Solutions Engineer

The location requirement for this role is Chicago IL., USA

Meet the Team

Everything is converging on the Internet, making networked connections more meaningful than ever before. Our employees' groundbreaking ideas impact everything from healthcare and education to public and private sectors and smart cities. At Cisco, you’ll collaborate with leaders, partner with mentors, and develop incredible relationships with colleagues who share your passion for connecting the unconnected. You’ll be part of a team that cares about its customers, enjoys having fun, and takes pride in changing the lives of those in our local communities. Come prepared to be encouraged, inspired, and to thrive.

Your Impact

Join the Americas Partner Organization (APO) team, dedicated to the success of one of our most critical national partners: CDW. You will work within a top-tier group of engineers who possess a phenomenal depth of Cisco expertise. As a Partner Solution Engineer (PSE), you are the primary technical bridge between Cisco and CDW’s presales organization. You will collaborate with Partner Leaders, Account Managers, and CDW’s own Solution Architects to drive a $2B+ joint business, focusing on building technical capability and accelerating joint pipeline.

• Partner Technical Enablement: Design and deliver impactful technical enablement programs, hands-on labs, demos, and technical workshops for CDW’s Solution Architects and technical specialists.
• Practice Scaling: Accelerate partner adoption of key Cisco platforms (Catalyst, Meraki, ThousandEyes, Security/SASE, and AI-ready infrastructure) to help CDW reach practice maturity.
• Strategic Co-Architecting: Serve as the escalation lead on high-value, complex opportunities. Conduct joint architectural design sessions (ADS) and proof-of-value (POV) strategies to differentiate Cisco solutions.
• Joint Pipeline Development: Partner with Cisco Partner Account Executives (PAEs) and CDW leadership on territory mapping, demand-generation campaigns, and architectural business plans driving initiatives aligning to partner profitability and Cisco’s growth priorities.
• Voice of the Partner: Act as a critical feedback loop, advocating for CDW-specific needs to Cisco Business Units and Product Management to remove technical roadblocks and influence product roadmaps.
• Trusted advisor: Actively support the Cisco culture by sharing technical, professional, and sales skills, providing consultative support to enable CDW’s engineering teams and drive partner loyalty.
• Innovate: Leverage AI tools (ex: Cisco’s MyAgent, Claude, OpenAI, etc) and capabilities to scale the CDW growth engine for Cisco products and solutions

Minimum Qualifications

• 4+ years of experience working directly with or within Tier-1 National Partners, System Integrators, or Value-Added Resellers (VARs).
• You can articulate technical value across CDW engineering practices, effectively negotiating and influencing technical practice leads and executives to align with Cisco technical priorities and Go-to-Market/Route-to-Market.
• Practical experience with Cisco-specific platforms, including Catalyst 9000 series, Catalyst Center (DNA Center), Meraki full-stack, and Cisco Security/SASE solutions.
• Exceptional communication skills; ability to simplify complex architectures for C-suite discussions and lead high-stakes technical negotiations.
• Experience designing and delivering technical workshops, hands-on labs, or enablement programs for technical specialists.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience: 2+ years of professional experience in IT as a Systems Engineer, Solutions Architect, or Technical Consultant.
• Technical Domain: Demonstrated foundational knowledge in Enterprise Networking (e.g., Switching, Routing, SD-WAN) and cloud or cybersecurity principles.
• Collaboration: Experience working in a team-based sales or engineering environment, with a track record of driving cross-functional success.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in a technical field (Computer Science, Electrical Engineering) or equivalent practical experience.

• Certifications: Active CCNA (Enterprise Infrastructure/Wireless) or higher-level industry certifications (e.g., CCNP, PCNSE, AWS/Azure certifications).
• AI Literacy: Demonstrated use of AI tools or automation to streamline technical workflows and scale engineering productivity.

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 solutions. Add to that our worldwide network of doers and experts, and you’ll see that the opportunities to grow and build are limitless. We work as a team, collaborating with empathy to make really big things happen on a global scale. Because our solutions are everywhere, our impact is everywhere. 

We are Cisco, and our power starts with you. 

Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location, market conditions, job-related skillset, experience, qualifications, education, certifications, and/or training. The full salary range for certain locations is listed below. For locations not listed below, the recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.

U.S. employees are offered benefits, subject to Cisco’s plan eligibility rules, which include medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability coverage, and basic life insurance. Please see the Cisco careers site to discover more benefits and perks.  Employees may be eligible to receive grants of Cisco restricted stock units, which vest following continued employment with Cisco for defined periods of time.

U.S. employees are eligible for paid time away as described below, subject to Cisco’s policies:

• 10 paid holidays per full calendar year, plus 1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees

• 1 paid day off for employee’s birthday, paid year-end holiday shutdown, and 4 paid days off for personal wellness determined by Cisco

• Non-exempt employees** receive 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year, accrued at rate of 4.92 hours per pay period for full-time employees

• Exempt employees participate in Cisco’s flexible vacation time off program, which has no defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use (subject to availability and some business limitations)

• 80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter, and up to 80 hours of unused sick time carried forward from one calendar year to the next

• Additional paid time away may be requested to deal with critical or emergency issues for family members

• Optional 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer

For non-sales roles, employees are also eligible to earn annual bonuses subject to Cisco’s policies.

Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components, subject to the applicable Cisco plan. For quota-based incentive pay, Cisco typically pays as follows:

• .75% of incentive target for each 1% of revenue attainment up to 50% of quota;

• 1.5% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 50% and 75%;

• 1% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 75% and 100%; and

• Once performance exceeds 100% attainment, incentive rates are at or above 1% for each 1% of attainment with no cap on incentive compensation.

For non-quota-based sales performance elements such as strategic sales objectives, Cisco may pay 0% up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid.

The applicable full salary ranges for this position, by specific state, are listed below:

New York City Metro Area:

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

* For quota-based sales roles on Cisco’s sales plan, the ranges provided in this posting include base pay and sales target incentive compensation combined.

** Employees in Illinois, whether exempt or non-exempt, will participate in a unique time off program to meet local requirements.