C

Cisco

Makes networking gear and security software

Country Sales Leader

Full-TimeUpdated on 10/15/2026
No salary listed
Expert
Vienna, Austria
Hybrid
Sales & Account ManagementField Sales

About the job

Requirements
  • Extensive experience building and managing high-performing sales teams, with the ability and desire to grow and scale operations.
  • Significant experience in direct and channel selling to Enterprise and Strategic Accounts.
  • Existing and reliable relationships within the Austrian market that help drive growth, and the ability to expand that professional network.
  • Proven experience engaging with C-level executives and senior management in large-scale organizations.
  • A track record of closing six- and seven-figure total contract value software licensing deals.
  • Deep understanding and expertise in pipeline generation and management in a fast-paced environment.
  • Strong executive presence, professional bearing, and polish.
  • Ability to maintain an accurate sales forecast, deliver on commitments, and drive new business growth.
  • Exceptional management, interpersonal, written, and presentation skills, including strong communication skills.
  • Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, rapidly changing environment.
  • Proven ability to lead a country organization effectively, maintain strong team cohesion, and stay in close contact with senior leadership.
  • Relevant software industry experience in IT systems, enterprise, or infrastructure management.
  • Ability to effectively use Salesforce CRM systems.
  • Fluency in German and English.
Responsibilities
  • Lead, scale, and coach a high-performing team; hire, onboard, and support continuous professional development to foster team cohesion and maximize individual and collective performance across the Austrian organization.
  • Own and execute the Austrian market strategy, overachieve iACV targets, and ensure accurate and predictable forecasting, pipeline oversight, and long-term business planning.
  • Drive alignment across Sales Engineering, Business Value Consulting, Product Advisory, Marketing, Operations, and Customer Success; leverage channel and technology partners to maximize market effectiveness, scale, and solution delivery.
  • Apply MEDDPICC, Value-Based Selling, and Pain Chains; lead complex deal negotiations and mentor the team to sell on value, expand deal sizes, and maximize customer business impact.
  • Monitor and analyze regional KPIs to improve sales performance; develop and implement sales processes and best practices for regional efficiency and scalability.
  • Act as the primary liaison for the Austrian market and a key regional voice to Product Management, Marketing, and Global Sales; provide timely input for corporate initiatives and maintain transparent two-way communication.

About the company

Cisco makes the switches and routers that connect offices, data centers, and cloud services, and it also sells cybersecurity tools and Webex video meetings to businesses and governments. It was one of the first companies to sell routers that let different kinds of computer networks exchange data, and in 2000 it briefly became the world's most valuable company. Customers run its network gear, from Wi-Fi access points to AI data center systems, with Cisco software that sets up and secures the network, while its Splunk unit searches computer logs to catch outages and attacks. Cisco earns money from hardware sales, software subscriptions, and support contracts. It was founded in 1984 and is based in San Jose, California.

Company Size

10,001+

Company Stage

IPO

Headquarters

San Jose, California

Founded

1984

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Cloud giants fuel growth: they ordered $9.3 billion of Cisco's AI gear in the year to July 2026, up 4.5-fold.
  • Stock awards gained value: Cisco shares rose 63% in the year to October 2026, four times the S&P 500's 15%.
  • Signed deals steady the business: Cisco had $46.7 billion of contracted sales still to deliver in July 2026, up 7%.

What critics are saying

  • Record sales didn't stop layoffs: Cisco cut nearly 4,000 jobs, just under 5% of staff, in May 2026.
  • Rivals lead in data center switches: in the June 2026 quarter, Nvidia held 20.4%, Arista 18.7% and Cisco 18.2%.
  • Hardware-heavy AI growth squeezes profit: Cisco's gross margin fell to 66.3% from 68.4% in the July 2026 quarter.

What makes Cisco unique

  • Cisco still sells the most network switches: it took 28.7% of worldwide switch sales in the June 2026 quarter.
  • Cisco designs its own networking chips: Microsoft and Alibaba signed on early for its Silicon One P200, launched October 2025.
  • Cisco trains future network engineers: its Networking Academy has taught over 28 million learners in 195 countries since 1997.

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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

0%

1 year growth

0%

2 year growth

0%
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Oct 12th, 2026
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Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) has added AI agents to Webex that keep working on tasks after a conversation ends. Its shares traded at $114.52 on October 12, down about 3.3%. The agents use a tool called Dialog, which links customer history, company data, and backend systems so they can pursue unresolved requests. Claude integration is planned. Splunk tracks agent activity, and Cisco AI Defense provides safeguards. Shares sit 52.15% above the $75.27 GF Value estimate from GuruFocus. Cisco must turn the agents into higher recurring revenue without letting implementation costs and human supervision erode the gains.

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NVIDIA and Cisco announced Ultra-Dense Small Form Factor Pluggable (USFP), a new optical module for AI data centres, on October 12, 2026. They say it will be the first to support 400Gb/s-per-lane electrical signals, for capacity up to 12.8Tb/s. USFP offers 4x the bandwidth density and about 1.3x the power efficiency of 200Gb/s-per-lane modules. Operators can connect more computing systems without adding network tiers, while cutting networking's share of power use. The first transceivers will pack 16 full-duplex lanes in an octal small form factor-sized footprint, with 32 lanes or more planned. The companies are working with TE Connectivity and Amphenol on cages, connectors and modules. They plan an open industry specification through a community-led multi-source project.

PR Newswire
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Cisco and NVIDIA plan open 400G optics spec as Microsoft, Alibaba deploy P200 silicon

Cisco unveiled new chips, systems and optics for AI networks at the Open Compute Project Global Summit on October 12, 2026. With NVIDIA, it plans to create an open specification for Ultra-Dense Small Form Factor Pluggable (USFP), a 400Gb/s-per-lane optical module. Cisco says USFP should deliver 4x the bandwidth density and 1.3x the power efficiency of 200Gb/s-per-lane optics. Microsoft and Alibaba have put systems powered by Cisco's 51.2T Silicon One P200 into production. The first systems using the 102.4T G300 chip are shipping to customers. Cisco also introduced the 51.2T G302 chip for top-of-rack switches, which it plans to ship before the end of 2026. Its Live Protect security feature for SONiC customers starts in mid-2027.

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Oracle and Cisco are both positioned to benefit from growing AI infrastructure demand, though through different approaches. Oracle focuses on cloud computing power through its Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, while Cisco concentrates on networking and security, including its Secure AI Factory partnership with Nvidia. Oracle reported annual sales of $67.36 billion and net income of $17.09 billion, outpacing Cisco's $63.33 billion in sales and $13.27 billion in profit. Oracle trades at 22 times forward earnings versus Cisco's 27 times. Both companies offer a 1.4% dividend yield. However, Oracle's payout ratio stands at 29%, compared with Cisco's 45%, providing more reinvestment flexibility. Cisco has delivered stronger stock performance with 112% returns over five years, more than double Oracle's 51%. Analysts rate Oracle a "Strong Buy" and Cisco a "Moderate Buy".

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