What You’ll Do
Systems Architects at Cisco are technical leads that advise and support Sales teams with pre-sales and deep technical knowledge. You’ll get to work across a vast portfolio of Cisco products within the Service Provider Channel area. You will touch a variety of Cisco technology solutions and Architectures as Systems Architect for our Service Provider Channel accounts within EMEA. You will be responsible for driving the day-to-day relationship with Partners and customers, working closely with the Partner Account Managers.
This is an ideal position for someone who has a consistent track record in working with customers, Business Units and our managed service channels.
The Systems Architect is a high-profile role in building strategic relationships and involves the following elements:
- Managed Service creation and SaaS security solutions validation with Service Provider channels: Ensuring that partners successfully define offers based on Cisco Enterprise Networking, and Cisco Security portfolios, and effectively take the offers to the market. You will become a recognized architect on managed service solutions (including SaaS, hardware and software) with certain level of specialization in security solutions.
- Partner support and strategy definition: Become instrumental to the Partner’s success, take part of Partner reviews and drive the technical managed services strategy. You will provide consultative support regarding Security standalone solutions, or other ones integrated with the rest of Cisco architectures such as SASE, Cisco Plus or Cisco Secure Remote Worker
- Partner Enablement: Keep Partner departments in charge of managed services definition, evolution, and operation, as well as Partner´s cyber security sales specialists and presales teams updated about Cisco latest security products, features and roadmap that may become into an additional differentiator, or a future new offering.
- Partner support in go to market activities: You will build strong relationships with technical and sales leadership team, and will assist Partner sales in strategic opportunities
- Technical presentations, demonstrations and proof of concepts: You will build strong relationships with technical and sales leadership team. You will have presales ownership for the overall technical solution proposition including performing POCs and demonstrations of the Security portfolio, and presentations to a larger audience.
- Bid response management: Responsible for the technical response of requests for information/quotation processes and coordinating with internal teams to reach a high-quality outcome.
- Industry awareness: Keep up-to-date on industry trends, relevant competitive solutions, products and services. Provide feedback to the relevant Cisco Business Units regarding new customer requirements and potential actual product gaps
- Opportunity leadership: You will lead opportunities from exploration till completion; It will be needed to demonstrate ownership over complex projects / responsibilities and work to drive the project path and explore alternatives when problems arise.
In this job you will be / have to:
- Have direct channel engineering responsibilities aligned to our channel Partners for managed LAN/WAN & Security Technologies and Solutions. You will work collaboratively with additional members of an extended team.
- You will be the expert who will bring together the products from Enterprise Networking, Meraki, ThousandEyes and Security portfolios which build Cisco SASE solution.
- You will be an expert in our Cisco security SaaS portfolio, including solutions such as Umbrella, DUO, CES, etc
- You will provide Hands on experience and design knowledge about Cisco SASE, Cloud Security, Cloud networking, and Meraki solutions.
- This is a partner-focused channel sales role which requires an architectural innovator experienced in defining and developing architectures and roadmaps to solve SP business problems such as multi-tenancy, OSS/BSS/API integrations
- As partner-focused channel sales you will need to build a Partner enablement plan focused on helping the partner to understand the value of each solution, as well as being able to operate it and sell it.
- You will build a deep consultative relationship with customers in collaboration with the account teams, Business Units, and other teams to integrate replicable architectures together with the Partners, and drive practice-specific Cisco solution designs.
- You need to be able to drive SaaS and Software centric conversations at any level inside a customer’s organization
- You will work with Partners as a trusted advisor to identify key business and technical requirements
- Define and develop SW centric solution architectures to solve customer problems in multi-domain, multi-vendor environments.
- Solid understanding of Cloud, Security, Networking and SW architecture is required
Who You’ll Work With:
By 2025 Partner Managed Services will be Cisco´s largest route to market, and today is one of our fastest growing one.
The EMEA Partner & Routes to Market Sales (EPRS) is the organisation within Cisco is in charge of the support and development of our go to market through our different channel Partners.
The Channel SE team inside EPRS is a very dynamic team that develops our Partners’ technical knowledge and readiness to sell different Cisco solutions, assist them in the support for customer opportunities, and help in the creation and evolution of Managed Services.
This is an excellent career opportunity to evolve in an innovative and challenging environment, as well as developing skills due to the regular contacts with Business Units across many locations and reach of our multinational customers and Partners.
Who You Are
- You will ideally bring 5+ years pre-sales engineering or technical customer facing experience in Channel and SP environments.
- You will ideally have BS or MS degree in computer science, computer engineering or related field.
- Preferably have CCNP or CCIE certifications.
- Other Cisco security and DVNET certifications are highly desired
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Write and speak English and French fluently.
Skills:
- Thorough understanding and deep dive into some or all of the following technologies: Routing/ Switching, WAN/LAN/ & Security Technologies and Solution, SaaS, Network Orchestration
- Knowledge about technologies such as LAN, WAN, and & Cloud and Security (L4-L7), CASB, SSO, FWaaS, IPS, DNS Security, Secure Web Gateway, Secure Internet Gateway, zero trust network access, remote access, data loss prevention, cloud malware detection, identity and Access Management, and overall SASE architecture.
- Hands on and design knowledge of Cisco Security SaaS solutions such as Umbrella, DUO, and SDWAN technologies, and perhaps SP products. Cisco certifications are preferred.
- Adept at using initiative, discretion and judgment to apply technical solutions to complex sales opportunities.
- Adept at customer interactions from the CIO through to technical staff.
- Knowledge of sales cycle.
- Knowledge of how Cisco channels work with our account teams
- Impactful verbal and written communication and strong presentation skills.
- Great relationship building skills, tenacity, resilience.
- Ability to work independently and remotely as well as with your team to accomplish objectives.
- Good understanding of the cyber security market space and offerings.
- Ability to train and coach others in our enterprise technologies.
Why Cisco
#WeAreCisco, where each person is unique, but we bring our talents to work as a team and make a difference powering an inclusive future for all.
We embrace digital, and help our customers implement change in their digital businesses. Some may think we’re “old” (36 years strong) and only about hardware, but we’re also a software company. And a security company. We even invented an intuitive network that adapts, predicts, learns and protects. No other company can do what we do – you can’t put us in a box!
But “Digital Transformation” is an empty buzz phrase without a culture that allows for innovation, creativity, and yes, even failure (if you learn from it.)
Day to day, we focus on the give and take. We give our best, give our egos a break, and give of ourselves (because giving back is built into our DNA.) We take accountability, bold steps, and take difference to heart. Because without diversity of thought and a dedication to equality for all, there is no moving forward.
So, you have colorful hair? Don’t care. Tattoos? Show off your ink. Like polka dots? That’s cool. Pop culture geek? Many of us are. Passion for technology and world changing? Be you, with us!
