Solutions Engineer

Cisco Systems, Inc.; Houston (TX); Hybrid; USD 209,000 - 275,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. is seeking a proactive Solutions Engineer in the Houston area to co-own regional account strategy and translate complex architectural concepts into business value.

You will partner with an Account Executive across Cisco's portfolio and drive high-impact technical engagements to deliver tangible customer outcomes. The role requires leading discovery workshops, demos, and POVs while leveraging AI-driven workflows to accelerate insights and value.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of network engineering, technical consulting, or customer-facing solutions architecture experience.
• IT infrastructure proficiency across enterprise networking, datacenter, and security platforms.
• Active industry certifications (e.g., Cisco CCNA/CCNP, AWS/Azure, Security, or equivalent).

Responsibilities

• Lead discovery workshops, custom solution demos, and Proofs of Value (POVs).
• Translate complex architectural concepts into clear business value for stakeholders.
• Collaborate across regional teams, architecture specialists, and channel partners to deliver end-to-end solutions.

Skills

Network engineering

Technical consulting

Customer-facing solutions

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/EE/IT

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 11/26/2026

Note: While this is a remote based position, we are seeking candidates located in or willing to relocate to the Houston, TX metro market in order to support customers onsite on a regular basis.

Meet the Team

In Commercial Sales, we operate at the intersection of technical excellence, rapid innovation, and strategic partnership. We succeed because we listen deeply, anticipate market shifts, and deliver transformative customer outcomes. Our culture relies on trust, continuous growth, high EQ, and cross-functional collaboration. We are seeking a proactive, highly technical, and AI-first Solutions Engineer to step in and co-own our business in the region.

Your Impact

As a Solutions Engineer (SE), you will partner directly with an Account Executive to co-own account strategy, translate complex architectural concepts into clear business value, and build deep trust with customer stakeholders. Serving as a trusted technical consultant across Cisco's entire portfolio, you will lead high-impact technical engagements such as discovery workshops, custom solution demos, and Proofs of Value (POVs). As an innovator and daily user of modern AI, you will leverage custom agents and automated workflows to accelerate work, uncover deep customer insights, and demonstrate real-world value. Furthermore, you will collaborate across regional teams, architecture specialists, and channel partners to deliver cohesive end-to-end solutions.

Minimum Qualifications

• 7+ years of network engineering, technical consulting, or customer-facing solutions architecture experience.
• IT Infrastructure proficiency across enterprise networking, datacenter, and security platforms.
• Active industry certifications (e.g., Cisco CCNA/CCNP, AWS/Azure, Security, or equivalent industry-recognized credentials).

Preferred Qualifications

• Agentic AI Proficiency: Active, daily user of modern AI platforms with practical experience creating AI applications, building agents, and designing automated workflows to solve technical or operational problems.
• Executive Presence & Discovery Mastery: Outstanding discovery, presentation, and storytelling skills with a natural ability to teach, simplify complex topics, and influence executive decision-makers.
• Growth Mindset: A proactive, self-directed drive for continuous learning to stay ahead of rapid AI advancements and emerging technology shifts.
• Education: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Information Technology, or equivalent practical experience.

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 $209,100.00 to $275,100.00 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 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:

$229,000.00 - $344,700.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$218,600.00 - $329,000.00

* 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.