Contract Remote Solutions Engineer Jobs in California

The application window is expected to close on: 08/14/2026
Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.
Note - While this is a remote position, we are seeking candidates located in or willing to relocate to the Southern California market in order to support assigned customers onsite as needed.
About the Team
The Web, Media, and Gaming SE team works with iconic brands and next-gen innovators-the companies behind the games, shows, and platforms that shape our culture. These customers push the limits of latency, scale, and uptime-and they trust Cisco to help them do it. You will partner with account managers, product teams, and specialists to align Cisco innovation with customer priorities, connecting business goals with technical strategy for a full-stack, cross-domain impact.
Role Summary
Cisco is seeking a high-impact Solutions Engineer (SE) to support a portfolio of some of the most dynamic and innovative companies in the world. This includes digital media platforms, real-time streaming services, global e-commerce giants, cloud-native disruptors, and high-demand multiplayer gaming environments. You will act as a trusted technical advisor and architect, guiding customers through complex decisions and helping them realize business outcomes through Cisco's full portfolio of technologies-from data center and cloud to security and observability.
Responsibilities

• Lead with Architecture and Outcomes: Architect and present solutions that span the Cisco portfolio (data center, enterprise networking, security, observability, and routed optical infrastructure). Translate customer challenges into architectures that reduce operational risk, improve resilience, and accelerate digital transformation.
• Support the Digital Economy at Scale: Engage with companies operating at global scale, supporting platforms that deliver real-time, low-latency, high-availability experiences to millions of users. Design for agility, automation, and AI-ready infrastructure.
• Drive Technical Preference: Lead technical workshops, whiteboards, and deep dives to help establish Cisco as the strategic technology partner. Highlight the power of platforms like Cisco Silicon One, SONiC, SRv6, Nexus Dashboard, ACI, Meraki, UCS, Splunk, and Cisco Hypershield.

Minimum Qualifications

• 8-10+ years of experience in technical sales, architecture, or systems engineering.
• Skilled in multi-domain network design across campus, data center, cloud, and edge.
• Comfortable with executive storytelling and technical deep dives.
• Understanding of how to align infrastructure design to customer business models.
• Passionate about solving problems with elegant, scalable architecture-not just features.
• Familiarity with modern digital workloads (e.g., containerized apps, microservices, ML pipelines, real-time gaming backends).
• Technical Expertise required in:
  
  • SMPTE ST 2110 and Multicast network design and operations
  • Enterprise Networking (Catalyst, SDA, SD-WAN)
  • Data Center (Nexus, ACI, NX-OS, UCS, Hyperconverged)
  • Security (SASE, Zero Trust, XDR, Firepower, Duo, SecureX)
  • Routed Optical Networking (NCS, Silicon One, Segment Routing)
  • Observability & Analytics (Nexus Dashboard, ThousandEyes, Splunk)
  • Open Networking (SONiC) and AI-Ready Infrastructure

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working with or supporting esports ecosystems, media production workflows, or content delivery pipelines.
• Knowledge of streaming infrastructure, CDN strategy, or OTT architectures.
• Experience with multiplayer game networking, mobile-first platforms, or in-game telemetry.
• Familiarity with cloud-native platforms like AWS, GCP, Akamai, or Azure Media Services.
• Background in gaming, digital art, media production, or a strong passion for the industries we support.
• Community involvement, side projects, blogs, or open-source contributions in gaming/media/infrastructure.

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 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:
$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.