Regional Sales Manager - Cloud/AI & IMI

  • Location:
    Offsite, Irvine, California, US
  • Alternate Location
    USA
  • Area of Interest
    Sales - Product
  • Compensation Range
    318700 USD - 456400 USD
  • Job Type
    Professional
  • Technology Interest
    AI or Artificial Intelligence, Cloud & AI (DCN & Compute), Internet & Mass Scale Infrastructure
  • Job Id
    1441482

The application window is expected to close on: May 28, 2025

Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.

Meet the Team

You will be part of the Cloud + AI Infrastructure team, focused on delivering one scalable strategy with local execution for data center customer transformation and growth. We are the worldwide go-to-market compute and data center networking engine assembling market transitions and engaging with sellers to fuel growth for customers and Cisco. The I&MI team is focused on routing and optical solutions for large-scale infrastructure. You will be an integral part of both teams, working closely with sales specialists, technical experts, and marketing professionals to drive growth in the RoC segment.

Your Impact

As the Regional Manager you will lead our efforts in the rapidly growing "Rest of Cloud" (RoC) segment within the Artificial Intelligence (AI) market. You will be responsible for driving the adoption of Cisco's AI infrastructure and networking solutions to Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) and emerging AI providers, including AI-native cloud builders, AI SaaS providers, and AI System Integrators. This role requires a strong understanding of both AI infrastructure and networking technologies, as well as the ability to translate technical concepts into compelling business value for our clients. You will lead a team of sales specialists to develop, drive, and close sophisticated deals specific to Rest of Cloud offers, working across both the Cloud + AI Infrastructure (CAI) and Internet and Mass-Scale Infrastructure (I&MI) teams.

  • Lead the team that will develop and execute a sales strategy to achieve sales targets for CAI and large scale networking products and services within the RoC.
  • Manage sales specialists focused on AI infrastructure, compute, data center networking, routing, and optical solutions.
  • Identify and prioritize target accounts within the emerging AI provider landscape and develop relationships with key decision-makers, making recommendations on companies to be added to formal RoC coverage.
  • Engage with clients to understand their business challenges and needs related to common workloads like Virtualization and AI.
  • Identify and engage with Venture Capitalists (VCs) funding NEOCloud builders to develop an infrastructure investment strategy/plan.
  • Engage in large opportunity development, requiring creative packaging/solutioning/funding.
  • Drive sales of optics, service provider routing, optical, and automation solutions to new providers building large-scale (AI) networks.
  • Lead emerging providers through major network architecture transitions to support AI service offerings.
  • Work closely with cross-functional teams, including marketing, engineering, product development, channel and solutions partners, and customer success, to align sales strategies and improve customer experiences.

Minimum Qualifications:

  • 10+ years of experience in technology sales, preferably with a focus on Compute, Data Center Networking, Storage Area Networking, Routing, Optical, and workloads like AI, Virtualization, Bare Metal, or related fields.
  • 3+ years of experience directly running a technology sales team and leading cross-functional teams, or a consistent record to lead a team of specialists.
  • Validated knowledge of industry trends such as new workloads like AI technology, including machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision.
  • Experience unlocking revenue for new, innovative technology-based solutions.
  • Experience understanding the business issues of Cloud Builders and Providers, Networking Infrastructure / accelerated Computing/ Data Center technology/ Deep learning & machine learning.
  • Proven track record to work cross-functionally with Engineering and Marketing to develop and launch new AI or Networking Infrastructure offers.
  • Travel as needed to meet with clients and attend industry events.

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in Business, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field; advanced degree is a plus.
  • Ability to understand technical concepts and translate them into business value for clients.
  • Experience bridging large-scale networking concepts with AI infrastructure (data center / compute).
  • Experience with deep learning, data science, and NVIDIA GPUs.
  • Experience in two or more data estate workloads such as: Microsoft’s Data & AI Platform (Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure Databricks, CosmosDB, Azure SQL or HDInsight, etc.), AWS (Redshift, Aurora, Glue), Google (BigQuery), MongoDB, Cassandra, Snowflake, Teradata, Oracle Exadata, IBM Netezza, SAP (HANA, BW), Apache Hadoop & Spark, MapR or Cloudera/Hortonworks, etc.
  • Understanding of and experience with automation and assurance solutions.
  • Working autonomously in a large, matrixed organization.

#WeAreCisco where every individual brings their unique skills and perspectives together to pursue our purpose of powering an inclusive future for all.

Our passion is connection—we celebrate our employees’ diverse set of backgrounds and focus on unlocking potential. Cisconians often experience one company, many careers where learning and development are encouraged and supported at every stage. Our technology, tools, and culture pioneered hybrid work trends, allowing all to not only give their best, but be their best.

We understand our outstanding opportunity to bring communities together and at the heart of that is our people. One-third of Cisconians collaborate in our 30 employee resource organizations, called Inclusive Communities, to connect, foster belonging, learn to be informed allies, and make a difference. Dedicated paid time off to volunteer—80 hours each year—allows us to give back to causes we are passionate about, and nearly 86% do!

Our purpose, driven by our people, is what makes us the worldwide leader in technology that powers the internet. Helping our customers reimagine their applications, secure their enterprise, transform their infrastructure, and meet their sustainability goals is what we do best. We ensure that every step we take is a step towards a more inclusive future for all. Take your next step and be you, with us! 


Message to applicants applying to work in the U.S. and/or Canada:

When available, the salary range posted for this position reflects the projected hiring range for new hire, full-time salaries in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including equity or benefits. For non-sales roles the hiring ranges reflect base salary only; employees are also eligible to receive annual bonuses. Hiring ranges for sales positions include base and incentive compensation target. Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location and additional factors, including but not limited to skillset, experience, and relevant education, certifications, or training. Applicants may not be eligible for the full salary range based on their U.S. or Canada hiring location. The recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.

U.S. employees have access to quality medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, short and long-term disability coverage, basic life insurance and numerous wellbeing offerings.

Employees receive up to twelve paid holidays per calendar year, which includes one floating holiday (for non-exempt employees), plus a day off for their birthday. Non-Exempt new hires accrue up to 16 days of vacation time off each year, at a rate of 4.92 hours per pay period. Exempt new hires participate in Cisco’s flexible Vacation Time Off policy, which does not place a defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use, but is subject to availability and some business limitations. All new hires are eligible for Sick Time Off subject to Cisco’s Sick Time Off Policy and will have eighty (80) hours of sick time off provided on their hire date and on January 1st of each year thereafter.  Up to 80 hours of unused sick time will be carried forward from one calendar year to the next such that the maximum number of sick time hours an employee may have available is 160 hours. Employees in Illinois have a unique time off program designed specifically with local requirements in mind. All employees also have access to paid time away to deal with critical or emergency issues. We offer additional paid time to volunteer and give back to the community.

Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components. 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 up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid.

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