Customer Delivery Architect | 10+ years exp, SP routing platforms, architectural and validation expertise

Meet the Team

Customer Experience (CX) is a team of extraordinary technical experts whose #1 focus is to deliver a premier customer experience and accelerate value realization. Our team, Solution Validation Services (SVS), is an integral part of Cisco Customer Experience, specializing in pre-deployment solution validation, software qualification, and architectural assurance for complex, mission-critical networks prior to Go-Live. We help Tier-1 Service Providers, Web/Cloud hyperscalers, and large Enterprises tackle their toughest business and operational challenges through network-centric testing, digital twin lab simulations, and advanced test automation. Our success is proven through accelerated customer deployments, reduced operational risk, premier customer satisfaction metrics, and employee engagement excellence.

Your Impact

As an Architect in SVS, you will provide top-tier technical leadership and drive the validation strategy for next-generation Service Provider networks:

· Architectural Influence: Translate complex validation outcomes and testbed findings into actionable business risk mitigation strategies for C-level and senior engineering leadership.

· Solution Validation & Assurance: Lead end-to-end testing of next-generation Service Provider routing architectures, major software releases (Cisco IOS-XR 64-bit), and modern transport solutions (SRv6, BGP EVPN, Routed Optical Networking) to guarantee production readiness.

· Lab Digital Twin Simulations: Build full-scale, high-fidelity customer simulations in world-class SVS test laboratories to uncover, isolate, and resolve sophisticated protocol, scale, and multi-vendor interoperability bottlenecks before production deployment.

· Test Automation Excellence: Architect and implement continuous test automation frameworks using Cisco pyATS/Genie, CXTM, and CI/CD pipelines, driving automated test coverage and accelerating project delivery velocity.

· Defect Advocacy & Engineering Liaison: Act as the primary technical escalation authority during validation, partnering directly with Cisco Product Engineering (XR Dev, HW/Silicon teams) to triage defects, validate SMUs/patches, and ensure rapid resolution.

· Pre-Sales & Scoping Leadership: Partner with SVS Business Development Managers (BDMs) and Account Teams on pre-sales scoping, developing Statements of Work (SOW), Level of Effort (LOE) models, and Joint Test Plans on Record (JTPOR).

· Talent Mentorship: Mentor, coach, and elevate the technical proficiency of consulting engineers across the global SVS organization, fostering a culture of innovation and delivery excellence.

Decision Making & Scope of Impact

· Strategic Autonomy: High degree of technical autonomy: determines validation methodologies, test strategies, and architectural best practices across global SP engagements.

· Business Impact: Decisions directly impact customer Go-Live success, network availability, multi-million dollar project margins, and Cisco's trusted advisor standing with Tier-1 accounts.

· Organizational Alignment: Translates global CX and SVS strategic priorities into concrete technical initiatives, testbed innovations, and delivery standards.

Role-Specific Responsibilities

· Customer Architectural Engagement: Collaborate closely with customer Principal Architects, Cisco Account Teams, and CX Technical Leaders to define validation scopes, acceptance criteria, and migration test strategies.

· Deliverable Governance: Author, review, and formally approve key SVS deliverables, including Detailed Test Plans (DTP), Joint Test Plans on Record (JTPOR), Method of Procedures (MOP), and End of Test Reports (EOTR).

· Performance & Scale Validation: Synthesize complex traffic profiles and performance benchmarks utilizing industry-standard hardware traffic generators (Spirent TestCenter, Keysight/Ixia IxNetwork) and WAN impairment tools to validate line-rate throughput, QoS behavior, and failover convergence.

· Automation & Tooling Leadership: Drive the adoption of Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and Test Automation as Code across SVS delivery pods, building reusable pyATS test scripts and CI/CD validation pipelines.

· Advanced Troubleshooting & RCA: Lead root cause analysis (RCA) on sophisticated customer defects, analyzing packet captures, router debug logs, and telemetry streams to pinpoint software bugs and configuration regressions.

· Knowledge Transfer & Assets: Champion knowledge sharing by authoring best-practice whitepapers, test methodology playbooks, and reusable test suites to scale delivery efficiency globally.

Minimum Qualifications

· Education & Experience: Typically requires a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Electrical/Telecommunications Engineering, or equivalent plus 10-15+ years of relevant experience in Service Provider network design, testing, validation, or advanced technical delivery.

· Core Platform Expertise: Deep, hands-on architectural and validation expertise in Cisco Service Provider routing platforms and network operating systems.

· Consulting & Client Engagement: Proven experience in customer-facing consulting, technical leadership, or solution architecture roles engaging with senior-level decision makers.

· Certifications: Expert-level Cisco certification (CCIE Service Provider or CCIE Enterprise/Routing & Switching) or equivalent proven industry standing is strongly desired.

· Software & Automation: Demonstrable foundation in software programmability and automation scripting (Python, REST APIs, JSON/YAML).

· Communication Skills: Exceptional written and verbal communication, executive presentation, and interpersonal skills with the ability to navigate ambiguous, high-pressure environments.

Preferred Technical Qualifications

Strong architectural understanding and hands-on validation expertise across minimum two of the following SP domain areas:

1. Service Provider Core & Edge Routing Architectures (Converged SDN Transport & RON):

· Cisco SP Platforms

· Operating Systems

· Core Routing Protocols

· Segment Routing & Traffic Engineering

· Multi-Service VPNs & EVPN

· SP Network Timing & 5G Sync

· Routed Optical Networking (RON)

· SP Resiliency & Security

2. SP Automation, Orchestration, Observability & Tooling:

· Cisco pyATS & Genie Test Frameworks

· SP SDN Orchestration & Controllers

· Data Modeling & Interfaces

· Streaming Telemetry & Observability

· Scripting & CI/CD Pipelines

3. Test Lab Simulation, Traffic Generation & Telco Cloud:

· Hardware Traffic Generation

· Virtualization & Digital Twin Platforms

· SP Cloud & Telco Infrastructure

Leadership & Autonomy

· Self-Direction & Initiative: Operates with high autonomy, determining methods and validation frameworks on strategic, high-visibility customer projects.

· Strategic Advisor: Serves as a trusted technical advisor to leadership and customers, translating strategic technology goals into actionable validation programs.

· Team Leadership: Champions innovation, leading internal initiatives to advance SVS testing capabilities, tooling, and delivery best practices.

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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