Solutions Engineer - Commercial, Chicago

Meet the Team

Our technical sales team serves as the heartbeat of Cisco's innovation, acting as the primary bridge between groundbreaking technology and our customers' most critical business challenges. As trusted technical advisors, we operate at the intersection of strategy and execution, collaborating across internal business units and partner ecosystems to displace competition and drive market share. We are a high-impact community of technical visionaries dedicated to shaping the future of digital infrastructure and ensuring sustainable customer success.

Your Impact

As a Technical Sales Professional, you will own the Cisco brand across key accounts, serving as the lead technical advisor and primary influencer in high-stakes sales cycles. You will translate complex customer requirements into comprehensive cross-architectural solutions, lead strategic technical conversations with executive decision-makers, and orchestrate virtual teams across the end-to-end sales cycle. By spearheading demand generation and delivering impactful technical demonstrations, you will directly drive revenue growth, expand territory market share, and position Cisco as an indispensable strategic partner.

• Actively contribute to account planning activities to pinpoint growth opportunities and align technical strategies with customer objectives.
• Lead engagements with IT decision-makers and line-of-business (LOB) stakeholders to translate business needs into technical requirements.
• Design and present relevant solutions based on identified technical and business requirements.
• Manage virtual support teams and leverage internal resources to drive deals across the technical sales process.
• Provide active feedback to Business Entities (BEs) and sales teams on strategic customer needs and competitive market tactics.

Minimum Qualifications

• Minimum of 5 years of professional experience in a technical sales, systems engineering, or consultative architecture role.
• Proven track record of managing and closing complex sales cycles from opportunity identification to deal execution.
• Demonstrated success in increasing quarterly net new customer acquisition.
• Extensive experience leading technical demonstrations for IT decision-makers and line-of-business (LOB) stakeholders.
• Documented history of displacing competitors and increasing market share within a designated territory or account base.

Preferred Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor's degree (with 7+ years of related experience), Master's degree (with 4+ years of related experience), or PhD (with 1+ year of related experience).
• Certifications: Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) certification (Enterprise, Security, or Data Center) strongly preferred.
• Valid Driver's License and ability to travel locally throughout the Greater Chicago metropolitan area.
• Strong strategic planning capabilities, including the ability to translate evolving market conditions into actionable sales strategies.
• Advanced communication and presentation skills, with the ability to influence C-suite and technical executives.

Pay

The starting salary range for this position is $192,300.00 to $248,100.00 for 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 quota-based sales roles on Cisco's sales plan, the ranges provided include base pay and sales target incentive compensation combined.

New York City Metro Area: $212,200.00 – $308,300.00

Non-Metro New York State & Washington State: $202,400.00 – $296,900.00

Benefits

• Medical, dental and vision insurance
• 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution
• Paid parental leave
• Short and long-term disability coverage
• Basic life insurance
• Eligibility for grants of Cisco restricted stock units, which vest following continued employment for defined periods
• 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 determined by Cisco
• Non-exempt employees: 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: flexible vacation time off program with 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, with 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
• Employees in Illinois participate in a unique time off program to meet local requirements

Incentive Compensation Details

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:

• 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 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.