Leader, AI Hyperspecialist Solutions Engineer (Central US)

About the Team

You will join the AI Hyperspecialist Solutions Engineering team, led by a leader who partners with sales, customers, and product teams to design and implement AI-powered solutions. This role requires deep technical credibility in AI/ML combined with strong people leadership to translate customer needs into technical solutions while driving revenue and customer success.

Responsibilities

• Team Leadership: Manage, coach, and develop a team of solutions engineers/architects; conduct 1:1s, performance reviews, and skill development plans.
• Pre-Sales Support: Oversee technical discovery, solution design, demos, and proof-of-concepts (POCs) for prospective customers evaluating AI products.
• Customer Enablement: Guide the team in helping customers integrate AI/ML APIs, models, or platforms into their existing systems.
• Technical Strategy: Develop reusable solution architectures, demo environments, and best practices for common AI use cases (e.g., RAG, agents, fine-tuning, automation).
• Cross-functional Collaboration: Partner closely with Sales, Product, Engineering, and Customer Success to align technical solutions with business goals and feed customer feedback into the product roadmap.
• Escalation Management: Serve as an escalation point for complex technical objections or implementation blockers during the sales cycle.
• Enablement & Training: Build technical training materials and certifications for the solutions engineering team and broader sales organization.
• Process & Metrics: Track team performance metrics (POC win rate, time-to-value, deal velocity) and continuously improve pre-sales processes.
• Hiring: Recruit and interview candidates with strong technical and communication skills.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related technical field.
• 5+ years in solutions engineering, sales engineering, or technical consulting, with 2+ years in a leadership role.
• Strong understanding of AI/ML concepts — LLMs, embeddings, RAG, model APIs, prompt engineering.
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) and integration technologies (APIs, SDKs, webhooks).
• Proven ability to communicate technical concepts to both technical and non-technical/executive audiences.
• Track record of supporting complex enterprise sales cycles.

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands-on experience building demos or POCs using LLM APIs (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.) or ML frameworks.
• Background in customer-facing technical roles at a SaaS or AI/ML company.
• Familiarity with vector databases, agentic frameworks, or MLOps tooling.
• Experience presenting at conferences, webinars, or customer events.
• Prior experience in a specific target industry (e.g., enterprise software, fintech, healthcare).

Why Cisco?

At Cisco, we’re revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era—and beyond. With 40 years of innovation, we create solutions that power how humans and technology work together across physical and digital worlds. Our technology provides customers with unparalleled security, visibility, and insights across their entire digital footprint. Fueled by our global network of experts, we collaborate with empathy to make a meaningful impact at scale. Because our solutions are everywhere, so is our impact. We are Cisco, and our power starts with you.

Pay

The starting salary range for this position is $235,300.00 to $301,700.00 for new hires 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.

Full salary ranges for specific locations:

• New York City Metro Area: $257,800.00 - $374,100.00
• Non-Metro New York State & Washington State: $242,800.00 - $357,100.00

For quota-based sales roles, the ranges include base pay and sales target incentive compensation combined.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• 401(k) plan with Cisco matching contribution.
• Paid parental leave, short- and long-term disability coverage, and basic life insurance.
• Stock units (restricted stock units) that vest over time with continued employment.
• Paid time off:
  • 10 paid holidays per full calendar year, plus 1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees.
  • 1 paid day off for employee’s birthday, year-end holiday shutdown, and 4 paid days off for personal wellness.
  • Non-exempt employees: 16 days of paid vacation per full calendar year (accrued at 4.92 hours per pay period).
  • Exempt employees: Flexible vacation time off with no defined limit (subject to business needs).
  • 80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st, with up to 80 hours carried forward annually.
  • Additional paid time off for critical or emergency family issues.
  • Optional 10 paid days per year for volunteering.
• Annual bonuses for non-sales roles (subject to Cisco’s policies).
• For sales roles: Performance-based incentive pay split between quota and non-quota components, with no cap on incentive compensation for quota-based attainment above 100%.