Leader, Sales, Splunk - US Military Defense

This senior leadership role is responsible for managing direct account and architecture teams, focusing on portfolio profitability and customer relationship management within the mil defence sector. The position requires overseeing sales growth, aligning product and service strategies, and leading skill-building workshops. Candidates must have a bachelor’s degree with 12 years, master’s with 8 years, or a PhD with 5 years of relevant experience, plus at least 2 years of supervisory experience. The role involves strategic planning, financial oversight, and collaboration with cross-functional teams. Strong technical expertise in sales and defence markets is essential. Preferred qualifications include advanced education, additional experience, and skills relevant to the sector. This leadership role in Sales and Splunk for Mil Defense focuses on managing direct account and architecture teams, driving portfolio profitability, and influencing customer purchasing decisions. The position requires building and maintaining strong relationships with key stakeholders, aligning solutions with customer needs, and leading both product and services strategy across the portfolio. The role is responsible for overseeing the sales process, developing opportunities, and presenting data-driven strategies to senior leadership. The successful candidate will play a pivotal role in shaping sales growth, resource utilisation, and team development, ensuring alignment with corporate objectives and market trends. The application window is expected to close on: 09/27/2026

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

This role can be performed remotely from: MD, DC, VA, NC, FL, TX, CO, PA or DE

Your impact:

Federal Sales Leaders are at the forefront of Splunk and Cisco's business. They play a crucial role in driving growth and selling enterprise software solutions to PBST Sector Agencies and lead world-class, high-performing sales teams. We are seeking an outstanding professional to join our team as the Sales Leader for Splunk - US Military Team. You have a measurable track record in building and leading hard-working sales organizations. In this role, you will:

Responsibilities:

• Directly lead the PBST USAF sales team and work closely with assigned technical resources and inside sales
• Consistently deliver licenses, support and service revenue targets – dedication to the number and to deadlines
• Territory mapping, account planning and opportunity management
• Negotiate favorable pricing and business terms with large commercial enterprises by selling value and return in investment
• Work with inside sales and partners for maximum efficiency
• Use sales engineering and in-house as well as partner services resources
• Player /lead hands on with the team; very involved with account planning, strategy and sales calls
• Hire the right team to match our growth
• Use our sales methodology and processes effectively
• Understand how to use both international and domestic colleagues to expand deal size and value to the customer
• Good corporate citizen – two way flow of relevant and timely information; work as a team for the most efficient use and deployment of resources
• Provide timely and informative input back to other corporate functions, particularly product management and marketing and our team

Requirements:

• 4 or more years’ experience as a first line manager to a software sales teams with the ability to grow and scale upward with the company; second line management experience ideal
• Experience navigating 7 and 8 figure deals with your team
• At least 8 years of direct (software/SaaS) selling experience to large enterprises and/or Public Sector
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Top-secret clearance
• Willing to travel up to 50% to client site, conferences and networking events

Preferred Qualifications

• 4+ years of experience selling to government to USAF or other Military Service Branch
• Success adapting in fast-growing and changing environments
• Active TS or TS/SCI highly preferred
• You enjoy working in a highly matrixed organization where building relationships across the organization is imperative to the success and growth of the team
• You excel when engaging directly with enterprise customers with a consultative, relationship-oriented approach
• Motivated and inspired to coach and mentor selling professionals
• Experience using CRM, Pipeline Management, and Analytic tools
• You are someone who wants to challenge the traditional Sales Model and improve sales processes
• Experience driving transformational deals engaging with C-level stakeholders

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 $324,400.00 to $435,400.00 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:

$348,200.00 - $505,500.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$324,400.00 - $493,400.00

• 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.

• The application window is expected to close on: 09/27/2026Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.This role can be performed Responsibilities
• Responsible for leading and managing direct account and architecture teams, ensuring team performance and portfolio profitability.
• Play a key role in shaping customer purchasing decisions by serving as an influencer and building long-term relationships with stakeholders.
• Help drive innovation in the sales process by engaging specialist teams and enhancing the sales funnel through opportunity development.
• Take ownership of aligning and integrating solutions with customer needs to drive sustainable cross-portfolio growth.
• Deliver high-quality product and services strategy across the portfolio or architecture.
• Collaborate cross-functionally to review business plans, forecasting data, and present to senior leadership for data-driven account strategies.
• Lead efforts to oversee consistent execution of sales strategies, streamline processes, and align team efforts across field, partner, and virtual teams.
• Coordinate joint planning sessions between partner, virtual, and field teams for assigned accounts.
• Lead skill-building workshops for team members to improve quota attainment. Skills
• Demonstrated supervisory experience of at least 2 years is required.
• Strong understanding of Cisco’s full product portfolio and technical expertise in relevant areas.
• Experience in managing sales growth across multiple years for specific products, portfolios, or regions.
• Ability to review and refine customer success metrics to align with sales tactics.
• Proficiency in leading skill-building workshops and managing executive-level relationships.
• Experience in reviewing business plans, forecasting data, and presenting to senior leadership.
• Capability to coordinate joint planning sessions and oversee resource utilisation in line with strategic sales priorities. Education
• A Bachelor’s degree with at least 12 years of related experience, a Master’s degree with at least 8 years of related experience, or a PhD with at least 5 years of related experience is required.