Account Executive - Portfolio

The application window is expected to close on: 10/29/2026
Candidate must reside in Chicagoland or be willing to travel to customers in Chicagoland.

Meet the Team

Join a high-impact sales team in the Chicagoland area dedicated to serving as the primary influencer for our customers’ most critical purchasing decisions. Our team acts as Account Orchestrators, integrating Cisco’s full product portfolio to drive sustainable growth and digital transformation across diverse industries. You will work closely with Portfolio Solution Engineers and specialized technical teams to deliver competitive, high-impact networking solutions to Key and Premier accounts. We foster a culture of cross-architecture collaboration to solve complex challenges and align Cisco's strategy with long-term customer roadmaps. This is an exciting opportunity to lead complex deal cycles and shape the future of secure networking for high-value enterprise leaders.

Your Impact

Drive revenue goals by managing a defined territory of premier accounts and building long-term strategic relationships with C-suite executives. Orchestrate the end-to-end sales cycle, from prospecting and qualifying deals to proposing transformative solutions that address specific customer business goals. Leverage deep expertise in core secure networking—including switching, wireless, and routing—to articulate Cisco’s market differentiation and unique value proposition. Analyze CRM data and market trends to forecast sales commitments accurately and co-create enhancement plans that reduce workflow bottlenecks. Achieve success by delivering measurable customer outcomes, expanding the portfolio footprint, and maintaining high account retention rates.

Minimum Qualifications

- 5+ years of direct selling experience.
- Experience managing complex sales cycles for customers in high segmentation tiers, such as Key or Premier accounts.
- Experience selling core secure networking technologies, including switching, wireless, routing, and firewalls.
- Proficiency in utilizing CRM tools for funnel management and sales forecasting.
- Experience engaging with C-suite executives and senior-level management to influence purchasing decisions.

Preferred Qualifications

- Ability to negotiate utilizing a consultative approach to address complex customer objections and secure commitments.
- Expertise in analyzing market dynamics and competitive landscapes to deliver compelling product demonstrations and value-added insights.
- Strong strategic planning skills with a track record of leading the account planning process and designing customer-first strategies.
- Experience collaborating with cross-functional internal teams, including RevOps, Finance, Procurement, and IT.
- Skill in translating technical product dependencies and performance into transformative solutions for high-value business leaders.

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:

The starting salary range posted for this position is $212,600.00 to $291,900.00 and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation*, equity, or benefits.

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:
$256,100.00 - $374,900.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:
$236,900.00 - $373,000.00

* 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.