The application window is expected to close on August 12th, 2025.

Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.

Meet the Team

We change the World! You will become passionate about your employer and the brand you represent. Everything is converging on the Internet, making networked connections more meaningful than ever before in our lives. Our employees' groundbreaking ideas impact everything. Here, that means we take creative ideas from the drawing board to dynamic solutions that have real world impact. You'll collaborate with Cisco leaders, partner with mentors, and develop incredible relationships with colleagues who share your interest in connecting the unconnected. You'll be part a team that cares about its customers, enjoys having fun, and you'll take part in changing the lives of those in our local communities. Come prepared to be encouraged and inspired.

We tackle whatever challenges come our way! We have each other’s backs, we recognize our accomplishments, and we grow together. We celebrate and support one another – from big and small things in life to big career moments.

Your Impact

Our Cloud & AI Infrastructure Engineering team is looking for a dynamic and experienced leader to drive our technical strategy and execution. You will lead and develop a team of Solution Architects and Engineers, responsible for collaborating across Cisco Business Groups, Ecosystem Partners and most importantly our customers, to bring innovative AI Infrastructure Solutions to market. This is an opportunity to lead a highly motivated and technically adept specialist engineering team, with a passion for bringing transformative technology to life.

As part of your DNA, you're a bold, self-starter, with the ability to attract, retain and develop a world class team. You will use your leadership experience to identify KPIs, manage team performance and work with team members to build and manage development plans. Your relentless commitment to excellence will help your team accomplish amazing things.

You and your team will be strong business partners with Cisco Sales, advising on technical pre-sales strategy, maximizing portfolio value and positioning solutions that drive real business outcomes for our customers. You will coach and empower your team to become trusted advisors to our customers on technical evolution strategy and product & technology fit. You will own our technical sales enablement program and design & deliver new tools and capabilities to help our sales teams communicate Cisco value and accelerate sales.

Collaboration internally and externally is critical to our success. You will use your cross-functional leadership experience to develop and manage technical interlock programs across Cisco Sales and internal Business Units, advising on product and technology strategy and technical customer requirements. You and your team will work with Cisco Partner teams to build strong relationships, develop and deliver product & solution enablement and design new joint solutions that we will take to market.

You will use your experience as a technical evangelist to promote Cisco’s product & technology leadership at high profile events and develop industry credibility, influence and mindshare by building technical points of view, whitepapers and blogs.

Responsibilities Include

1. Set Strategy - work with the leadership team to define the initiatives that will drive sales growth and market share. Partner closely with BU, Partner / Channel, and post-sales counterparts on key initiatives and alignment. Maintain planning for staffing, budgeting, and changes within SE function.
2. Lead the Team – Coach, mentor, set clear expectations, and provide regular career development support to your direct team. Define and drive outstanding and inclusive culture to attract, develop and retain the best specialist engineering talent in the industry.
3. Accelerate Sales Growth - Optimize organization structure (always evolving) in partnership with the business unit and sales leadership aligned to business priorities to drive new product bookings, while remaining mindful of operational expenses. Ability to clearly articulate opportunities, issues, challenges, and gaps technically from a product perspective, full go-to-market, and regarding people resources.
4. Work with your team to define and build world class Solution experiences - Align around Demand Generation priorities and build the resources, tools and processes to accelerate meaningful engagement across the See -> Try -> Buy sales motion. Tools such as Demos, POVs, Workshops, Tech Showcases, Health Checks etc.
5. Strategic Engagement - Work cross-functionally to capture market opportunities or resolve challenges that arise. Establish partnerships and credibility with senior business and technology executives within Cisco.
6. Partner with Cisco Partner teams and external ISV, NEP and SI partners, to develop innovative solutions and support joint GTM initiatives as an industry expert in Cloud and AI infrastructure architecture & solutions.

Minimum Qualifications

You love interacting with customers, peers in leadership, partners, sellers, and engineers of all kinds. You enjoy defining and driving the strategy for innovative technology and teams. You seek out and tackle complex, high-impact problems. You can lead by example as well as by influence, and always from the front. You can engage effectively with leaders at all levels within Cisco Sales, Engineering, Product, and Customer Experience orgs. You are passionate about the customer experience and excited about new technology. You are a true teammate and love to learn.

• 10+ years of Solution Engineering or related experience
• 7+ years of Pre-Sales/Solution Engineering Leadership experience
• 5+ years of Networking & Data Center Switching experience

Preferred Qualifications

• Can lead and influence in an ambiguous and constantly evolving environment. You also supervise and measure team progress against a business plan.
• Lead teams to technical account successes that align to customer business requirements and goals; assign resources and strategies appropriately.
• Develop senior management collaborations with partners, customers, and internal business groups.
• Are an accomplished leader of leaders with a consistent record building and driving large high-impact, geographically dispersed teams.
• Have led large scale teams of more than (100+) Managers and Individual Contributors
• Provide thought leadership to customers and partners based on short and long-term business and industry drivers.
• Strong technical knowledge and experience across the Cloud & AI Infrastructure portfolio including Data Center Networking, Compute, and AI
• Understand other products deeply and can articulate trade-offs between Cisco and competitor products.

Cisco is an 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.

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. Simply put – we power the future.

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.

When available, the salary range posted for this position reflects the projected hiring range for new hire, full-time salaries in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including equity or benefits. For non-sales roles the hiring ranges reflect base salary only; employees are also eligible to receive annual bonuses. Hiring ranges for sales positions include base and incentive compensation target. Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location and additional factors, including but not limited to skillset, experience, and relevant education, certifications, or training. Applicants may not be eligible for the full salary range based on their U.S. or Canada hiring location. The recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.

U.S. employees have access to quality medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, short and long-term disability coverage, basic life insurance and numerous wellbeing offerings.

Employees receive up to twelve paid holidays per calendar year, which includes one floating holiday (for non-exempt employees), plus a day off for their birthday. Non-Exempt new hires accrue up to 16 days of vacation time off each year, at a rate of 4.92 hours per pay period. Exempt new hires participate in Cisco’s flexible Vacation Time Off policy, which does not place a defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use, but is subject to availability and some business limitations. All new hires are eligible for Sick Time Off subject to Cisco’s Sick Time Off Policy and will have eighty (80) hours of sick time off provided on their hire date and on January 1st of each year thereafter. Up to 80 hours of unused sick time will be carried forward from one calendar year to the next such that the maximum number of sick time hours an employee may have available is 160 hours. Employees in Illinois have a unique time off program designed specifically with local requirements in mind. All employees also have access to paid time away to deal with critical or emergency issues. We offer additional paid time to volunteer and give back to the community.

Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components. 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 up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid.