Sales Leader (Isovalent)

Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.

Meet the Team

At Cisco, we're helping organizations connect, monitor, secure and modernize their cloud-native and AI environments at scale. Isovalent is at the forefront of this transformation, delivering innovative technologies that empower platform engineering, cloud infrastructure, and security teams to build, operate, and secure modern applications and architectures.

Built on open-source innovation and trusted by some of the world's most advanced engineering organizations, Isovalent technologies are redefining how enterprises approach networking, observability, runtime security, AI and cloud-native operations.

As a Sales Leader, you will lead a team responsible for driving adoption of the Isovalent, Hypershield and Secure Workload portfolio across Commercial, Service Provider, Cloud, and Enterprise customer segments. This is a unique opportunity to join a fast-growing business within Cisco that operates with the energy, speed, and technical depth of a startup.

Your Impact

As a Sales Leader, you will lead a team responsible for helping organizations modernize and secure cloud-native environments through solutions spanning Kubernetes networking, cloud-native security, runtime protection, workload security, microsegmentation, and distributed security enforcement.

The team supports customers navigating increasingly complex application and infrastructure environments by leveraging innovative technologies across the Isovalent portfolio, including the Isovalent Enterprise Platform, Tetragon, HyperShield, Secure Workload, and other emerging cloud-native security solutions.

Success in this role requires far more than traditional sales leadership. You will be expected to actively engage with customers, support highly technical sales motions, and help your team navigate complex cloud-native conversations and strategic pursuits with platform engineering, DevOps, cloud infrastructure, and security teams.

You will:

• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team of specialized sellers.
• Responsible for driving, sales planning and accurate forecasting of both ACV and TCV for your business
• Drive business growth across Commercial, Enterprise, Service Provider, and NeoCloud segments while building a scalable pipeline for long-term success.
• Partner closely with Sales Engineering, Product Management, Marketing, Open Source communities and the broader Cisco GTM Teams to accelerate customer adoption and market awareness.
• Possessing strategic business logic and methodology, and being able to succeed as a leader and mentor in a demanding and rewarding sales environment.
• Building and maintaining a positive work environment, while building trust and respect among your team, extended team resources, and the partner ecosystem.
• Participate directly in customer engagements, executive discussions, technical whiteboarding sessions, and strategic account planning.
• Coach teams through complex technical sales cycles involving Kubernetes, cloud infrastructure, networking, observability, workload security, AI and modern application architectures.
• Build and execute territory strategies that create new market opportunities and expand existing customer relationships.
• Foster a culture of accountability, technical curiosity, innovation, and customer obsession.
• Help scale a rapidly evolving business while maintaining the agility, urgency, and entrepreneurial mindset of a startup organization.

Minimum Qualifications

• 10+ years of successful enterprise sales and leadership experience, building highly successful, overachieving sales teams and organizations.
• Experience leading, mentoring, or developing technical sales professionals within cloud, infrastructure, networking, security, platform engineering, or cloud-native technology markets.
• Demonstrated success building new business and driving growth in emerging technology categories.
• Strong understanding of cloud-native architectures, modern application environments, AI and customer adoption challenges.
• Experience engaging technical buyers including platform engineers, DevOps teams, cloud architects, infrastructure teams, and security practitioners.
• Proven ability to operate effectively in fast-paced, highly dynamic, and evolving technology environments.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Kubernetes ecosystems and cloud-native technologies.
• Solid track record of leading large, highly technical and complex sales pursuits, including forecasting and business planning, quota attainment, sales presentations skills, and short/mid/long term opportunity management.
• Familiarity with technologies such as Cilium, eBPF, Tetragon, runtime security, container networking, cloud-native observability, or related technologies.
• Background in selling to cloud security, platform engineering, infrastructure security, DevSecOps, workload protection, and/or open-source technologies.
• Successful track record & experience working within high-growth technology companies or startup environments.
• Demonstrated ability to build, scale, and develop teams in emerging technology markets.
• Strong executive communication, coaching, and leadership capabilities.
• Ability to translate highly technical concepts into business value for customers, partners, and executive stakeholders.

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. 

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:

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

* 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.