Account Executive - Architecture
About this role
Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.
Meet the Team
As a member of the Physical Security architecture team, you will sit at the intersection of deep technical expertise and strategic business growth. You will work within Cisco's Physical Security buying center, acting as a primary influencer and advisor to IT leaders, Line-of-Business (LOB) stakeholders, and CXOs. Our team is dedicated to positioning Cisco as the preferred solution provider by leveraging competitive intelligence, industry-leading innovation, and a comprehensive understanding of the business drivers-including cost, risk, and benefit-that shape our customers' most complex security environments.
Your Impact
In this role, you will drive significant revenue growth and shape the technical direction of high-complexity accounts. Your primary responsibilities include:
Strategic Influence: Own and nurture relationships within the customer's buying center, influencing strategic decisions and aligning Cisco's architectural vision with long-term customer objectives.
Architectural Leadership: Provide expert-level guidance across the full sales lifecycle, from qualification to proposal. You will lead technical proof of concept (POC) and proof of value (POV) engagements to demonstrate solution capabilities and business outcomes.
Market Intelligence: Leverage competitive intelligence to guide account planning, ensuring Cisco's offerings are positioned as superior choices. You will identify market shifts and provide strategic recommendations to both internal stakeholders and external clients.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with account teams, solution engineers, and Cisco's business units to develop outcomes-based proposals. You will serve as a vital feedback loop to development teams, influencing product roadmaps to ensure our solutions remain adaptive to emerging market demands.
Sales Execution: Manage medium-to-high complexity sales cycles (3-18 months), conducting "what-if" analyses to model future business outcomes and advising on technical bill of materials development to displace competitors and increase market share.
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
- 7+ years of experience in technical sales, systems engineering, or architectural consulting, specifically within the Physical Security or related infrastructure space.
- Proven track record of managing complex, multi-stakeholder sales cycles with deal sizes ranging from $50K to $750K+.
- Deep technical proficiency in Physical Security architectures and a strong understanding of the associated industry vertical.
- Experience leading technical demonstrations, proof of concepts, and value-based proposal development.
Preferred Qualifications
- Advanced degree or industry-recognized certifications in Physical Security or Cybersecurity.
- Demonstrated success in displacing competitors and expanding wallet share within large enterprise or Service Provider accounts.
- Strong business acumen with the ability to articulate the ROI of technical solutions to senior leadership (CXOs, VPs).
- Experience collaborating with product development teams to influence product roadmaps based on customer-specific requirements.
- Expertise in analyzing market/industry trends and translating those insights into actionable account strategies.
Rencontrez l’équipe
En tant que membre de l’équipe d’architecture de la sécurité physique, vous vous situerez à l’intersection d’une expertise technique approfondie et de la croissance stratégique des affaires. Vous travaillerez au sein du centre d’achat de la sécurité physique de Cisco, agissant comme principal influenceur et conseiller auprès des responsables TI, des parties prenantes des unités d’affaires (LOB) et des dirigeants de niveau CXO. Notre équipe se consacre à positionner Cisco comme fournisseur de solutions privilégié en tirant parti du renseignement concurrentiel, d’une innovation de pointe dans l’industrie et d’une compréhension approfondie des facteurs d’affaires — notamment les coûts, les risques et les bénéfices — qui façonnent les environnements de sécurité les plus complexes de nos clients.
Votre impact
Dans ce rôle, vous stimulerez une croissance importante des revenus et orienterez la direction technique de comptes à haute complexité. Vos principales responsabilités comprennent :
Influence stratégique : Prendre en charge et entretenir les relations au sein du centre d’achat du client, influencer les décisions stratégiques et aligner la vision architecturale de Cisco sur les objectifs à long terme du client.
Leadership architectural : Fournir des conseils de niveau expert tout au long du cycle de vente, de la qualification à la proposition. Vous dirigerez des engagements de preuve de concept (POC) et de preuve de valeur (POV) afin de démontrer les capacités des solutions et les résultats d’affaires.
Renseignement sur le marché : Exploiter le renseignement concurrentiel pour orienter la planification des comptes, en veillant à ce que les offres de Cisco soient positionnées comme des choix supérieurs. Vous identifierez les évolutions du marché et fournirez des recommandations stratégiques aux parties prenantes internes ainsi qu’aux clients externes.
Collaboration interfonctionnelle : Collaborer avec les équipes de comptes, les ingénieurs de solutions et les unités d’affaires de Cisco pour élaborer des propositions axées sur les résultats. Vous servirez de boucle de rétroaction essentielle auprès des équipes de développement, influençant les feuilles de route des produits afin de garantir que nos solutions demeurent adaptées aux nouvelles exigences du marché.
Exécution des ventes : Gérer des cycles de vente de complexité moyenne à élevée (3 à 18 mois), réaliser des analyses de type « scénarios hypothétiques » pour modéliser les résultats d’affaires futurs et conseiller sur l’élaboration des nomenclatures techniques afin de remplacer les concurrents et accroître la part de marché.
Qualifications minimales
Baccalauréat en génie, en informatique ou dans un domaine technique connexe, ou expérience pratique équivalente.
Plus de 7 ans d’expérience en vente technique, en ingénierie de systèmes ou en consultation architecturale, spécifiquement dans le domaine de la sécurité physique ou des infrastructures connexes.
Antécédents démontrés dans la gestion de cycles de vente complexes impliquant de multiples parties prenantes, avec des transactions allant de 50 000 $ à plus de 750 000 $.
Solide maîtrise technique des architectures de sécurité physique et excellente compréhension du secteur industriel associé.
Expérience dans la direction de démonstrations techniques, de preuves de concept et dans l’élaboration de propositions axées sur la valeur.
Qualifications privilégiées
Diplôme avancé ou certifications reconnues dans l’industrie en sécurité physique ou en cybersécurité.
Succès démontré dans le remplacement de concurrents et l’augmentation de la part de portefeuille au sein de grandes entreprises ou de comptes de fournisseurs de services.
Solide sens des affaires et capacité à expliquer le rendement du capital investi (ROI) des solutions techniques à la haute direction (CXO, vice‑présidents).
Expérience de collaboration avec des équipes de développement de produits pour influencer les feuilles de route des produits en fonction des exigences spécifiques des clients.
Expertise dans l’analyse des tendances du marché et de l’industrie et dans la traduction de ces informations en stratégies de comptes concrètes.
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 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.
Message to applicants applying to work in the U.S. and/or Canada:
The starting salary range posted for this position is $260,400.00 to $350,700.00 and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation*, equity, or benefits.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:
$292,100.00 - $441,900.00Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:
$263,900.00 - $409,200.00* 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.