Interconnection Sales Specialist (Financial Services)

Equinix • Chicago, IL

16h • $281,000 - $421,000

About The Position

The Interconnection Sales Specialist (ICS) is an architecture-led seller responsible for growing interconnection revenue across Equinix’s physical and virtual portfolio in new and existing Financial Services accounts. Rather than selling individual transactions, the ICS works with customers to design how their networks, clouds, partners, and AI workloads connect, then lands those designs on Platform Equinix as repeatable architectures. The role partners with Account Executives, Solution Architects, Sales Engineers, and Technical Account Managers to create opportunities and growth for the broader team.

The ICS sells Equinix interconnection services through architectures that may cover WAN modernization, hybrid multicloud connectivity, AI hubs and edge delivery, private SaaS and partner connectivity, digital supply chains, and Financial Services ecosystems. These designs can support low-latency trading, market data, exchanges, clearing houses, digital banking, payments, regulatory compliance, and operational resilience.

Success is measured by architecture design wins and the interconnection growth they generate, including bookings, revenue, new logos, cloud-adoption architectures, and strategic ecosystem engagement. The role supports account planning, pipeline development, forecasting, customer and partner engagement, and commercial negotiations.

Requirements

• At least 5 years of experience selling network, cloud, data center, cybersecurity, AI infrastructure, or infrastructure-as-a-service solutions to enterprise, Financial Services, fintech, capital markets, or service provider customers in a technical sales, overlay, or specialist role.
• Architecture depth in enterprise networking, interconnection, and hybrid multicloud, including WAN, routing, peering, cloud connectivity, and network virtualization.
• Ability to design solutions with customer architects and document them as blueprints others can deliver.
• Executive presence and credibility with technical buyers and business decision makers.
• Track record of working with account teams and partners and meeting or exceeding sales objectives.
• Bachelor’s degree in business, engineering, computer science, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• Experience navigating complex stakeholder environments in financial institutions, capital markets organizations, payment providers, fintechs, or other highly regulated enterprises.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with AI and GPU-cluster networking, data movement, or large-scale cloud architecture, especially for Strategic and Hyperscale accounts.
• Hands-on background as a network or solutions architect, or experience with a cloud provider, carrier, or network service provider.
• Industry certifications such as CCNP, JNCIP, or cloud networking specialty certifications from AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud.
• Experience in an Equinix vertical segment: Financial Services, Enterprise, Strategic, Telco & Media, or Public Sector.
• MBA or advanced degree.
• Experience selling into banking, capital markets, exchanges, insurance, payments, fintech, or wealth management organizations.
• Familiarity with financial services market infrastructure, trading ecosystems, payment networks, regulatory requirements, and financial technology platforms.
• Experience supporting low-latency networking, market data distribution, cloud transformation, operational resilience, digital banking, AI-driven analytics, or financial ecosystem connectivity initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture discussions with customer network, cloud, and infrastructure architects to understand business drivers, technical requirements, and pain points.
• Map customer needs to proven interconnection architectures that combine physical and virtual services.
• Partner with Solution Architects on presales feasibility and solution design, and produce implementation-ready blueprints.
• Register architecture scope early and drive it from customer commitment through the first production circuit and publication of a blueprint.
• Build value cases and metrics demonstrating architecture business impact to technical and executive buyers.
• Engage with executives, enterprise architects, infrastructure leaders, network engineering teams, and line-of-business stakeholders across Financial Services organizations.
• Design architectures that improve trading performance, market data access, cloud adoption, customer experience, operational resilience, and regulatory compliance.
• Run joint account planning with Account Executives and Sales Engineers for assigned accounts, segments, or verticals.
• Analyze installed bases and interconnection footprints to identify and prioritize architecture opportunities.
• Grow interconnection in existing accounts and help open new logos, including magnet customers that attract partners and ecosystems.
• Contribute to quarterly business reviews and develop opportunities across financial institutions.
• Develop territory strategies aligned with Financial Services trends, cloud adoption, trading modernization, AI investment, and ecosystem expansion.
• Act as the account team's interconnection expert from pursuit strategy through close.
• Bring in appropriate internal and external resources, including Solution Architects, Technical Account Managers, Product, Customer Success, Alliances, and Channel Partners.
• Co-sell with cloud, technology, and channel partners when partner-led opportunities support a design win.
• Hand off landed architectures so follow-on connections can be booked by the best-positioned team member, partner, or portal.
• Partner with Financial Services Account Executives, strategic alliances, cloud providers, carriers, exchanges, market-data providers, and fintech ecosystem participants.
• Collaborate across the Financial Services ecosystem to develop differentiated solutions using proximity to customers, partners, exchanges, service providers, and cloud platforms.
• Serve as a field expert on Equinix’s interconnection portfolio, industry trends, and competitive landscape.
• Help Account Executives identify interconnection fit, use cases, buyer personas, objections, and competitors.
• Contribute to playbooks, reference architectures, and customer case studies.
• Maintain current knowledge of networking, multicloud, AI infrastructure, digital transformation, and Financial Services industry developments.
• Build and manage an architecture-opportunity pipeline against monthly, quarterly, and annual objectives.
• Provide timely forecasts and opportunity updates, follow the Equinix selling methodology, and maintain current CRM records, including registered design scopes.
• Work with marketing, partner, and business development teams on pipeline-generating campaigns.
• Support Account Executives with quoting, pricing, negotiation, and closing interconnection deals.
• Shape commercial structures that support architecture build-out over time and work with Deal Desk and Legal on interconnection terms as needed.

Benefits

• Employee Assistance Program.
• Health, life, disability, and voluntary insurance plans for employees and eligible family members.
• Retirement plan contributions from employees and Equinix.
• Accrued paid time off and paid holidays.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior