Isovalent (Cloud Native Security) Account Executive - Central

020 Cisco Systems, Inc.; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 262,000 - 356,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco's Cloud Native Security team is transforming how organizations secure, observe, and connect modern applications. We seek an Enterprise Account Executive to drive adoption of Isovalent Enterprise across strategic commercial accounts in the U.S., building executive relationships with platform engineering, cloud, networking, and security teams.

This quota-carrying role requires developing a territory strategy, closing a pipeline, and collaborating with Sales Engineers, Solution Architects,

Qualifications

• 7+ years of quota-carrying enterprise software sales experience.
• Proven track record exceeding enterprise sales targets and managing complex sales cycles.
• Experience selling into Fortune 1000 or large enterprise accounts.
• Experience selling Cloud Infrastructure, Kubernetes Platforms, or Cloud Native Security.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a territory strategy focused on enterprise growth.
• Build, manage, and close a pipeline of cloud-native networking and security opportunities.
• Engage with platform engineering, DevOps, cloud architecture, networking, and security teams.
• Partner with Sales Engineers, Solution Architects, Product Management, Customer Success, and Cisco account teams.
• Drive complex technical sales cycles involving Kubernetes, cloud infrastructure, observability, and security.
• Forecast, meet, and exceed quarterly and annual revenue targets.
• Position Isovalent Enterprise, Cilium, Tetragon, and Cisco Cloud Native Security solutions.
• Develop executive-level relationships navigating technical buying centers.

Skills

Enterprise software sales

Quota-carrying sales

Executive stakeholder engagement

Open-source / cloud-native focus

Tools

Kubernetes platforms

Cloud infrastructure

Container security

Networking infrastructure

Observability platforms

DevOps / Platform Engineering

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 10/18/2026

Meet the Team Cisco's Cloud Native Security business is transforming how organizations secure, observe, and connect modern applications. At the center of this transformation is Isovalent, the company founded by the creators of Cilium, eBPF, and Tetragon. Now part of Cisco, Isovalent combines the innovation and speed of an open-source startup with Cisco's global scale and market reach. The team is responsible for driving adoption of Isovalent Enterprise, a platform that delivers identity-aware networking, observability, and security for Kubernetes, cloud-native infrastructure, and modern distributed applications. Our technologies power some of the world's most demanding environments. This team operates with a startup mindset inside Cisco. We are looking for individuals who thrive in highly technical environments, enjoy building new markets, and are passionate about engaging with platform engineering, cloud, DevOps, and security teams solving next-generation infrastructure challenges.

Your Impact

As an Enterprise Account Executive, you will be responsible for driving adoption of Isovalent Enterprise across a defined territory of strategic commercial accounts. This is a quota-carrying role focused on helping customers modernize networking, security, and observability for Kubernetes and cloud-native environments. Success requires building executive relationships while also developing credibility with highly technical stakeholders including platform engineering, cloud infrastructure, networking, and security teams.

• Develop and execute a territory strategy focused on enterprise growth and market expansion.
• Build, manage, and close a pipeline of cloud-native networking and security opportunities.
• Engage with platform engineering, DevOps, cloud architecture, networking, and security teams to identify business and technical challenges.
• Partner closely with Sales Engineers, Solution Architects, Product Management, Customer Success, and Cisco account teams.
• Drive complex technical sales cycles involving Kubernetes, cloud infrastructure, networking, observability, and security technologies.
• Consistently forecast, meet, and exceed quarterly and annual revenue targets.
• Position the business value and technical differentiation of Isovalent Enterprise, Cilium, Tetragon, and Cisco Cloud Native Security solutions.
• Develop executive-level relationships while effectively navigating technical buying centers.
• Maintain awareness of industry trends, open-source projects, competitive offerings, and emerging cloud-native technologies.
• Act as a trusted advisor to customers evaluating modern infrastructure and security architectures.

