Solutions Engineer - SLED (Northern California)

Cisco Systems; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) with Cisco matching

Paid parental leave

Disability coverage

Life insurance

Job summary

Cisco Systems in Northern California seeks a Solutions Engineer to champion Cisco offerings for public sector customers. You will partner with Account Executives and specialist teams to architect solutions across Secure Networking, Hybrid Cloud, AI-ready Infrastructure, and Zero Trust Cybersecurity.

The role emphasizes trusted advisory, strategic architecture, and hands-on demonstrations to drive adoption and long-term success with regional partners and customers.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of pre-sales or technical consulting in enterprise/public sector environments.
• Hands-on technical expertise across Cisco architectures (Networking, Data Center, Security) or equivalent.
• Proven pre-sales track record translating complex tech into business value.
• Experience leading customer-facing architecture presentations and whiteboarding.
• Must reside in or relocate to Northern California and travel locally.

Responsibilities

• Trusted Technical Advisory & Customer Advocacy: build deep technical relationships with public sector IT leaders.
• Strategic Architecture & Opportunity Definition: identify challenges and define cross-architectural options.
• High-Impact Demonstrations & POC Execution: deliver proof-of-concepts and live demos.
• Technical Account Planning & Deal Strategy: multi-year technical account plans with Account Executives.
• Adoption, Operational Success & Partner Enablement: drive ongoing adoption with internal teams and partners.

Skills

Pre-sales experience

Systems engineering

Public sector IT

Technical presentations

Travel locally

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology

CCIE/CCNP/AWS CISSP or equivalent

Job description

Candidate must live in or relocate to NorCal

Meet the Team

We are NorCal SLED, a dynamic and close-knit team of account executives and solutions engineers passionate about our mission to support our schools, cities, counties, universities, and healthcare agencies across Northern California. We work to help our public sector customers solve their most challenging IT problems and enable them to deliver difference-making outcomes to their students, citizens, and employees.

In this role, you will champion the Cisco brand across diverse public sector verticals, partnering with Account Executives, Specialist engineering teams, and strategic regional partners to architect cutting-edge solutions across Secure Networking, Hybrid Cloud, AI-ready Infrastructure, and Zero Trust Cybersecurity.

What You’ll Do

As a Solutions Engineer on the NorCal SLED team, your core mission encompasses five key strategic pillars:

• Trusted Technical Advisory & Customer Advocacy: Build and cultivate deep technical relationships with public sector IT leaders, serving as their primary advocate, technology strategist, and trusted advisor.

• Strategic Architecture & Opportunity Definition: Identify customer challenges and define cross-architectural solution options that directly align with public sector business priorities, mission goals, and operational outcomes.

• High-Impact Demonstrations & POC Execution: Collaborate with customers and partners to deliver compelling proof-of-concepts (POCs), proof-of-value engagements, and live demonstrations showcasing Cisco’s portfolio value.

• Technical Account Planning & Deal Strategy: Develop and execute multi-year technical account plans in lockstep with Account Executives, directly shaping overall territory strategy and deal progression.

• Adoption, Operational Success & Partner Enablement: Drive continuous solution adoption and long-term customer operational success by mobilizing internal specialist engineering teams and regional partner communities.

Minimum Qualifications

• 5+ years of related technical pre-sales, systems engineering, or technical consulting experience in enterprise or public sector environments.

• Strong hands‑on technical expertise across core Cisco architectures (Enterprise Networking, Switching, Wireless, Routing, Data Center, or Cybersecurity) or relevant competitor platforms.

• Proven pre-sales track record with demonstrated ability to translate complex technical solutions into measurable business, mission, and operational value.

• Demonstrated experience leading customer‑facing architectural presentations, technical whiteboarding, and solution validations.

• Must reside in or relocate to Northern California with the willingness and ability to travel locally for customer meetings and partner events.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology, or related technical field (or equivalent practical experience).

• Professional or Expert‑level certifications (e.g., CCIE, CCNP, AWS Certified Solutions Architect, CISSP, or equivalent).

• Familiarity with SLED public sector procurement cycles, E‑Rate funding, state/local contracts, and education/government IT compliance frameworks.

• Conversant in AI infrastructure, modern Collaboration, SDN, full‑stack observability, and a passionate adopter of AI productivity tools.

• Strong business acumen with proven capability to frame technical offerings around student outcomes, citizen services, and public safety impact.

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 $212,200.00 to $268,100.00 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 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:

$212,200.00 - $308,300.00

Non‑Metro New York state & Washington state:

$202,400.00 - $296,900.00

• 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.

Cisco is an Affi­rective Action and Equal Opportunity Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, genetic information, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis.

Cisco will consider for employment, on a case by case basis, qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.