Solutions Engineer - SLED (Northern California)
About The Position
The Solutions Engineer on Cisco’s NorCal SLED team supports schools, cities, counties, universities, and healthcare agencies across Northern California. The role champions Cisco solutions across public sector verticals and partners with Account Executives, specialist engineering teams, and regional partners to architect solutions in Secure Networking, Hybrid Cloud, AI-ready Infrastructure, and Zero Trust Cybersecurity. The position serves as a trusted technical advisor and customer advocate, identifying customer challenges and defining architectures aligned with public sector priorities and operational outcomes. It leads customer demonstrations, proof-of-concepts, and proof-of-value engagements; develops technical account plans and deal strategies with Account Executives; and supports solution adoption and long-term customer success through internal specialists and regional partners. The candidate must live in or relocate to Northern California and be willing and able to travel locally for customer meetings and partner events.
Requirements
- At least 5 years of related technical pre-sales, systems engineering, or technical consulting experience in enterprise or public sector environments.
- Hands-on technical expertise in core Cisco architectures—Enterprise Networking, Switching, Wireless, Routing, Data Center, or Cybersecurity—or relevant competitor platforms.
- A pre-sales track record translating complex technical solutions into measurable business, mission, and operational value.
- Experience leading customer-facing architectural presentations, technical whiteboarding, and solution validations.
- Must reside in or relocate to Northern California.
- Willingness and ability to travel locally for customer meetings and partner events.
Nice To Haves
- Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
- Professional- or Expert-level certifications such as CCIE, CCNP, AWS Certified Solutions Architect, CISSP, or equivalent.
- Familiarity with SLED public sector procurement cycles, E-Rate funding, state and local contracts, and education or government IT compliance frameworks.
- Familiarity with AI infrastructure, modern Collaboration, SDN, and full-stack observability, and enthusiasm for AI productivity tools.
- Strong business acumen and ability to frame technical offerings around student outcomes, citizen services, and public safety impact.
Responsibilities
- Build technical relationships with public sector IT leaders and act as their advocate, technology strategist, and trusted advisor.
- Identify customer challenges and define cross-architectural solutions aligned with business priorities, mission goals, and operational outcomes.
- Collaborate with customers and partners to deliver proof-of-concepts, proof-of-value engagements, and live demonstrations of Cisco solutions.
- Develop and execute multi-year technical account plans with Account Executives, shaping territory strategy and deal progression.
- Drive solution adoption and long-term customer operational success by coordinating internal specialist engineering teams and regional partner communities.
- Champion Cisco solutions across public sector verticals, including Secure Networking, Hybrid Cloud, AI-ready Infrastructure, and Zero Trust Cybersecurity.
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
- Cisco restricted stock unit grants may be available, subject to eligibility and vesting terms
- 10 paid holidays per full calendar year
- Floating holiday for non-exempt employees
- Paid birthday day off
- Paid year-end holiday shutdown
- Four paid personal wellness days
- Paid vacation or flexible vacation time off, depending on employee classification
- 80 hours of sick time off provided on hire and each January 1, with up to 80 hours of unused sick time carried forward
- Additional paid time away may be requested for critical or emergency family issues
- Optional 10 paid volunteer days per full calendar year
- Annual bonuses for eligible non-sales employees
- Performance-based sales incentive compensation for employees on sales plans
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
No Education Listed
