Solutions Development Architect
About The Position
The Solutions Development Architect is part of Cisco Customer Experience’s consultative pre-sales Solutions Development Architecture team. The team translates complex customer challenges into multi-architecture frameworks, blueprints, and multi-year transformation journey maps designed to deliver measurable business outcomes. It partners with Service Sales, the Deal Acceleration Team, CX Product Management, and the CX CTO/CTAO to identify and qualify transformational lifecycle opportunities. The role connects pre-sales solution design with post-sales delivery, ensuring solutions are practical, scalable, de-risked, and successfully realized for strategic global customers. The architect leads solution design for complex, multi-domain customer engagements; advances lifecycle opportunities with sales and account teams; and serves as the CX Lead Architect for strategic RFP/RFI responses. The role assesses implementation risks, cost feasibility, and transformation dependencies, while coordinating with delivery architects to support on-time, on-budget execution. It also engages senior customer IT/OT leaders, helps develop emerging services and reusable architectural intellectual property, and mentors architects across the theater.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in a technical field or equivalent relevant work experience.
- At least 8 years of professional experience in technical solutions architecture or engineering.
- Expert-level industry certification, such as CCIE or an equivalent credential.
- Technical proficiency across at least two major Cisco technology domains.
- Demonstrated experience managing complex, multi-architecture technical engagement lifecycles.
Nice To Haves
- Deep understanding of AI/ML integration within enterprise IT infrastructure.
- Ability to translate technical concepts into business-value conversations.
- Strong experience navigating high-stakes RFI/RFP processes for enterprise clients.
- Collaborative skills to drive alignment between pre-sales and post-sales teams.
- Ability to mentor and guide technical staff on architecture standards and methodology.
Responsibilities
- Translate complex customer business and technical requirements into comprehensive blueprints, architectural frameworks, and multi-year journey maps aligned with strategic business outcomes.
- Partner with Service Sales, Account Teams, and Deal Acceleration Teams to identify, shape, and progress high-value lifecycle and transformational deals.
- Lead CX architecture for strategic RFP/RFI responses and communicate the business value of Cisco technology and professional services.
- Conduct implementation risk assessments, cost-feasibility modeling, and transformation dependency mapping.
- Collaborate with post-sales delivery architects to de-risk execution and help ensure contracted solutions are delivered on time and within budget.
- Engage senior customer IT/OT leaders, including Senior Directors, VPs, and SVPs, using industry expertise to explain complex architectures and Cisco’s lifecycle roadmap.
- Collaborate with CX Product Management and go-to-market teams to accelerate emerging service offers, capture delivery best practices, and contribute reusable architectural blueprints.
- Mentor emerging architects, share cross-architecture knowledge, and lead architectural transformation workshops.
Benefits
- Medical insurance
- Dental insurance
- Vision insurance
- 401(k) plan with Cisco matching contribution
- Paid parental leave
- Short- and long-term disability coverage
- Basic life insurance
- Paid holidays and floating holiday for non-exempt employees
- Birthday day off
- Paid year-end holiday shutdown
- Personal wellness days
- Paid vacation time for non-exempt employees
- Flexible vacation time off program for eligible exempt employees
- Paid sick time
- Additional paid time away may be requested for critical or emergency family issues
- Optional paid volunteer days
- Annual bonuses for eligible non-sales employees
- Performance-based incentive pay for employees on sales plans
- Cisco restricted stock unit grants may be available to eligible employees
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
