Solutions Engineer - Charlotte, NC

Successful candidate must reside in Charlotte, NC or be open to relocation. This role is located in Charlotte, NC or Columbia, SC only. No relocation will be offered at this time.

About the role

As a Solutions Engineer, you will partner primarily with an Account Executive and work with Portfolio Account Teams, Partners, and other cross-functional teams to drive Cisco Networking brand preference with customers. You will capture detailed knowledge of customer requirements and provide recommendations for the best products and solutions to achieve desired business outcomes. This role involves collaborating with Business Entity teams to prioritize and influence features and capabilities roadmaps.

You will form relationships with key customer decision-makers, showcase Cisco Networking products and solutions (focusing on Secure networking including Routing, Switching, Wireless, and Automation), lead RFP responses, set up demonstrations, drive proof of values, explain features and benefits, and design and configure products to meet specific customer requirements. This is a pre-sales, technical role passionate about architectural selling across all verticals and segments in the Americas.

Responsibilities

• Partner with Account Executives to drive business and growth opportunities
• Drive demand generation activities
• Enable technology capabilities internally with Portfolio Account Teams and externally with partners
• Understand customer requirements and map technical solutions to meet needs
• Design networks and maintain deep product and solution knowledge, including product positioning and differentiation
• Perform product demos and Proof of Concept (PoC) labs
• Maintain competitive knowledge to strategically position Cisco’s products and services
• Follow market transitions and industry trends to anticipate customer needs
• Align cross-functionally with various business entities and teams across the company
• Adopt a challenger mindset to help customers with complex digital transformation opportunities
• Communicate technical architectures, solutions, and products to decision-makers from Managers to Directors and above
• Demonstrate technical solutions effectively and conduct multi-architectural PoC tests

Requirements

• 5+ years of proven experience sizing and designing Routing, Wireless, and Switching deployments (both On-Prem and Cloud-Based)
• 5+ years of developed skills and knowledge in networking protocols (TCP/IP, BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, LISP), network segmentation technologies (VRF, MPLS, ZeroTrust, SDA, 802.1x, Adaptive Policy), and network management
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
• Understanding of competitive networking products such as HPE/Aruba, Juniper, Arista, Fortinet
• Pre-sales experience (preferred)
• BS/BA (preferably EE/CS) or equivalent (preferred)
• Ability to work under pressure with minimum supervision
• Critical thinking to address customer concerns and support business growth
• Customer-focused attitude
• Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities in a fast-paced environment
• Cisco and non-Cisco certifications (e.g., CCIE, CCDE, CCNP, DevNet, AWS, Google, Terraform) are a plus
• API and programmability knowledge is a plus

Benefits

• Flexible work-from-home or office option (where Cisco offices are available)
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) plan with Cisco matching contribution
• Paid parental leave
• Short- and long-term disability coverage
• Basic life insurance
• Grants of Cisco restricted stock units (vesting based on continued employment)
• 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
• 4 paid days off for personal wellness
• Non-exempt employees receive 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year (accrued at 4.92 hours per pay period for full-time employees)
• Exempt employees participate in Cisco’s flexible vacation time off program (no defined limit, subject to business limitations)
• 80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter, with up to 80 hours of unused sick time carried forward
• Additional paid time away for critical or emergency family issues
• 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer

Pay

The starting salary range for this position is $192,300.00 to $248,100.00 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.

For non-sales roles, employees are 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, split between quota and non-quota components. For quota-based incentive pay, Cisco typically pays:

• 0.75% 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%
• 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, Cisco may pay 0% up to 125% of target. Sales plans do not have a minimum threshold for incentive compensation to be paid.

The full salary ranges for specific locations are:

• 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, the ranges include base pay and sales target incentive compensation combined. Employees in Illinois will participate in a unique time off program to meet local requirements.