Solutions Engineer, Federal

Cisco • Arlington, MD

1d

About The Position

Cisco is hiring a Solutions Engineer for its Federal Civilian Systems Engineering team, supporting a broad portfolio of cabinet-level and independent U.S. federal agencies. The team partners with Federal Account Executives and agency engineering leadership to architect resilient, scalable, and automated technical architectures that advance federal mission modernization. It is described as an experienced organization focused on customer mission success across public health, citizen services, scientific research, and federal operations.

The role serves as a technical advisor and pre-sales architecture lead for designated agencies. It involves designing and validating network and security architectures aligned with federal mandates, leading Proof of Value trials and demonstrations, supporting complex federal proposals, and helping agency engineering teams modernize operations through automation and observability tools. Candidates must be U.S. citizens and must live in or relocate to the listed territory. The application window is expected to close on November 12, 2026.

Requirements

• At least 7 years of related technical pre-sales, systems engineering, or senior enterprise consulting experience supporting complex network architectures.
• An active professional- or expert-level Cisco certification in good standing, such as CCNP Enterprise, CCNP Security, or CCIE.
• Hands-on pre-sales architecture expertise across enterprise routing and switching and SD-WAN, including Catalyst 9000, Nexus 9000 NX-OS, Catalyst 8000 SD-WAN, BGP, OSPF, and EVPN/VXLAN.
• Demonstrated proficiency in Cisco integrated security and Zero Trust solutions, including ISE, Secure Firewall/FTD, Duo Security, Umbrella, and SASE/SSE.
• U.S. citizenship, as required for federal customer site access, background investigation, and security clearance requirements; ability to obtain and maintain Public Trust or Secret clearance.
• Must live in or relocate to the listed territory.

Nice To Haves

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Information Systems, or a related technical discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
• Active Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert certification in Enterprise Infrastructure, Routing & Switching, or Security.
• Direct experience supporting U.S. Federal Civilian Government Agencies and practical knowledge of federal acquisition frameworks such as SEWP and GSA.
• Experience with Full-Stack Observability and assurance platforms, including Cisco ThousandEyes, Splunk, and Catalyst Center.
• In-depth understanding of federal cloud security baselines and compliance standards, including FedRAMP High/Moderate, FIPS 140-3, and OMB M-22-09.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary technical authority, trusted advisor, and pre-sales architecture lead for designated U.S. Federal Civilian Agencies, building relationships with agency CIOs, CISOs, and lead architects.
• Design, validate, and defend end-to-end multi-tier network and security architectures that comply with federal mandates, including OMB M-22-09 Zero Trust, NIST SP 800-53, FedRAMP, and post-quantum cryptography readiness.
• Lead hands-on technical Proof of Value trials, live demonstrations, and architectural bake-offs in complex federal environments.
• Author technical specifications, architectural diagrams, and compliance matrices for federal RFIs, RFPs, and task orders, coordinating with Federal Account Executives and using GSA, SEWP, and agency-specific contract vehicles.
• Educate federal engineering teams on Infrastructure-as-Code, REST APIs, Python tooling, and telemetry frameworks such as ThousandEyes and Splunk to improve Day-0 to Day-2 operational efficiency.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance, subject to plan eligibility rules.
• 401(k) plan with Cisco matching contribution.
• Paid parental leave.
• Short- and long-term disability coverage.
• Basic life insurance.
• Paid holidays and a floating holiday for non-exempt employees.
• Paid birthday day off, year-end holiday shutdown, and personal wellness days.
• Paid vacation for non-exempt employees; exempt employees participate in a flexible vacation time-off program.
• Paid sick time and carryover of unused sick time, subject to the stated limits.
• Additional paid time away may be requested for critical or emergency family issues.
• Optional paid volunteer days.
• Annual bonuses for eligible non-sales employees, subject to Cisco policies.
• Sales-plan employees may receive performance-based incentive pay; eligible employees may also receive Cisco restricted stock unit grants.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed