Leader, Pre-Sales Solutions Engineer

The application window is expected to close on: 9/22/26

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

Location: Any major U.S. city with a preference for Central or Pacific time zones

The Internet & Mass Scale Infrastructure (I&MI) team sits at the center of one of the most consequential shifts in technology today. We sell the routing and optical infrastructure that powers the internet, interconnects the world's largest data centers, and enables the AI era in close partnership with the Cisco Cloud and AI team. 

Our Americas team serves Webscalers / NeoClouds, Communication Service Providers, government agencies and enterprises building next-generation AI/ML infrastructure. We compete at the industry's highest technical bar, where deals are won on architecture, cost-per-bit, power efficiency, and operational simplicity.

You will lead a team of elite Systems Engineers and serve as the senior technical leader and CTO-equivalent counterpart to the Americas I&MI sales leader—shaping both technical and business strategy for the region.

• Lead and develop the team. Coach and grow a team of senior individual-contributor Systems Engineers; attract and retain top technical talent and build a culture of technical excellence.
• Own the technical strategy. Set the architectural point of view for the region across routing, optical, automation and assurance. Partner with the sales leader as an equal counterpart on strategy, resourcing, and execution.
• Drive customer outcomes. Guide solution architecture for AI/ML fabrics, mass-scale routing, data center interconnect, and converged IP+Optical networks. Represent the business in executive-level customer engagements, POCs, and competitive bake-offs.
• Influence the portfolio. Act as the primary technical bridge to the Business Unit and global sales technical leaders, feeding customer and market requirements into the product roadmap.

• 7+ years in technical pre-sales, systems engineering, or network architecture including at least 3 years of people leadership
• Deep expertise in service provider or mass-scale / AI networking, including large-scale BGP, IP/MPLS, and modern transport architectures
• Proven ability to engage credibly with senior internal executive stakeholders and Principal Engineers, Chief Architects, and CTOs at large, sophisticated customers

• Experience with Webscale, Hyperscale, CSP, large financial enterprises or U.S. Federal customers
• Knowledge of Segment Routing (SR-MPLS/SRv6), coherent optics/DWDM, and Routed Optical Networking
• Familiarity with AI/ML fabric design and large-scale GPU cluster networking
• Understanding of disaggregated/open networking models and network automation
• BS in Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent experience

Lead a world-class technical team, operate as a true business co-leader, and shape the infrastructure underpinning the internet and the AI era—with visibility to senior Cisco leadership and direct influence on our portfolio direction.

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.