Value Engineer

Company: Cockroach Labs
Location: Remote (US)
Salary Range: $145,000—$190,000 USD (base, plus commission)

About Cockroach Labs

Cockroach Labs is building the next era of software infrastructure. We created CockroachDB to survive failures, scale without compromise, and adapt automatically. Our mission is to define a future where complexity fades and infrastructure simply works, no matter the scale. This is the kind of ambitious challenge that attracts people who want to shape industries.

The Role

The Value Engineer at Cockroach Labs is a strategic advisor embedded within our Solution Engineering organization. You will work directly with Account Executives, Sales Engineers, and Customer Success Managers to quantify and communicate the financial impact of adopting CockroachDB. You’ll engage directly with customer IT Directors, CTOs, CFOs, and other senior executives, designing and delivering custom Return on Investment (ROI) and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) models that translate technical advantages into compelling financial narratives. This is a high-visibility, high-impact role at the intersection of finance, technology, and consultative sales. You’ll help customers make confident, data-driven decisions about their infrastructure investment and help build the Value Engineering practice at Cockroach Labs from the ground up.

You Will

ROI and TCO Modeling

• Design and deliver custom, bottoms-up financial models quantifying the business value of migrating to or standardizing on CockroachDB. Models will account for infrastructure spend, operational overhead, licensing, developer productivity, and risk mitigation, calibrated to each customer’s environment.

Executive-Level Storytelling

• Lead whiteboard sessions, executive presentations, and boardroom discussions translating CockroachDB’s technical advantages into financial narratives tied to P&L impact, capital efficiency, and long-term competitive advantage. Be credible with both CFOs and CTOs.

Customer Discovery

• Conduct meaningful discovery with senior customer stakeholders to understand how their current database landscape creates cost drag, operational fragility, or scalability constraints, and how CockroachDB addresses those challenges.

Field Enablement

• Build and maintain the Value Engineering practice: customer discovery guides, technical-to-business pain taxonomy, ROI/TCO templates, champion decks, and win stories. Enable the broader SE and AE teams to apply the framework confidently.

Deal Support

• Attend Global Evaluation Pit Stops to coach and validate business cases for active opportunities. Partner closely with Sales Engineers and Account Executives to accelerate deal velocity and expand strategic accounts.

Product Feedback Loop

• Serve as a conduit between customer conversations and the Product organization, synthesizing patterns in TCO and ROI discussions to provide direct input to the product roadmap and help shape compelling database economics.

The Expectations

In your first 6 months

• Develop an engagement strategy and collaboration model with field teams (AEs, SEs, CSMs).
• Build the foundation of the Value Engineering practice: customer discovery guides, TCO/ROI templates, pain-to-value taxonomy, and champion decks.
• Produce at least one piece of Value Engineering thought leadership for external publication.
• Enable the broader field on Value Engineering methodology and early customer win stories.
• Attend Global Evaluation Pit Stops and begin contributing to live deal business cases.

In your first year

• Own the full Value Engineering motion, from customer discovery through executive presentation and deal close.
• Establish Cockroach Labs as a credible voice on database TCO and infrastructure economics.
• Build a repeatable, scalable playbook for the broader field team.
• Contribute meaningful product feedback based on patterns from customer ROI and TCO conversations.

You Have

• 5+ years of experience in value engineering, financial consulting, technology consulting, or a related field, ideally in enterprise software, SaaS, or cloud infrastructure.
• Strong financial modeling skills: bottoms-up cost analysis, ROI/NPV frameworks, and IT portfolio economics.
• Technical fluency sufficient to engage with engineering and infrastructure leaders; familiarity with database architecture, distributed systems, or cloud cost structures is a strong plus.
• Proven ability to lead executive-level presentations and translate complex technical concepts into financial narratives that drive decisions.
• Experience working in a consultative capacity alongside enterprise sales and technical teams.
• Polished written and verbal communication skills; equally comfortable in a boardroom and a working session.
• A demonstrated practice of integrating AI tools into your daily workflow to improve speed, quality, and decision-making.
• Fluency with AI across core tasks (research, drafting, analysis, planning) used as a default, not an exception.
• A builder’s mindset: this is a practice-building role. You’ll create the playbook, not follow one.

Benefits

• Stock Options
• Medical Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Life and Disability Insurance
• Professional Development Funds
• Flexible Time Off
• Paid Holidays
• Paid Sick Days
• Paid Parental Leave
• Retirement Benefits
• Mental Wellbeing Benefits
• And more!

Compensation & Benefits

• U.S. Compensation: The anticipated annual base salary range is $145,000—$190,000 USD. This role is eligible for commission.
• Total Rewards include stock options, medical, vision, dental insurance, life and disability insurance, professional development funds, flexible PTO, 11 paid holidays, 10 paid sick days, paid parental leave, 401(k) plan, and wellbeing benefits.
• Salaries for candidates outside the U.S. will vary based on local compensation structures.
• This position will remain posted until filled.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Cockroach Labs is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. If you need additional accommodations, please email accessibility@cockroachlabs.com.