Full-Time

Field CTO – Federal & Enterprise

Updated on 6/24/2026

Cisco

Cisco

10,001+ employees

Networking hardware, security software, collaboration services

Compensation Overview

$304.3k - $471.1k/yr

McLean, VA, USA

In Person

Travel up to 20%, may include global travel.

Category
Business & Strategy (1)
Required Skills
Splunk
Requirements
  • Bachelor’s degree and MBA or equivalent work experience
  • 15 years of experience in a customer-facing role explaining strategic and tactical concepts to customers
  • 10+ years of experience with Splunk solutions or equivalent industry solutions
  • Recent industry experience and deep technical background in technology infrastructure and cloud
  • Experience selling into large customer environments
  • Travel up to 20% (may include global travel)
Responsibilities
  • Engage, build relationships and influence senior executives.
  • Adeptly have a conversation with C-Level executives and switch to very technical conversations about Enterprise Security and IT Operations capabilities to facilitate future solution vision.
  • Attend Executive Briefing Center meetings and act as a well-rounded Subject Matter Expert that has the technical depth to confidently present in front of audiences of all sizes and technical backgrounds.
  • Work closely with Sales, Product Management, Product Marketing and Engineering teams providing insights and feedback to benefit our customers and Splunk with priorities and customer vision.
  • Support qualified and strategic sales opportunities with account teams and senior sales leadership by collaborating on internal meetings, joining customer calls and attending customer-facing meetings.
  • Understand and help to communicate the value proposition for sophisticated customer use cases.
  • Participate in internal conversations during the sales cycle that will enable a positive influence on key partners.
  • Be an inspiring leader within Splunk, in customer meetings and in public settings by understanding where and how Splunk’s capabilities enable our customers to overcome their top challenges for their business.
  • Closely follow trends and direction to shape customer organization priorities.
  • Regularly evangelize solutions as one of our leader with vision experts with customers, at industry conferences, trade shows, and partners [blogging, writing, speaking, industry events, authoring, customer advisory board participant/speaker, executive education, et al].
  • Continually increase job-related knowledge and skills through formal education, self-study and independent work.
Desired Qualifications
  • Previous C-level experience in large enterprise and/or government entities

Cisco designs and sells networking hardware, software, and services that help organizations connect, protect, and manage data. Its products include networking gear, security solutions, cloud services, and collaboration tools like Webex to support hybrid work. Cisco differentiates itself with a broad, integrated stack—routing and switching, security, cloud, and collaboration—that works together at scale. Its goal is to help customers securely connect people, devices, and applications, enabling reliable communication and digital transformation across enterprises of all sizes.

Company Size

10,001+

Company Stage

IPO

Headquarters

San Jose, California

Founded

1984

Your Connections

People at Cisco who can refer or advise you

Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Enterprises want one control plane to reduce tool sprawl and operational overhead.
  • Quantum-safe and Live Protect features create urgent upgrade triggers for regulated buyers.
  • Private 5G and collaboration certifications expand Cisco's attach opportunities across campus infrastructure.

What critics are saying

  • Hyperscalers are commoditizing Cisco networking by building more cloud infrastructure in-house.
  • Dell and HPE can outpackage Cisco with competing NVIDIA-backed AI architectures.
  • Platform consolidation resistance will slow Cloud Control adoption and limit software monetization.

What makes Cisco unique

  • Cisco Cloud Control unifies networking, security, compute, observability, and collaboration.
  • WideField acquisition strengthens Splunk-based Agentic SOC with identity-aware investigations.
  • Secure AI Factory with NVIDIA packages validated blueprints for hybrid enterprise AI.

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Benefits

Paid Vacation

Hybrid Work Options

Flexible Work Hours

Professional Development Budget

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

1%

1 year growth

1%

2 year growth

1%
Dolphin Publications
Apr 10th, 2026
Cisco acquires Galileo to strengthen Splunk's AI observability capabilities

Cisco is acquiring Galileo, an AI observability specialist, to strengthen Splunk's position in the AI monitoring market. The deal is expected to close in July 2026. Galileo provides tools to evaluate AI output quality, detect errors before they reach users, and improve AI agent behaviour in production. The platform monitors hallucinations, bias, security risks and cost metrics across the entire agent development lifecycle, offering real-time observability for multi-agent systems. The acquisition will integrate Galileo into Splunk Observability Cloud, expanding existing AI agent monitoring capabilities. Galileo offers over 20 evaluation metrics including hallucination detection and supports major AI platforms like OpenAI, Anthropic, Azure OpenAI and AWS Bedrock. Cisco and Galileo previously collaborated on Cisco's AGNTCY initiative. Both companies will operate independently until the deal closes.

SiliconANGLE Media
Apr 10th, 2026
Cisco buys Galileo to strengthen Splunk’s agentic monitoring capabilities

Cisco buys Galileo to strengthen Splunk's agentic monitoring capabilities - SiliconANGLE

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Cisco joins Project Glasswing with Anthropic and Amazon to detect software vulnerabilities using AI

Cisco Systems has joined Project Glasswing alongside Anthropic, Amazon and other tech companies to detect software vulnerabilities using advanced AI models. The collaboration includes early access to Anthropic's Claude Mythos Preview and has already identified security flaws missed by existing tools. The initiative aligns with Cisco's strategy of integrating AI-driven security capabilities into its networking and collaboration products. For investors, the partnership positions Cisco to address software risks for large enterprise and government customers as AI reshapes cybersecurity. Cisco shares currently trade at $83.17, approximately 7% below the analyst target of $89.04. The company has raised $295 million to date, with recent 30-day returns of roughly 7%. Success depends on real-world effectiveness and maintaining customer trust in AI-based defences.

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Cisco appoints former Deloitte executive Pete Shimer to board of directors

Cisco has appointed Pete Shimer to its board of directors, effective immediately. Shimer will serve on the board's Audit Committee. Shimer brings 40 years of executive leadership experience from Deloitte, where he held C-suite positions including chief operating officer, chief financial officer and interim chief executive officer. His expertise spans enterprise transformation, strategic planning and digital innovation. He currently serves on the boards of Alaska Airlines, Korn Ferry and Synopsys, and is executive chair of the Cancer Artificial Intelligence Alliance. Shimer holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting from the University of Washington. Cisco chair and CEO Chuck Robbins said Shimer's experience leading global organisations and guiding digital transformation brings valuable insight as Cisco delivers infrastructure for AI innovation.

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Cisco beats Q4 revenue estimates with $15.35B, stock falls 7.6% amid sector downturn

Applied Digital topped Q4 IT services and tech stocks, while the sector overall saw revenues beat analyst estimates by 5.3%. The 20 tracked companies reported strong results, though share prices averaged a 10.4% decline following earnings announcements. Cisco reported revenues of $15.35 billion, up 9.7% year on year, exceeding analyst expectations by 1.5%. The networking equipment maker delivered a strong quarter with revenue guidance surpassing forecasts. CEO Chuck Robbins highlighted the company's portfolio strength and its role in connecting and protecting customers. Despite positive results, Cisco's stock fell 7.6% post-earnings to $79.08. The IT services sector faces growth opportunities from cloud adoption and AI-driven automation, whilst navigating challenges including competition from cloud-native providers and supply chain constraints for networking hardware.