Assistant Optical Engineer Jobs in Kansas (NOW HIRING)

The application window is expected to close on: 09/21/2026

Please Note: While this is a remote position, we are seeking candidates located in or willing to relocate to the Seattle/Bellevue, WA or Overland Park, KS areas to support the customer onsite or meet with team members/business partners as needed.

Meet the Team

Join a high-velocity, dynamic team dedicated to solving complex technology challenges for Service Providers using Cisco's industry-leading solutions.Our team collaborates with a Tier 1 wireless provider, delivering the expertise required to secure and maintain their market dominance. By leveraging Cisco's industry-leading portfolio, we empower our partners to scale their operations, enhance security, and deliver seamless experiences to their customers. We value collaboration, continuous learning, and a proactive approach to solving problems that have a real-world impact on global communications.

Your Impact

As a Solution Engineer, you will serve as a trusted advisor to our most strategic partners, architecting end-to-end solutions that address the high-stakes business requirements of Tier 1 Service Providers. By building strong relationships with technical and business decision makers, you will provide expert guidance and support to enable partners to sell and deploy Cisco technologies. Additionally, you will leverage modern AI tools to accelerate productivity, streamline workflows, and deliver innovative proof-of-concept (POC) solutions.

• Lead Technical Engagements:Own the full project lifecycle, including discovery, architecture, validation, POC execution, and technical close.

• Secure the Technical Win:Position Cisco architectures against competitive alternatives and resolve technical objections at both the engineering and executive levels.

• Strategic Alignment:Collaborate with your Account Executive (AE) and the extended account team to translate architectural vision into actionable account strategy.

• Architectural Leadership:Lead end-to-end technical design for Service Provider routing, including IP Core, IP Edge, and Backhaul architectures.

• Drive Transformation:Guide customers toward Autonomous Network architectures, enabling end-to-end visibility, predictive analytics, and self-healing capabilities.

• Foster Innovation:Leverage expertise in 5G Mobility Core (SMF/UPF/PCF) to assist partners in modernizing mobile infrastructure.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field.

• 8+ years of experience in systems engineering or network architecture within the Service Provider sector.

• Comprehensive understanding of Cisco's technology portfolio across various domains and strong Service Provider acumen.

• Expertise in the Cisco IMI routing portfolio and mastery of industry-standard routing protocols (BGP, ISIS, OSPF, Segment Routing).

• Proven proficiency in IP Network Automation, withgood understanding ofAnsible, or other API-driven workflows.

• Exceptional communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills with executive presence.

• Self-motivated and proactive, with the ability to build durable technical relationships at customer accounts.

Preferred Qualifications

• Active industry-recognized certifications (e.g., CCIE, CCNP, or CCNA).

• Advanced knowledge of 5G Mobility Core architecture (SMF, UPF, PCF).

• Expertise in Routed Optical Networking (RON) and optical system design (DWDM, Metro, and data center optics).

• Demonstrated understanding ofnetwork programmability, NFV, and containerization (Kubernetes, Docker).

• Demonstrated ability to navigate complex, matrixed organizations and lead technical strategy across diverse, cross-functional global teams.

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 $218,600.00 to $286,100.00 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 ofunused sick timecarried forwardfrom one calendar yearto 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:

$229,000.00 - $344,700.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$218,600.00 - $329,000.00

* 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.