Position Description – Customer Proof of Concepts Engineer

Global Demonstration Engineering is the world class leader in delivering innovative, demonstration-centric experiences of Cisco solutions to customer providing a full-suite, integrated sales-enablement portfolio. By demonstrating to customers how Cisco products can make them more productive, sales teams and partners can enlarge sales opportunities and shorten the sales cycle. From scripted, repeatable demos to fully customizable labs with complete administrative access, the Cisco dCloud platform provides content and access to field and channel partners on any network (internal & external), any device and in any location.  The dCloud Platform is a force that can not only improve people’s experiences but can also drive business.

Position Summary

The CPOC Engineer is an SE role who will be responsible for the development, planning, design, delivery & coordination of Customer Proof of Concept Labs, spanning the full breadth of Cisco architectures and solutions – Enterprise Networking, Data Center, SD-WAN, Security, Collaboration, and Cloud – for both internal and external audiences.  This person will work extensively with BU’s, Content Developers, Partners, both internal & 3rd party throughout the POC process from introduction through build, test and ultimately throughout the customer delivery of the POC. This person will be responsible for working with account teams to flesh out customer care abouts, testing requirements, capabilities, etc. This is an AI-native engineering role: the CPOC Engineer is expected to use AI coding tools such as Claude Code and Cursor to generate and refine scripts, and apply them through Ansible and Terraform to configure any Cisco and cloud solution rapidly, consistently, and at scale.

Job Responsibilities

Project Management 10%

Identify and prioritize all project related tasks. Ability to organize, strategize and communicate project goals, objectives and tasks at all levels of the organization. The CPOC Engineer will be responsible for ensuring that all 3rd party developers on assigned projects are reporting status effectively.

Engineering 50%

The CPOC Engineer will be responsible for designing, developing, documenting, and delivering a large variety of content, across all Cisco architectures – Enterprise Networking, Data Center, SD-WAN, Security, and Cloud. This will require meeting with Account Teams, TME’s, Content Developers, Partners and at times Customers to extract requirements and helping to create a design & Test Plan which is conducive to POC objectives. The CPOC Engineer will be the primary engineer assigned to the POC from introduction throughout Build, Test and ultimately delivery phases of the Customer Proof of Concept. The Engineer will work and Collaboration with a team of engineers with varying specialties.

Platform Design 20%

Must properly document and plan all projects prior to entering project build phase.  Candidate must be well versed in the use of standard design templates and tools (Visio, Power Point, MS Project). Candidate will be required to “justify” all designs in front of working peer group.

Support 10%

The CPOC Engineer will serve as First Point of Contact on All Escalations. Within this role and work directly with the account teams, partners and customers to ensure the successful delivery of the POC. When escalations occur that cannot be addressed by the CPOC Engineer, he/she will follow up with the responsible engineer and ensure that not only is a fix provided but also that it is properly documented and has been added to the Support Knowledge Base and that tier 1 & 2 engineers have been properly trained on the work around and future. If a content or documentation update is required, the CPOC Engineer will work with Proect managers assigned to the CPOC team to ensure that plans have been for the necessary updates. The CPOC Engineers will be involved in all Phases of the POC. Engineers will work as the liaison to the operations team to resolve issues identified during the development and testing process, providing technical support, and making design recommendations for fixes.

Other 5%

            The CPOC Engineer will work as both 3rd party liaison’s and as an independent content developer.

Candidate Requirements

•       CCNP/CCIE level or equivalent experience

•       Multi-architecture Cisco experience: able to work across any Cisco architecture or solution with customers – Enterprise Networking, Data Center, SD-WAN, Security, Collaboration, and Cloud.

•       AI-assisted engineering: hands-on proficiency with AI coding tools such as Claude Code and Cursor to generate, review, and refine scripts, and apply them through Ansible or Terraform to configure any Cisco and cloud solution end-to-end.

•       Strong Routing, Switching, and Security background.

o   OSPF, EIGRP, BGP, MPLS, DMVPN, IPSec, NAT, Trustsec, LISP, VXLAN, EVPN, 802.1x etc.

