Candidate must relocate or live in the listed Territory

Meet the Team

As a Senior Account Executive supporting the United States Air Force within Cisco’s Federal / US Public Sector organization, you will play a mission-critical role enabling digital modernization, operational readiness, and resilient command-and-control capabilities for our nation's defense. You will operate as the strategic "Account Orchestrator" across complex Air Force enterprise programs, building enduring relationships with military commanders, civilian senior executive service (SES) leaders, program executive officers (PEOs), and defense mission partners.

In this role, you will lead high-performing cross-functional teams—collaborating closely with Federal Portfolio Systems Engineers, architectural specialists, defense systems integrators (FSIs), and Cisco Federal leadership—to architect and deliver transformative solutions spanning secure networking, zero-trust cybersecurity, multi-cloud infrastructure, and mission-ready collaboration across deals ranging from $100K to $50M+.

What You'll Do

• Enterprise Account Orchestration & Mission Leadership: Lead multi-faceted, highly complex defense sales cycles across Air Force major commands (MAJCOMs) and defense agencies, orchestrating extended technical and specialist teams to align Cisco architectures with mission-critical defense priorities.
• Senior Defense Stakeholder Engagement: Build and sustain trusted advisor relationships with General Officers, Senior Executive Service (SES) leaders, Air Force CIO/CDO teams, and acquisition executives, translating operational mission requirements into actionable technology roadmaps.
• Cross-Portfolio Growth & Core Defense Infrastructure: Drive sustainable enterprise revenue growth with a deep focus on core secure networking (zero-trust switching, wireless, enterprise routing, and next-gen firewalls), while positioning advanced software buying programs and enterprise agreements (EAs).
• Defense Pipeline Development & Forecasting: Manage opportunity prospecting, capture planning, and CRM pipeline hygiene to build a robust multi-year sales funnel, delivering accurate and predictable weekly, monthly, and quarterly sales commitments.
• Federal Capture & Consultative Commercial Strategy: Navigate federal defense acquisition regulations (FAR/DFARS), indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract vehicles, and government-wide acquisition contracts (GWACs) in partnership with Federal Systems Integrators (FSIs) and distribution partners.

Minimum Qualifications

• 7+ years of quota-carrying enterprise technology sales, strategic account management, or defense pre-sales consulting experience with a consistent track record of quota over-achievement.
• Proven track record managing medium-to-large, highly complex deal cycles ($100K to $50M+) across 6–18+ month federal procurement timelines.
• Deep commercial and architectural understanding of enterprise networking, zero-trust architectures, and secure infrastructure technologies (switching, routing, wireless, and network security).
• Demonstrated ability to orchestrate cross-functional specialist teams, engineering resources, and strategic defense channel partners/FSIs (e.g., General Dynamics, Leidos, CACI, WWT, Presidio).
• U.S. Citizenship Required: Must be a U.S. Citizen with the ability to travel up to 30–50% to Air Force bases, program offices, and command centers across designated regions.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with 8+ years of technology sales experience, Master’s degree with 6+ years of technology sales experience, or PhD with 3+ years of related experience (or equivalent practical experience).
• 5+ years of direct experience selling enterprise IT solutions into the U.S. Air Force, Department of Defense (DoD), or Federal defense agencies, or prior military service in a communications/cyber capacity.
• Active Secret, Top Secret, or TS/SCI security clearance (or eligibility to reinstate clearance).
• Deep knowledge of Federal defense contracting, DODIN/DISA compliance standards, FedRAMP, and Air Force enterprise IT purchasing vehicles (e.g., 2GIT, SEWP, NETCENTS).
• Demonstrated recognition as a top sales performer (e.g., President’s Club / Chairman’s Club honors, major competitive displacement wins against federal competitors).
  
  THIS JOB DESCRIPTION DOES NOT APPLY FOR EMPLOYEES IN AUSTRIA, BELGIUM, FRANCE, GERMANY & NETHERLANDS

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:

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.