, France; London, United Kingdom
Overview
At NetApp, our High Achievement Principles shape how we work: we innovate to elevate, drive results, and excel as a team. We have a history of helping customers turn challenges into business opportunities. As part of our sales organization, your role will require a strategic blend of technical acumen and charismatic client engagement, ensuring that every partnership is nurtured towards its maximum potential. As a pivotal link between NetApp and our clients, your contributions will directly influence the growth and direction of our department, making a lasting impact on the organization's success. This is more than a job—it's a chance to be part of a team that values innovation, supports professional growth, and celebrates shared victories.
Success profile
Ready for a sales career at NetApp? Explore the traits that can help you thrive.
- Relationship expertise
- Communicator
- Results-driven
- Strategic
- Collaborative
- Perceptive
Responsibilities
Schiphol-Rijk, North Holland, Netherlands; Munich, Bavaria, Germany; Land Berlin, Germany; Paris, Île-de-France Region, France; London, England, United Kingdom Job category: EMEA Sales Job ID: 136518-en_USOwn Every Moment at NetApp
At NetApp, your ideas power innovation. We lead in intelligent data infrastructure—delivering unified storage, integrated data services, and solutions that help organizations unlock the full potential of their data, from AI to multicloud.
Ready to innovate and contribute to our path to $10B? Here, you'll collaborate with passionate teams, tackle real-world challenges, and see your impact in how customers transform and grow. If you're ready to bring curiosity, creativity, and drive to every moment, NetApp is where your journey begins. Join teams that innovate to elevate, drive results, and excel together across every function.
Job Summary
NetApp sits on 60% of the world's unstructured data. AI runs on unstructured data, and our customers' data is already with us, so we start most AI conversations from a position nobody else has.
We are building the engine that turns that into business, and both halves of it are already here: Solution Architects who design the data infrastructure for training, inference, agent runtimes and AI-ready data lakes, and business development people who build the propositions and target lists that open those conversations. What we want now is to run them as one team, with one plan, going after the AI opportunity in EMEA/LATAM proactively rather than one deal at a time.
That is this role. You lead the AI Solution Architects and the AI business development / GTM profiles across EMEA/LATAM, and you are accountable for a commercial result: incremental AI pipeline, a better win rate, and AI bookings growth year over year.
Key Responsibilities
Build the value propositions with the teams who have to sell them
Own our AI value propositions across the four workloads, built together with your architects and business developers, Area sales, Marketing and the partners we sell with. Each one needs an architecture we can defend, the accounts it applies to, and the competitive position and proof points the field will be asked for.
Scale what works
Take a proposition that produces opportunities in one country and make it work across the region, run by people who did not build it. Stop the motions that do not convert. Scale through partners as well, particularly where the buying decision follows a validated reference architecture.
Be our AI voice in EMEA
Be the person the market, the press and our own field look to for NetApp's view on AI data infrastructure: inference economics, agent runtimes and data governance, European sovereignty and regulation, and the competitive stacks. Build the same standing in the people around you.
Hire and develop the talent this depends on
Hire above the bar we have today across two quite different profiles, set the AI technical bar for the wider SE and SA community, build succession, and choose deliberately where the team spends its time.
Make our SEs and Client Executives effective on AI workloads
Get several hundred Systems Engineers and Client Executives to the point where they can open, qualify and lead an AI workload conversation on their own accounts. Judge the enablement on the opportunities they create afterwards.
Build the relationships where platform decisions get made
Hold your own relationships with the CTOs, chief architects and heads of AI and platform who decide where their AI workloads will run, maintained between deals, so we are in the conversation before the architecture is set.
Job Requirements
Basic qualifications
- 12+ years in enterprise technology including strategic and people leadership, with 5+ years managing people. Experience leading both technical (pre-sales, solution architecture) and commercial (business development, GTM) profiles, or a credible case for why you can.
- A record of creating pipeline in a new or emerging segment, with the numbers and the plays behind it.
