Partner Account Executive - AMER Contact Center

Cisco Systems, Inc; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 237,000 - 321,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. is seeking an AMER Partner Strategy & Acceleration Lead for Contact Center.

You will act as the executive business architect and sales accelerator across the Americas, guiding partner practices and revenue acceleration for VARs, SIs, SPs, and MSPs. You will bridge global GTM with field execution, drive migrations to Webex Contact Center and AI Agent workflows, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to optimize partner-led growth and renewals.

Qualifications

• 8-10+ years in Contact Center or SaaS partner sales strategy.
• Deep understanding of CCaaS solutions (Cisco UCCX/UCCE/Webex CC) and AI Enterprise AI tech.
• Proven ability to build profitable partner practices across VARs, SIs, SPs, MSPs.

Responsibilities

• Lead executive practice building with C-level and Practice Director relationships and JBPs.
• Execute in-theater GTM plays with regional partner practices.
• Lead practice acceleration sprints to elevate regional partners and pilot deployments.
• Drive on-premise to cloud migrations for Webex Contact Center and AI Agent workflows.
• Protect the recurring base and bridge renewals with renewal desks and migration motions.
• Align with field and specialist teams on territory mapping and marquee deals.
• Innovate on commercial models including EA 3.0, VIP/LCI, Agency/MSP models.

Skills

CCaaS / Contact Center

Executive presence

Partner sales strategy

C-level relationship management

SaaS / cloud business models

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Business, CS, Engineering

Job description

Open to all US locations

About the Role

Are you passionate about the future of AI-powered Customer Experience (CX) and modern Contact Center architectures? Cisco is reinventing customer interactions with Webex Contact Center, Webex AI Agents, and Customer Journey Intelligence, and our partner ecosystem is the primary engine driving this global transformation.

As the AMER Partner Strategy & Acceleration Lead for Contact Center, you will be the executive business architect and sales accelerator for Cisco's Contact Center and AI partner business across the Americas. Reporting directly to the Director of Global CE & CC Partner Strategy & Acceleration, you will own end-to-end partner practice development, executive alignment, and revenue acceleration across our top VARs, SIs, SPs, and MSPs, including Specialized Contact Center partners.

You will bridge global go-to-market strategy with in-theater field execution, scaling cloud migrations from legacy on-premise platforms to Webex Contact Center, accelerating partner-led Webex AI Agent adoption, and building high-growth, profitable partner practices.

What You’ll Do

• Lead Executive Practice Building: Own C-level and Practice Director relationships across top specialized and regional partner practices. Develop and execute joint business plans (JBPs) with committed annual revenue targets, practice expansion milestones, and delivery capacity goals.
• Execute In-Theater GTM Plays: Deploy standardized global migration playbooks, tiered commercial packaging, and Webex AI sales plays into regional partner practices.
• Lead Practice Acceleration Sprints: Execute time-bound elevation sprints for high-potential regional partners elevated by field teams, standing up their professional services packaging, architect certifications, and initial pilot deployments.
• Drive On-Premise to Cloud Migrations: Architect programmatic campaigns across partner customer bases to accelerate the transition of on-premise contact center seats to Webex Contact Center and AI Agent workflows.
• Protect the Recurring Base & Bridge Renewals: Collaborate with Cisco Renewal Teams and partner renewal desks to provide advance visibility into expiring contracts and attach proactive cloud migration motions.
• Field & Specialist Alignment: Partner closely with Regional Collaboration Partner Sales Directors, Partner Account Managers (PAMs), and direct customer-facing Contact Center Specialists on territory account mapping and marquee deal escalations.
• Innovate on Commercial Models: Enable partners on modern SaaS commercial structures, including Enterprise Agreements (EA 3.0), Lifecycle Incentives (LCI), Value Incentive Programs (VIP), and emerging Agency/MSP models.
• Product & Business Unit Interlock: Channel structured field intelligence, technical requirements, and roadmap priorities back to the Contact Center Business Unit and Technical Enablement teams.

Who You’ll Work With

• Your Direct Team: A high-caliber global team of Contact Center GTM specialists, Technical AI/Solutions Architects, and peer regional specialist leads across international theaters.
• Internal Stakeholders: Global Collaboration Partner Sales Leadership, Regional Field Collaboration Sales Leaders, Direct Contact Center Sales Specialists, Cisco Renewal Managers, and CC Business Unit Product Managers.
• External Stakeholders: CEOs, CTOs, Practice VPs, Solutions Architects, and Lead Practice Directors across Cisco's top VARs, SIs, SPs, and MSPs.

Who You Are

You are a recognized Contact Center / CCaaS and Customer Experience domain expert with deep credibility in the Americas partner ecosystem. You possess a unique blend of strategic commercial acumen, technical fluency in modern AI/CX architectures, and executive gravitas.

Minimum Qualifications

• Experience: 8-10+ years of high-performance experience in Contact Center (CCaaS / On-Premise), Customer Experience, or SaaS partner sales strategy and practice development.
• Domain Expertise: Deep commercial and architectural understanding of Contact Center solutions (Cisco UCCX/UCCE/Webex CC, Genesys, NICE, Five9, Amazon Connect) and emerging Enterprise AI / Virtual Agent technologies.
• Partner Acumen: Proven track record of building, scaling, and managing profitable practices within VARs, SIs, SPs, and MSPs.
• Executive Presence: Exceptional communication, presentation, and negotiation skills with a demonstrated ability to influence C-level partner executives and internal matrixed sales leaders.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Business, Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Partner Familiarity: Direct experience working within or managing top-tier Americas partner practices across VARs, SIs, SPs, and MSPs.
• Commercial Engines: Familiarity with Cisco commercial engines and partner programs (CCW, Deal Registration / ICPA rules, EA 3.0, PXP, VIP/LCI).
• Financial Acumen: Strong understanding of cloud migration economics, TCO/ROI modeling, and SaaS recurring revenue mechanics.

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 $237,400.00 to $321,000.00 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 ofunused sick timecarried forwardfrom one calendar yearto 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:

$266,100.00 - $398,100.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$246,300.00 - $380,000.00

* 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.