About this opportunity
Original employer descriptionWhat You'll Do
Amazon is a global technology powerhouse renowned for its relentless innovation, operational scale, and customer-centric approach. What began as an online bookstore has evolved into one of the world’s largest hyperscalers, with leadership across e-commerce, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, logistics, and advanced infrastructure technologies. Amazon’s expansive ecosystem spans fulfillment centers, corporate campuses, cloud regions, edge environments, research facilities, and global technology hubs that support millions of customers and businesses worldwide.
Amazon continues to invest in next-generation networking, AI infrastructure, cloud platforms, security architectures, edge computing, and advanced connectivity solutions that enable seamless integration between cloud regions, edge locations, operational facilities, and end users worldwide. Technologies commonly deployed in large-scale service provider, cloud, and connectivity environments—including high-performance routing, resilient WAN architectures, automation, programmability, optical transport, and network visibility—play a critical role in supporting the scale, reliability, and performance requirements of these initiatives.
As the Solutions Engineer (SE) for Amazon, you will own the Cisco technical relationship with the customer and our partners. You will bring deep expertise across Cisco's portfolio, with a focus on Networking (wired and wireless), Unified Computing System (UCS), Security, and Observability. You will act as a trusted technical advisor to Amazon IT leaders and decision makers, translate business needs into prioritized technical requirements, and prove Cisco's value through demonstrations and technical validation. You will engage across multiple Amazon organizations such as Corp IT, Project Kuiper, etc. This gives you the chance to influence some of Amazon's most critical infrastructure investments.
Key responsibilities:
- Lead the technical sales process: design, present, and consult on solutions that fit customer and business requirements.
- Act as the primary technical influencer in the account, with specialization in core secure networking (switching, wired, wireless, routing, firewall), UCS, security, and observability.
- Capable of engaging in in-depth technical discussions and proficient in illustrating packet flows through whiteboarding.
- Work with architecture specialist teams in non-core areas to position Cisco competitively.
- Lead strategic planning and technical validation with the extended sales team, taking opportunities through technical close.
- Feed customer feature/product requests, market opportunities, and competitive insights back to Cisco business units and sales teams.
- Use AI-powered tools to streamline coordination and deal execution.
- Maintain deep knowledge of Amazon's environment and market to stay ahead of competitors.
- Success measures: growing revenue through closed deals, displacing competitors to gain market share, expanding Cisco's footprint within Amazon, building critical Customer relationships, driving complex escalations to resolution, present at industry events, and positive influence and impact on the Solutions Engineering community at Cisco.
Additional Responsibilities
Technical Strategy
Develop a deep understanding of Amazon's current and future architecture across transport networks, edge computing, and hybrid cloud. Co-create strategic engineering initiatives with Amazon that improve global connectivity, resiliency, scalability, efficiency, and security. Take an automation- and programmability-first approach, using advanced routing, telemetry, AI-driven operations, and security technologies. As a trusted advisor, help shape Amazon's next-generation connectivity platforms by aligning technology strategy with business outcomes.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Translate Amazon's evolving business and operational needs into scalable engineering solutions. Build strong partnerships with Amazon Engineering Leadership, Principal Architects, operations teams, and decision makers, while staying closely aligned with Cisco Business Units, engineering, and executive stakeholders.
Continuous Improvement
Drive improvements in performance, reliability, automation, and operational processes across Amazon's infrastructure. Bring solutions-oriented thinking, take calculated risks, and adapt quickly to emerging technologies. Act as a change agent who challenges conventional approaches and drives innovation at a scale.
Lead by Example
Foster curiosity, accountability, customer obsession, and operational excellence. Build trust through active listening, candid communication, collaboration, and respect for diverse perspectives, with a steady focus on execution.
Who You'll Work With
You will join a world-class Technical Sales and Engineering organization supporting one of Cisco's most strategic customers. You will collaborate with Amazon Client Directors, Client Executives, Solutions Engineers, Technical Account Managers, Principal Architects, infrastructure and operations teams, Cisco Business Unit leaders, engineering and services teams, and partners.
Who You Are
You are driven, know how to establish collaborative relationships built on trust and commitment and develop relationships at multiple levels within Amazon; understand Amazon’s business model to help them identify an architecture and/or solution that provides return on investment. You have a sophisticated understanding of industry trends, including products and solutions – existing and new. You can articulate trade-offs between Cisco and competitor products.
If you are passionate about technology, innovation, and driving operational excellence, we want to hear from you! Apply now and take the next step in your engineering career by working in a role that will allow you to work on the exciting responsibilities listed below:
- Customer Obsession: Proactively engage with Amazon’s internal stakeholders to deeply understand their IT and networking needs, delivering solutions that exceed expectations and enhance operational efficiency.
- Ownership: Take full responsibility for the end-to-end lifecycle of network solutions, ensuring they meet Amazon’s high standards of performance and reliability.
- Invent and Simplify: Develop innovative solutions that simplify Amazon's complex IT infrastructure, streamlining processes, and reducing operational overhead while maintaining high levels of security and scalability.
- Are Right, A Lot: Utilize your technical expertise and judgment to make informed decisions on network design and architecture, balancing short-term needs with long-term strategic goals to ensure the best outcomes for Amazon.
- Learn and Be Curious: Stay current with the latest networking technologies and industry trends, continuously seeking opportunities to enhance your knowledge and apply new insights to improve Amazon’s IT infrastructure.
- Bias for Action: Respond quickly to emerging issues or opportunities within Amazon’s infrastructure, driving swift and effective resolution to minimize downtime and ensure the continuous operation of mission-critical systems.
- Dive Deep: Analyze the root causes of complex networking issues, using data-driven insights to troubleshoot problems, identify areas for improvement, and implement solutions that address the underlying challenges.
- Deliver Results: Consistently deliver high-quality network solutions that meet or exceed performance metrics, contributing to Amazon’s ability to maintain its position as a leader in technology and innovation.
Minimum qualifications for this role:
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in Engineering | Science or related field
- 10+ years of experience in technical sales engineering or network architecture, ideally in service provider, cloud, or hyperscale environments
- Strong technical background in one or more of the following areas of technology - Security, Enterprise Networking, Full Stack Observability, SDWAN
- Consultative selling skills and a record of leading complex, cross-architecture solution strategies
- Strong leadership, collaboration, and resilience
- Willingness to travel up to 50%
Preferred qualifications for this role:
- Understanding of automation, programmability, and observability tools such as grafana, a plus
- Advanced degree, CCIE or equivalent industry certifications, AWS certifications a plus
- Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams, get results, and manage complex engineering projects.
- Excellent communication, interpersonal, and problem-solving skills.
- Commitment to continuous learning and staying abreast of industry trends and standard methodologies.
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.