- Real fluency in the AI infrastructure stack, deep enough to set a bar rather than repeat one: GPU clusters and reference architectures, training and fine-tuning pipelines, inference serving and its economics, agent runtimes and frameworks, RAG and vector search, data lake architecture, and where the data layer sits in each. You should be able to hold your own with a CTO or Head of AI without an architect in the room.
- Commercial and dimensioning judgement: able to test whether a solution is right-sized and defend a design choice, including a smaller one, under pressure.
- Able to influence without authority across sales, technical, marketing and partner organisations in a matrixed, multi-country environment.
- Executive presence at C-level, including when the outcome is uncertain.
- Fluent English and willing to travel across EMEA/LATAM.
Preferred qualifications
- Relationships in the European AI ecosystem — sovereign AI programmes, neoclouds, AI ISVs, GPU vendors, integrators, AI investors.
- Experience building a GTM motion from scratch, and the team that runs it.
- Understanding of EU AI and data sovereignty regulation, including public-sector procurement.
- Experience with hyperscalers and partner-led sales models.
- A storage or data infrastructure background helps but is not required. If you come from storage, show us AI deals you have been in and a current read on the market.
- Another European language.
Day in a Life
You start on the inference proposition with two architects, a business developer and an SE manager, arguing about whether the cost-of-serving case holds up with a customer who already has GPUs. Mid-morning, the head of platform at a large European bank, on their AI roadmap rather than on anything of ours. Before lunch, the architecture review on our largest inferencing deal, where you push back on a design that won't survive the customer's second model. Afternoon is a deal clinic with a dozen SEs and CEs taking the new proposition into their own accounts next week. Then an analyst briefing, and half an hour reworking the proposition because last quarter's three losses all turned on the same objection.
At NetApp, we embrace a hybrid working environment designed to strengthen connection, collaboration, and culture for all employees. This means that most roles will have some level of in-office and/or in-person expectations, which will be shared during the recruitment process.
Equal Opportunity Employer:
NetApp is firmly committed to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and to compliance with all federal, state and local laws that prohibit employment discrimination based on age, race, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, disability or genetic information, pregnancy, protected veteran status, and any other protected classification.
Why You'll Thrive at NetApp
At NetApp, you won't wait for the perfect moment—you'll make it. The early planning, the extra thought, the bold idea that turns good into great: That's how our people operate and how we continue to push the boundaries of data infrastructure.
NetApp is the trusted partner for organizations transforming data into opportunity. As the only enterprise-grade storage service natively embedded in Google Cloud, AWS, and Microsoft Azure, we empower customers to run everything from traditional workloads to enterprise AI with unmatched performance, resilience, and security.
Our culture
We celebrate mold breakers, bold thinkers, and problem solvers. We reward initiative, impact, and ownership. We provide flexibility so you can balance professional ambition with your personal life. Here, differences are not just welcomed—they drive everything we do.
If you're ready to innovate, rise to the challenge, and own every moment - make your next move your best one. Apply now.
Submitting an Application
To ensure a streamlined and fair hiring process for all candidates, our team only reviews applications submitted through our company website. This practice allows us to track, assess, and respond to applicants efficiently. Emailing our employees, recruiters, or Human Resources personnel directly will not influence your application.
AI Disclosure
For select roles, some stages of our hiring process may use artificial intelligence tools to help evaluate applications and candidate selection. These tools support—rather than replace—human decision-making.
Our values
Put the customer at the center. Care for each other and our communities. Think and act like owners. Build belonging every day. Embrace a growth mindset.
Benefits
Volunteer time off
40 hours of paid volunteer time each year.
Well-being
Employee Assistance Program, fitness, and mental health resources to help employees be their best.
Time away
Paid time off for vacation and to recharge.
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Equal Opportunity Employer*
NetApp is firmly committed to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and to compliance with all federal, state and local laws that prohibit employment discrimination based on age, race, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, disability or genetic information, pregnancy, protected veteran status and any other protected classification. We pledge to take every reasonable step to ensure that our applicants and employees are respected, treated fairly and with dignity. See the EEO poster, Know your rights poster, and NetApp EEO policy. NetApp makes reasonable accommodations, consistent with applicable laws, for religious purposes and for the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified applicant or employee with a disability, who can perform the essential job functions unless undue hardship would result.
