Cisco
Networking hardware, security software, collaboration services
Customer Delivery Architect - SP Routing Platforms, Architectural and Validation Expertise
About the job
- A Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Electrical/Telecommunications Engineering, or equivalent, plus 10–15+ years of relevant experience in Service Provider network design, testing, validation, or advanced technical delivery.
- Deep, hands-on architectural and validation expertise in Cisco Service Provider routing platforms and network operating systems.
- Proven experience in customer-facing consulting, technical leadership, or solution architecture roles engaging with senior-level decision makers.
- A foundation in software programmability and automation scripting using Python, REST APIs, and JSON/YAML.
- Strong written and verbal communication, executive presentation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to navigate ambiguous, high-pressure environments.
- Translate complex validation outcomes and testbed findings into actionable business risk mitigation strategies for C-level and senior engineering leadership.
- Lead end-to-end testing of next-generation Service Provider routing architectures, Cisco IOS-XR 64-bit software releases, and modern transport solutions including SRv6, BGP EVPN, and Routed Optical Networking.
- Build high-fidelity customer simulations in SVS test laboratories to uncover, isolate, and resolve protocol, scale, and multi-vendor interoperability bottlenecks before production deployment.
- Architect and implement continuous test automation frameworks using Cisco pyATS/Genie, CXTM, and CI/CD pipelines.
- Act as the primary technical escalation authority during validation, partnering with Cisco Product Engineering, XR Development, and hardware/silicon teams to triage defects and validate SMUs and patches.
- Partner with SVS Business Development Managers and Account Teams on pre-sales scoping, Statements of Work, Level of Effort models, and Joint Test Plans on Record.
- Mentor, coach, and elevate the technical proficiency of consulting engineers across the global SVS organization.
- Determine validation methodologies, test strategies, and architectural best practices across global Service Provider engagements.
- Translate global CX and SVS strategic priorities into technical initiatives, testbed innovations, and delivery standards.
- Collaborate with customer Principal Architects, Cisco Account Teams, and CX Technical Leaders to define validation scopes, acceptance criteria, and migration test strategies.
- Author, review, and formally approve Detailed Test Plans, Joint Test Plans on Record, Method of Procedures, and End of Test Reports.
- Synthesize traffic profiles and performance benchmarks using Spirent TestCenter, Keysight/Ixia IxNetwork, and WAN impairment tools to validate throughput, QoS behavior, and failover convergence.
- Drive adoption of Infrastructure as Code and Test Automation as Code across SVS delivery pods, including reusable pyATS test scripts and CI/CD validation pipelines.
- Lead root cause analysis on customer defects by analyzing packet captures, router debug logs, and telemetry streams to identify software bugs and configuration regressions.
- Author best-practice whitepapers, test methodology playbooks, and reusable test suites to scale delivery efficiency globally.
- Operate with high autonomy on strategic, high-visibility customer projects.
- Serve as a trusted technical advisor to leadership and customers, translating strategic technology goals into validation programs.
- Lead internal initiatives advancing SVS testing capabilities, tooling, and delivery best practices.
- Expert-level Cisco certification, such as CCIE Service Provider or CCIE Enterprise/Routing & Switching, or equivalent proven industry standing.
- Architectural understanding and hands-on validation expertise in at least two Service Provider domain areas: Service Provider core and edge routing architectures; SP automation, orchestration, observability, and tooling; or test lab simulation, traffic generation, and telco cloud.
- Experience with Cisco Service Provider platforms, operating systems, core routing protocols, segment routing and traffic engineering, multi-service VPNs and EVPN, Service Provider network timing and 5G synchronization, Routed Optical Networking, and Service Provider resiliency and security.
- Experience with Cisco pyATS and Genie test frameworks, Service Provider SDN orchestration and controllers, data modeling and interfaces, streaming telemetry and observability, scripting, and CI/CD pipelines.
- Experience with hardware traffic generation, virtualization and digital twin platforms, and Service Provider cloud and telco infrastructure.
About the company
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
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Cisco booked $9.3 billion hyperscaler AI orders in fiscal 2026, then guided $7.5 billion revenue.
- Fiscal 2026 revenue hit $63.3 billion, and fiscal 2027 guidance reaches $73.4 billion.
- Campus networking orders rose 20% in Q4, while Wi-Fi 7 drove wireless demand.
What critics are saying
- Hyperscaler AI hardware mixes compress margins; Q4 gross margin already fell to 66.3%.
