Operation Solutions Engineer - SLED

The application window is expected to close on: 11/05/2026

Preferred locations:
Chicago, Denver, Seattle Required to live in or relocate to a state in the Operation: IL, CO, WA, OR, UT, , MT, UT, KS, NE, MN, IA, MO, WIMeet the Team As a Solutions Engineer in the SLED – North Star Operation, you will be focused on being a pre-sales field technical customer facing engineer influencing the most strategic and innovative parts of our business across our 14-state geography.

You will spend 50-75% of your time with customers and collaborating with Account Teams, Connected Teams, Partners, and Product Teams. This role is focused on business outcomes through bringing high customer intimacy, thought leadership, executive engagement, and technical excellence.

Your Impact Technical, trusted advisor to SLED Account Teams and Customers Bring thought leadership and deep technical knowledge across our solutions and architectures applying it across all verticals

Participate and lead high impact customer engagements through Tech Days, Connect, Cisco Experience Center Briefings, Executive Discussions, EFT opportunities, Stay Ready, Cisco Live and other similar events

Champion culture of learning, coaching, and technical excellence

Develop executive relationships and champions our most strategic technical strategies

Actively participate in any relevant advisory boards, tiger teams to represent USPS/SLED customer feedback and needs, shaping the future of our portfolio and offerings

Help create and drive campaigns and initiatives for the operation based on the needs of the business and growth

Invest in your personal development, such as certifications, self-study, soft skills, executive coaching, market trend analysis, competitive training, and other relevant training to strengthen and sharpen your skills.

Product Team Engagement and Field Influence Innovation pilots and early field trials

Feedback loops from the field into development

Measure impact

Business growth balanced across the portfolio

Pipeline Growth Uncover and drive modernization opportunities (other supporting alignment)
Competitive takeouts

Franchise wins Trusted Executive Leadership relationships in our most strategic accounts

This Role is Not Ownership of escalation or post-sales support – there may be extreme circumstances, such as Customer Satisfaction, where you could bring a positive impact to a challenging situation

Heavily internal-facing or stuck in meetings

Tied to one sales counterpart or partner-dependent roleScripted

Minimum Qualifications
10+ years industry experience, significant experience as pre-sales solutions engineer

Deep knowledge across Cisco’s Route/Switch and Security portfolio as well as competitive offerings

Proven track record leading strategic multi-architecture sales cycles, competitive takeouts, franchise wins, and driving innovation

Operation/Area support from Senior Leadership (INTERNAL applicants)
CCNP or similar competitive certification

Preferred Qualifications Strong preference given to candidates with CCIE or equivalent expert level competitive certification

Market expertise in relevant verticals – State/Local Government, Education (K12 and Secondary/Higher Education) and Healthcare Serve” mindset

Ability to travel 50-75% of the time

Why Cisco? At Cisco, we’re revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era – and beyond. We’ve been innovating fearlessly for 40 years to create solutions that power how humans and technology work together across the physical and digital worlds. These solutions provide customers with unparalleled security, visibility, and insights across the entire digital footprint.

Fueled by the depth and breadth of our technology, we experiment and create meaningful…