Solutions Engineer

Cisco Systems, Inc.; Irvine (CA); On-site; USD 219,000 - 286,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) with match

Parental leave

Paid time off

RSU grants

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. in the Americas seeks a Senior Solutions Engineer to drive cross-architecture engagements across AI, data center, networking, security and automation for large enterprise accounts.

You will partner with account teams to translate business priorities into technical roadmaps, lead discovery and POC activities, and influence technology direction across multiple regions while traveling as needed.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of solutions engineering or similar client-facing tech role.
• Experience designing and positioning enterprise solutions across AI, networking, security, data center, cloud, automation, and collaboration.
• Experience leading discovery, design, presentations, demos, workshops or POC for large enterprises.
• Translate customer priorities into technical strategies and engage with senior stakeholders.
• Willingness to travel within the Americas and participate in global meetings.

Responsibilities

• Engage directly with customer executives and decision-makers to understand priorities and build trusted-advisor relationships.
• Translate business priorities into cross-architecture technical strategies and solutions.
• Engage new lines of business and stakeholders to uncover priorities and opportunities across architectures.
• Lead conversations around AI strategy and AI-ready infrastructure across data center, networking, security, observability and automation.
• Collaborate with global/regional account teams to develop account strategies and advance engagements across the Americas.
• Lead technical discovery, design, presentations, demonstrations, workshops and proofs-of-concept.

Skills

Solutions engineering

Pre-sales

Technical consulting

Executive engagement

AI strategy

Enterprise networking

Data center

Security

Education

BS/BA (EE/CS) or related field

Tools

CCIE

Job description

Location: California/ West Coast required.

Meet the Team

You will join the Global Enterprise (CGEM) APJC team, which supports Cisco’s largest and most strategic global enterprise customers headquartered in the APJC region by connecting regional expertise with a coordinated global account strategy. This is an opportunity to support two high-impact Japanese global accounts and advance their business and technology priorities across the Americas.

Our customer-driven team works across regions to deliver consistent outcomes and build lasting relationships. We are a diverse, high-performing team passionate about delivering innovative technology solutions that empower our customers’ digital transformation journeys. The team culture is dynamic, inclusive and driven by a shared commitment to customer success and Cisco’s values of Customer-Driven Always, Show Up to Win Every Day and Harness the Power of Cisco.

Your Impact

As a senior Solutions Engineer, you will serve as a trusted technical advisor, connecting customer business priorities and complex technical requirements with secure, scalable solutions across Cisco’s portfolio. You will lead cross-architecture strategies spanning AI, Enterprise Networking, Service Provider, Security, Splunk, Data Center, Cloud, Collaboration and Automation to deliver meaningful business outcomes. You will partner with Account Executives, Solutions Engineers, architects, specialists, Customer Experience teams, Business Entities, partners and global account stakeholders across multiple countries and time zones. With a strategic and consultative approach, you will influence customer technology direction, simplify complex requirements, create preference for Cisco, and deliver a consistent One Cisco experience. Your success will be demonstrated through trusted executive and technical relationships, effective architectural strategies, technical wins and sustainable growth across the accounts.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Engaging directly with customer technical executives, architects, engineering teams and decision-makers to understand business priorities and establish trusted-advisor relationships.

• Translating business and operational priorities into technical strategies and cross-architecture solutions that deliver measurable outcomes.

• Engaging new lines of business and key customer stakeholders to uncover emerging priorities, expand Cisco’s relevance and identify opportunities for cross-architecture solutions.

• Leading customer conversations around AI strategy and AI-ready infrastructure, connecting data center, networking, security, observability and automation capabilities to evolving AI use cases and business outcomes.

• Collaborating with global and regional account teams to develop account strategies, identify opportunities and advance key customer engagements across the Americas.

• Leading technical discovery, architectural design, presentations, demonstrations, workshops and proof-of-concept activities.

• Positioning Cisco’s differentiation, business value and developing competitive technical strategies to build customer confidence and preference for Future-Proofed Workplaces, AI-Ready Data Centers and Digital Resilience solutions.

• Coordinating specialists, BEs, partners and CX resources to provide a seamless experience throughout the sales cycle.

• Representing customer priorities within Cisco and maintaining strategic relationships with Business Entities, engineering, services and support teams to influence roadmaps and improve customer outcomes.

• Maintaining expertise across Cisco technologies, particularly AI and Service Provider solutions, and using industry trends, competitive insights and AI-enabled tools to provide informed customer recommendations.

Minimum Qualifications:

• 7+ years of experience in solutions engineering, pre-sales engineering, technical consulting or a comparable customer-facing technology role.

• Experience designing and positioning enterprise solutions across multiple technology areas, such as AI, Enterprise Networking, Security, Splunk, Data Center, Cloud, Automation, IoT and Collaboration.

• Experience leading technical discovery, solution-design presentations, demonstrations, workshops or POC activities for large enterprise customers.

• Experience translating customer business priorities into technical strategies and engaging with senior and executive stakeholders.

• Ability to travel within the Americas and participate in global customer or team meetings across time zones, based on business requirements.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Cisco certification such as CCIE or an equivalent industry-recognized technical certification.

• BS/BA (EE/CS) or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

• Experience designing and positioning AI-ready infrastructure, including data center networking, compute connectivity, security, observability or automation capabilities that support AI workloads.

• Technical expertise in Service Provider technologies and routing, including experience with large-scale IP/MPLS networks, segment routing, network automation or comparable architectures.

• Experience supporting multiple large and complex global enterprise environments involving multiple stakeholders, locations or technology domains.

• Ability to support multiple large global enterprise accounts and communicate complex technical strategies as clear business outcomes across cultures, functions and geographic regions.

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 $218,600.00 to $286,100.00 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 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:

$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.