- Cisco cut nearly 4,000 jobs in May 2026, signaling brittle cost discipline.
- Hardware commoditization and Arista, Palo Alto, and Broadcom pressure Cisco's enterprise relevance.
What makes Cisco unique
- Cisco bundles networking, security, compute, and AI through Secure AI Factory.
- Cisco AI POD for Splunk ships validated on-premises AI stacks with single-vendor support.
- Webex added zero-trust collaboration and deepfake detection, tightening Cisco's enterprise security moat.
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Benefits
Paid Vacation
Hybrid Work Options
Flexible Work Hours
Professional Development Budget
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↑ 0%1 year growth
↑ 0%2 year growth
↑ 0%Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins has warned employees uncomfortable with rapid change that "nothing's going to feel good right now" as AI transforms the workplace. Speaking to Inc., Robbins said workers "have no choice but to at least keep up" with the pace of technological change driven by industry leaders. The head of the $415 billion company argues firms should view AI as an "innovation enhancement play" rather than a cost-reduction tool, enabling companies to deliver more with existing staff rather than cutting headcount. However, Cisco cut around 4,000 jobs earlier this year during a restructuring towards AI. Robbins noted that even AI leaders like Anthropic's Dario Amodei and OpenAI's Sam Altman have called for slower model development. Goldman Sachs economists estimate AI has eliminated approximately 16,000 net jobs monthly over the past year.
Cisco Systems trades at $106 per share, or 24.6 times its fiscal 2026 non-GAAP earnings per share of $4.33. However, based on fiscal 2027 guidance and analyst forecasts, the valuation drops to 20.6 times earnings, with the company guiding non-GAAP earnings of $5.05 to $5.11 per share for that period. The company's fastest-growing segment is AI infrastructure for hyperscalers, which generated $9.3 billion in orders during fiscal 2026, 4.5 times the previous year's total. Management projects this business to deliver $7.5 billion in revenue for fiscal 2027. Cisco expects non-GAAP operating margins to reach approximately 35% in fiscal 2027, a company record. The company's remaining business is projected to grow around 10% in fiscal 2027, with campus networking product orders increasing 20% year-over-year in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026.
Internet2 is expanding the National Research Platform (NRP) through a partnership with Cisco, deploying new AI PODs at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and Sacramento State. The AI PODs add GPU capacity that researchers can access when local resources are insufficient. The Cisco AI PODs provide pre-validated compute, networking, and management capabilities that can be deployed as standardised units. This approach reduces engineering and integration work required to add new resources to the platform. Combined, the AI PODs provide 8 NVIDIA H200 GPUs with 1.1 TB of GPU memory, 128 CPU cores, 2 TB of system memory, and 90 TB of NVMe flash storage. The NRP is a community-operated platform supported by the National Science Foundation and over 70 participating organisations, pooling computing resources across the US to give researchers access to capabilities beyond their local institutions.
Cisco Systems trades at 32.1 times earnings, nearly matching Dell Technologies' 31.9 multiple, despite growing revenue just 11.8% over twelve months compared to Dell's 49%. The valuation gap partly reflects Cisco's superior 25.4% operating margin versus Dell's 9.6%. The company's premium also anticipates faster growth ahead. Cisco secured $9.3 billion in AI infrastructure orders from hyperscalers in fiscal 2026, 4.5 times the prior year's total, though revenue lagged at roughly $4 billion. For fiscal 2027, Cisco guides revenue between $72.2 billion and $73.4 billion, representing 15% growth. AI infrastructure revenue from hyperscalers is expected to reach $7.5 billion. However, price increases contributed 5 percentage points to Q4 growth and will add 4 to 5 points in fiscal 2027. Rising memory costs and hardware mix are pressuring gross margins.
Leading AI firms including OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI are calling for coordinated safety measures as autonomous AI agents demonstrate unexpected behaviour in testing. This has prompted enterprise CIOs to race to implement guardrails around their AI deployments. Companies are taking varied approaches to managing AI agent risks. Cisco centralised all AI agents on its MyAgent platform, which 90,000 employees use, whilst blocking third-party AI tools. Intuit built security and fraud monitoring directly into its GenOS system. Workday created an "agent system of record" to track all non-human identities. Not everyone supports slowing development. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang argue firms should proceed rapidly but responsibly. President Trump called AI safety concerns "a hoax", whilst Congress has failed to advance any AI regulation. PwC's global chief AI officer warns enterprises must establish monitoring systems and tracking for AI agents, noting "'The agent made me do it' is not going to be a defence.