Minimum Qualifications

• 7+ years of quota-carrying enterprise software sales experience.
• Proven track record exceeding enterprise sales targets and managing complex sales cycles.
• Experience selling into Fortune 1000 or large enterprise accounts.
• Experience selling one or more of the following:
  • Cloud Infrastructure
  • Kubernetes Platforms
  • Cloud Native Security
  • Container Security
  • Networking Infrastructure
  • Observability Platforms
  • DevOps / Platform Engineering Solutions
  • Data Center Security
  • Infrastructure Software
• Experience engaging technical stakeholders including platform engineers, cloud architects, DevOps teams, networking teams, security architects, or SRE organizations.
• Demonstrated ability to develop executive relationships while successfully navigating technical buying centers.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience selling technologies built around open-source projects or ecosystems.
• Familiarity with Kubernetes, containers, cloud-native application architectures, microservices, or modern infrastructure platforms.
• Experience selling to organizations undergoing cloud transformation initiatives.
• Experience working with or selling alongside public cloud providers including AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud.
• Knowledge of cloud-native networking, observability, service mesh, API security, workload protection, or Zero Trust architectures.
• Startup or high-growth technology company experience preferred.

Why Cisco?

At Cisco, we’re revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era – and beyond. We’ve been innovating fearlessly for 40 years to create solutions that power how humans and technology work together across the physical and digital worlds. These solutions provide customers with unparalleled security, visibility, and insights across the entire digital footprint. Fueled by the depth and breadth of our technology, we experiment and create meaningful solutions. Add to that our worldwide network of doers and experts, and you’ll see that the opportunities to grow and build are limitless. We work as a team, collaborating with empathy to make really big things happen on a global scale. Because our solutions are everywhere, our impact is everywhere. We are Cisco, and our power starts with you.

Message to applicants applying to work in the U.S. and/or Canada:

The starting salary range posted for this position is $261,900.00 to $356,200.00 and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation*, equity, or benefits. Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location, market conditions, job-related skillset, experience, qualifications, education, certifications, and/or training.

The full salary range for certain locations is listed below. For locations not listed below, the recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process. U.S. employees are offered benefits, subject to Cisco’s plan eligibility rules, which include medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability coverage, and basic life insurance. Please see the Cisco careers site to discover more benefits and perks. Employees may be eligible to receive grants of Cisco restricted stock units, which vest following continued employment with Cisco for defined periods of time. U.S. employees are eligible for paid time away as described below, subject to Cisco’s policies: 10 paid holidays per full calendar year, plus 1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees 1 paid day off for employee’s birthday, paid year-end holiday shutdown, and 4 paid days off for personal wellness determined by Cisco Non-exempt employees** receive 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year, accrued at rate of 4.92 hours per pay period for full-time employees Exempt employees participate in Cisco’s flexible vacation time off program, which has no defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use (subject to availability and some business limitations) 80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter, and up to 80 hours of unused sick time carried forward from one calendar year to the next Additional paid time away may be requested to deal with critical or emergency issues for family members Optional 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer For non-sales roles, employees are also eligible to earn annual bonuses subject to Cisco’s policies. Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components, subject to the applicable Cisco plan. For quota-based incentive pay, Cisco typically pays as follows: .75% of incentive target for each 1% of revenue attainment up to 50% of quota; 1.5% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 50% and 75%; 1% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 75% and 100%; and Once performance exceeds 100% attainment, incentive rates are at or above 1% for each 1% of attainment with no cap on incentive compensation. For non-quota-based sales performance elements such as strategic sales objectives, Cisco may pay 0% up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid.

The applicable full salary ranges for this position, by specific state, are listed below: New York City Metro Area: $292,100.00 - $441,900.00 Non-Metro New York state & Washington state: $263,900.00 - $409,200.00 * For quota-based sales roles on Cisco’s sales plan, the ranges provided in this posting include base pay and sales target incentive compensation combined. ** Employees in Illinois, whether exempt or non-exempt, will participate in a unique time off program to meet local requirements.

Cisconians power the future. We make impact as a team, innovating fast and fearlessly to create meaningful solutions on a large scale. The depth and breadth of our technology doesn't just benefit our customers – it also means limitless opportunities for us to experiment and learn. We understand the power each of our unique backgrounds bring when we work together. Because of that, we have a global network of thinkers, doers, experts, and curious creators who help one another do their life’s best work.