State-specific postings/notices to applicants regarding contract compliance can be found here in English and here in Spanish, and fair employment practice information can be found here.
Reasonable Accommodations
At NetApp, we are committed to fostering an inclusive and accessible workplace where individuals with disabilities can thrive. In alignment with our values, NetApp provides reasonable accommodations and adjustments where possible to qualified applicants and employees with disabilities, in accordance with employment rights and regulations relevant to their country of employment, to ensure equal access to employment opportunities and job performance.
Applicants who would like to request an accommodation or adjustment are encouraged to Contact Us. Each request will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, in accordance with applicable laws and our commitment to equity and belonging within our culture, values and business practices. Requests will be handled confidentially and respectfully, and we will work collaboratively to identify effective solutions.
- For reasonable accommodations in Germany, click here.
- For reasonable accommodations in France, click here.
- For reasonable accommodations in The Netherlands, click here.
Please note that we do not accept unsolicited resumes to the above email address.
Data privacy
We care about your privacy and, therefore, ask that you read our Candidate Privacy Notice before you submit any personal information to us.
NetApp does not carry out any solely automated decision making (i.e. the process of making a decision by automated means without any human involvement) in determining your suitability or eligibility for specific roles.
However, the processing of your personal information is carried out with the aid of manual and automated tools. In particular, NetApp may use an automated employment evaluation tool or similar tool as one of several tools, actions, and/or steps to assist with NetApp’s review of candidate applications for various hiring needs.
Currently, when addressing certain hiring needs, NetApp uses the following tools:
- Eightfold (eightfold.ai): This tool can provide an initial ranking of a candidate’s skills and experience, based on information provided by the applicant in the application and/or supporting documentation, in comparison to the NetApp designated key requirements of a specific role. Additionally, the tool may be used to help review and/or rank internal employees seeking promotion or other internal mobility. An independent audit of the Eightfold Matching Model tool can be found at https://eightfold.ai/nyc-eightfoldmatching-model.
- Findem (findem.ai): This tool is used to help identify candidates whose skills and experience may be relevant to open roles at NetApp, using publicly available professional information. Findem may also be used to assist with candidate matching, AI-assisted screening, and recruitment communications.
Our talent acquisition team or our recruiters will ultimately select the candidates for further consideration, following human review of any automated evaluation results and associated underlying documentation (or lack thereof) submitted with the candidates’ application.
Candidates may request an alternative selection process which will not be subject to the Eightfold matching tool or to any electronic automated employment evaluation by contacting NetApp at careers@netapp.com. To bypass the Eightfold matching tool or any electronic automated employment evaluation, you must include a resume and job ID with your email to careers@netapp.com and you must include in the subject line of your email: Data Privacy Request. Candidates who have questions or want to request additional information on the source of data, type of data, and/or collection of data related to the candidate review process should contact NetApp at careers@netapp.com
Note: Eightfold is not applicable to temporary hiring opportunities. If you are interested in temporary roles, you can apply via a third-party site managed by our preferred supplier, Magnit Global. Magnit Global will provide its own privacy disclosures for your review as part of the application process.
Submitting an application
To ensure a streamlined and fair hiring process for all candidates, our team reviews apcplications submitted through our company website only. This practice allows us to track, assess, and respond to applicants efficiently. Emailing our employees, recruiters, or Human Resources personnel directly will not influence your application.
AI Disclosure
For select roles, some stages of our hiring process may use AI-powered tools to assist with tasks such as identifying relevant candidates, matching skills and experience to role requirements, and conducting initial screenings. These tools support - rather than replace - human decision-making. To learn more, please see our AI Transparency Statement. If you would prefer not to engage with an AI-assisted process, you can request an alternative by contacting careers@netapp.com. Choosing an alternative process will not impact your candidacy in any way.