Opportunity

Sales Engineer at Harness - $290K OTE DevOps Career in Columbus

Location Columbus
Company Harness
Source jobicy
Posted 2026-10-20 15:24:13

Career & Market Insight

This Sales Engineer role at Harness sits at a compelling intersection of technical depth and commercial impact, making it an attractive career move for engineers who want client-facing influence without giving up technical credibility.

Compensation benchmarking: The stated OTE of $265K–$290K is in the top quartile for Sales Engineer roles in the US. Typical SE OTE at enterprise SaaS companies ranges from $180K–$240K; Harness's range signals aggressive talent competition and a high-ACV sales motion.

Skills you'll develop:

  • Advanced DevOps and CI/CD platform expertise (highly marketable in 2025+)
  • Enterprise sales cycle navigation — discovery, POC management, RFP responses
  • AI-driven DevSecOps positioning — a fast-growing sub-market
  • Cloud infrastructure knowledge (Terraform, Kubernetes, multi-cloud environments)
  • Executive-level storytelling and business value articulation

Company signals: Harness is a late-stage startup (Series E, $5.5B valuation) with strong institutional backing. The "16 startups within a startup" model suggests an entrepreneurial culture with autonomy. This is a growth-stage company — career trajectory is strong, but expect a fast-paced environment with high expectations.

Green flags: Flexible PTO, parental leave, quarterly company-wide days off (TGIF-Off), and equity eligibility. The role is well-scoped and supported by a clear sales engineering function.

Watch for: Territory travel requirements with short notice could affect work-life balance. Ensure clarity on base vs. variable split within the OTE structure before accepting.

Harness is the AI Software Delivery Platform company, led by technologist and entrepreneur Jyoti Bansal (founder of AppDynamics, acquired by Cisco for $3.7B). Harness has raised approximately $570M in funding and is valued at $5.5B, backed by leading investors including Goldman Sachs, Menlo Ventures, IVP, Unusual Ventures, Citi Ventures, and more. As AI accelerates code creation, the real bottleneck has shifted to everything after the code – testing, deployments, application security, reliability, compliance, and cost optimization. Harness brings AI and automation to this "outer loop," helping teams ship software faster while maintaining security and governance throughout the entire software delivery lifecycle.

Powered by Harness AI and the Software Delivery Knowledge Graph, the Harness Platform applies deep context and intelligent automation across the software delivery lifecycle with governance and policy-driven controls embedded throughout the platform.

Over the past year, Harness powered over 185M deployments, 82M builds, 18T flag evaluations, 8M security scans, 9.1B optimized tests, 3T protected API calls, and helped manage $2.8B in cloud spend — enabling customers like United Airlines, Morningstar, and Choice Hotels to accelerate releases by up to 75%, reduce cloud costs by up to 60%, and achieve 10x DevOps efficiency.

With a global team across 26 offices and 27 countries, Harness is shaping the future of AI software delivery — and we're looking for exceptional talent to help us move even faster.

Position Summary

The Sales Engineer lives and works at the intersection between sales and engineering. The ideal candidate must be able to articulate technology and product positioning at the executive, business, and technical levels. Sales Engineers are the primary technical support for the sales force and are responsible for actively driving and managing the technology evaluation stage of the sales process. They ensure success with all Harness customers and strategize with their sales counterparts to steer customers toward a commercial relationship.

About The Role

  • World-class presentation skills in delivering presentations and demos of our platform
  • Able to work with customers directly to debug common errors
  • Ability to tie business problems to technical solutions
  • Capable of understanding and articulating technology value propositions
  • Drive complex technical engagements with customers to prove the value of Harness solutions

About You

  • You will be responsible for delivering a great product demonstration that tells a story of how our software provides value to our customers
  • You will represent the product to customers and at field events such as conferences, seminars, etc.
  • You will remain knowledgeable and up-to-date on changes and developments in our technologies
  • You either actively develop software, have a prior background as a developer, or have worked with developers in a DevOps role
  • Strong cloud knowledge; you have worked with infrastructure automation such as Terraform
  • You are able to respond to functional and technical elements of RFIs/RFPs
  • You are able to convey customer requirements to Engineering teams
  • You are able to travel throughout a sales territory with minimal restrictions and occasionally on short notice

Location

  • This role will be remote, based in the Los Angeles area

What You Will Have At Harness

  • Competitive salary
  • Comprehensive healthcare benefits
  • Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
  • Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
  • Flexible Time Off and Parental Leave
  • Quarterly Harness TGIF-Off (4 days per quarter)
  • Monthly, quarterly, and annual social and team-building events
  • Recharge & Reset Program
  • Monthly internet reimbursement
  • Commuter benefits

Factors that may be used to determine your actual pay rate include your specific skills, experience, qualifications, location, and comparison to other employees already in this role. In addition to the base salary, certain roles may qualify for a performance-based incentive and/or equity, with eligibility depending on the position. These rewards are based on a combination of company performance and individual achievements.

The OTE Range is $220,000 – $290,000

A valid authorization to work in the U.S. is required.

Pay transparency: $265,000 – $290,000 USD

Harness in the news:

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

At Harness, we care about your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal data. For additional information, visit our privacy portal: https://harness-privacy.relyance.ai/

Note on Fraudulent Recruiting/Offers

We have become aware that there may be fraudulent recruiting attempts being made by people posing as representatives of Harness. These scams may involve fake job postings, unsolicited emails, or messages claiming to be from our recruiters or hiring managers.

Please note, we do not ask for sensitive or financial information via chat, text, or social media, and any email communications will come from the domain @harness.io. Additionally, Harness will never ask for any payment, fee, or purchases to be made by a job applicant. All applicants are encouraged to apply directly to our open jobs via our website. Interviews are generally conducted via Zoom video conference unless the candidate requests other accommodations.

If you believe that you have been the target of an interview/offer scam by someone posing as a representative of Harness, please do not provide any personal or financial information and contact us immediately at [email protected]. You can also find additional information and report fraudulent employment offers via the Federal Trade Commission's website, or contact your local law enforcement agency.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this Sales Engineer role fully remote or office-based?
The role is listed as remote but requires candidates to be based in the Los Angeles area. Travel throughout the sales territory is also expected, sometimes on short notice.
What is the total compensation for this Sales Engineer position?
The OTE (On-Target Earnings) range is $220,000–$290,000, with a pay transparency range of $265,000–$290,000 USD. Certain roles may also qualify for performance-based incentives and equity.
Do I need to already be authorized to work in the US to apply?
Yes, a valid authorization to work in the U.S. is required for this position. Harness cannot sponsor visas for this role based on the posting language.
What technical background is required for this Sales Engineer role?
Candidates should have a background in software development or DevOps, strong cloud knowledge (including infrastructure automation tools like Terraform), and the ability to deliver technical demos and respond to RFIs/RFPs.
What benefits does Harness offer for this position?
Harness offers comprehensive healthcare, FSA, flexible time off, parental leave, quarterly TGIF-Off days, monthly internet reimbursement, an EAP, a Recharge & Reset Program, and commuter benefits.
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