•       Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Experience

o   Controller Deployment and Design (On-Premise, Cloud)

o   Template Management (Device Templates, Configuration Groups)

o   Policy Management (Centralized Policy, Localized Policy, Data Policy)

o   Cloud On-Ramp for Multi-Cloud

•       Cisco Software Defined Access Experience

o   Cisco Catalyst Center (DNA Center) Deployment and management

o   Network device management (Provisioning, SWIM, Templates, Plug-and-Play)

o   Cisco SD-Access Fabric

•       Cloud Networking Experience (AWS, Azure, GCP), Microsoft Office365

•       Considerate experience with Virtual Infrastructures (VMware VCenter and VMs)

•       Experience with Test Tools such as; Spirent, Cyberflood, Avalanche, Ixia, Keysight, WAN Emulation.

•       Experience with Cisco Security products is a plus:

o   SSE, Meraki, Secure Access, Secure Cloud Control, NGFW, ISE, Stealthwatch, ThousandEyes and Umbrella

o   Others, e.g. Threat Defense, Defense Orchestrator, Cyber Vision, Thousand Eyes, Office 365

•       Proven record of project delivery, Project Management and Time Management abilities

Additional Desired Skills

Skills in Automation, Splunk, and AI are what we consider force multipliers – capabilities that elevate the effectiveness of the entire team, not just the individual. Candidates who bring any of the following will stand out:

•       Basic Programing and Scripting: Go, Python, Ruby, Powershell, XML, SQL, etc.

•       Basic Web Development and Scripting.

•       Automation & Infrastructure-as-Code: Python, Ansible, Terraform, REST APIs, and CI/CD pipelines to build repeatable, scalable POC and lab environments that benefit the whole team.

•       Splunk / Observability & Analytics: Building dashboards, log analytics, and telemetry insights (Splunk, ThousandEyes, Nexus Dashboard Insights) to accelerate troubleshooting and demonstrate operational value in POCs.

•       AI/Automation & Agentic AI: Applying AI-assisted and agentic workflows using tools such as Claude Code and Cursor to automate POC documentation, test plan generation, configuration validation, and Ansible/Terraform-driven deployment of Cisco and cloud solutions – multiplying the productivity of the broader team.

Qualifications

·       Ability to self-manage with good time management skills and the ability to organize competing priorities and tasks, as well as, support projects within various global time zones

·       Must possess a sense of urgency, able to respond to the shifting demands of a team driven by critical time-to-market business demands, and able to drive the development of cross-functional projects to successful deployment

• Flexibility: Performing a wide range of tasks, quickly responding to changes in demands, direction and priorities, and accepting new challenges, responsibilities and assignments. Able to switch rapidly between different projects with multiple competing priorities in a very fast-paced environment, under the coaching and guidance of the line Manager and the senior members of the organisation

·       Analytical Skills: Knowledge and effective use of source material to resolve questions. Understanding of when to shift from analysis to action.  Ability to think critically and apply judgment when executing processes, recognizing patterns in data, information, or events, drawing logical conclusions, and making recommendations for action.  Ability to identify potential project risks, formulate plans to effectively eliminate or mitigate potential risks.

·       Attention to Detail: Monitoring adherence to standards and actively checking for accuracy of data received or generated before passing it on.  Capacity for high productivity with repetitive work.

·       Communication: Listening effectively, transmitting information accurately and understandably, and actively seeking feedback non-defensively.  Good written and oral communication skills with a focus on rapport, building sustaining relationships, listening, and promoting and focusing on common goals and win-win results.

·       Professionalism: Dealing directly and forthrightly with people and problems; persisting to get the job done, and managing personal responses and stress. Strong commitment to teamwork and collaboration with a diverse group of business and technical professionals.

·       Dependability/Reliability: Following through on commitments; producing timely work to required – or higher – standards, and pitching in to get the job done.

·       Independent Learner: Ability to create meaning, gain understanding, make judgments, make good decisions, self-analyze and reflect with direction and coaching support. Strong creative thinking and puzzle solving skills. Must have the drive to attempt to ‘figure it out’ rather than waiting for someone to handover information.

·       Planning and Organization: Anticipating and drawing inferences about the future and structuring resources and actions in a logical manner. The ability to anticipate problems and identify alternative solutions. Ability to manage complexity and ambiguity.  Good organizational skills and the demonstrated ability to handle multiple tasks and deadlines simultaneously and respond to quick turn-around requests.

Reporting Lines

Reports to:                   SE Operations Manager

Works Closely with:    Content Development Team, Project Management Team,
                                    Practice Leads, Automation/UI Development Team,

Technical Writing Team, dCloud Social Media Specialist, Platform Team

and NetOps Team

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. 

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