Solutions Engineer

Note: This role is based in our San Jose, CA office. To support team collaboration and onsite engagement, this position requires a hybrid work schedule of 2 days per week in the office. We are seeking candidates who are currently located in or are willing to relocate to the Bay Area to meet this requirement.

Meet the Team

You'll join Cisco's Webscale and Neocloud provider segment, covering next-generation cloud builders ("Neoclouds") and strategic AI accounts. These customers are standing up some of the largest AI training and inference fabrics in the world — GPU clusters, high-radix Ethernet back-end networks, and the optical transport connecting them. The pace is unlike anything else in the industry, and the technical bar is high. Our team is deeply customer-centric, and success is measured by the technical win and the customer's outcome.

Your Impact

As a Senior Solutions Engineer, you own the technical relationship with Neocloud and AI infrastructure customers. You'll partner with Account Executives to build and execute account strategy, earn credibility through architectural depth, and convert that credibility into design wins.

Customer-facing ownership

• Lead technical engagements end-to-end: discovery, architecture, validation, POC, and technical close
• Own the technical win — position Cisco architectures against competitive alternatives and resolve objections at the engineering and executive level
• Translate architectural vision into account strategy alongside your AE and extended account team
• Deliver demonstrations, whiteboard sessions, and executive briefings that connect technical design to business outcomes
• Mobilize stakeholders across engineering, product, and BU teams to unblock customer requirements and influence roadmap
• Lead demand generation and enablement initiatives for your accounts and segment

Technical depth you'll apply

• Design AI, data center, and service provider networks at scale
• Architect AI back-end and front-end fabrics, including compute, storage, and optics
• Apply deep routing expertise: BGP, MPLS, EVPN, and Segment Routing
• Work hands-on with Cisco IOS-XR, NX-OS, or equivalent network operating systems
• Stay current on AI infrastructure trends and adjust technical strategy as the market shifts

Minimum Qualifications

• 8+ years in technical pre-sales, solutions architecture, or customer-facing systems engineering, with a track record of owning the technical win
• Deep expertise in data center networking and service provider technologies, including BGP, EVPN, MPLS, or Segment Routing
• Hands-on experience with Cisco IOS-XR / NX-OS or equivalent network operating systems
• Strong technical expertise with Cisco or competitor data center and routing platforms
• Excellent communication, presentation, and problem-solving skills with a customer-focused mindset
• Self-motivated and proactive, with the ability to build durable technical relationships at customer accounts

Preferred Qualifications

• CCIE (Data Center, Service Provider, or Enterprise Infrastructure) or equivalent depth
• 10+ years delivering results in high-velocity, advanced technology environments
• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent experience
• Experience selling into Neocloud, hyperscale, or AI infrastructure customers

Any one or more of the following is a strong differentiator — we do not expect all of them:

• Open-source NOS experience, particularly SONiC
• Optical system design: Metro, RON, DWDM, and data center optics
• Silicon architecture, ASICs, and system-level design
• AI workloads, large language models, and the MLOps toolchain
• Comfort with scripting and automation (Python, Ansible) to support customer POCs and validation

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. 

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:

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

* 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.