Client Director, Cloud & Strategic AI

Arista Networks

Job details

  • HYBRID
  • FULL_TIME
  • San Jose
  • United States
  • Verified 2026-11-05
  • Source: Arista Networks public SmartRecruiters board

Original job description

Company Description

Arista Networks is an industry leader in data-driven, client-to-cloud networking for large data center, campus and routing environments. What sets us apart is our relentless pursuit of innovation. We leverage the latest advancements in cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and software-defined networking to provide our clients with a competitive edge in an increasingly interconnected world. Our solutions are designed to not only meet the current demands of the digital landscape but to also anticipate and adapt to future challenges.

At Arista we value the diversity of thought and perspectives that each employee brings to the table. We believe that fostering an inclusive environment, where individuals from various backgrounds and experiences feel welcome, is essential for driving creativity and innovation.

Our commitment to excellence has earned us several prestigious awards, such as Best Engineering Team, Best Company for Diversity, Compensation, and Work-Life Balance. At Arista, we take pride in our track record of success and strive to maintain the highest standards of quality and performance in everything we do.

Job Description


Who You'll Work With

The Client Director owns Arista's relationship with one or more of the world's largest cloud providers and frontier AI labs, end to end: strategy, revenue, and trust. You'll be the single point of accountability for high-impact accounts building some of the largest AI training and inference clusters on the planet, shaping the future of AI infrastructure scale.

This role offers high executive visibility, collaborating directly with Arista leadership and sitting on a Bay Area-based team that covers our most strategic hyperscale and AI customers. These customers buy at enormous scale, move fast, run their own engineering-led evaluations, and expect a peer-level technical partnership from a team that understands their architecture as well as they do.

What you'll do

Own the account strategy

  • Build and run a multi-year account plan tied to the customer's AI and cloud roadmap: cluster build-outs, front-end and back-end fabrics, DCI, and next-generation silicon transitions.

  • Know the customer's org chart cold, from network engineering and architecture through supply chain, procurement, finance, and legal. Build relationships at every layer, up to executive sponsors.

  • Anticipate where the customer is going 12–24 months out and position Arista there before an RFP is written.

Win the big decisions

  • Lead strategic RFPs and competitive evaluations from qualification through award, coordinating SEs, product management, engineering, and executives into one coherent response.

  • Leverage Arista's open networking advantage to develop sharp competitive positioning against white-box/ODM, merchant-silicon disaggregation, and incumbent vendors. Win by offering unmatched flexibility—whether leading with EOS or supporting the customer's chosen NOS (e.g., SONiC, FBOSS for Meta) on Arista best-in-class hardware.

  • Structure deals that work for both sides: pricing, multi-year commitments, reseller and channel paths, and creative commercial and financing models.

Deliver on commitments

  • Own the forecast and the quote-to-PO-to-delivery chain. Catch discrepancies before the customer does.

  • Partner with supply chain and operations to secure capacity and manage lead times on large, time-critical builds.

  • Handle escalations personally, from field issues to commercial disputes, and close the loop.

Be the customer's advocate inside Arista

  • Translate customer requirements into clear input for product management and engineering roadmaps.

  • Drive alignment with Arista executives, finance, legal, and supply chain on non-standard terms and strategic commitments.

  • Share account intelligence and competitive insight across the team so every account benefits.

Qualifications

Required:

  • 12+ years selling data center networking, optical, silicon, or cloud infrastructure, with at least 5 years owning a hyperscale, cloud service provider, or frontier AI account.

  • A track record of closing large, multi-year deals (eight- and nine-figure programs) and consistently exceeding quota.

  • Working technical fluency in data center fabrics: leaf-spine and AI back-end networks, BGP/EVPN, 400G/800G Ethernet, RoCE and congestion management, DCI, and optics. You can hold your own with a customer's principal network engineer.

  • Understanding of the NOS landscape (EOS, SONiC, FBOSS, and other disaggregated options) and how hyperscalers decide between them.

  • Experience running complex RFPs and competitive evaluations against well-funded incumbents and white-box/ODM alternatives.

  • Comfort with the commercial side: pricing strategy, reseller and channel structures, non-standard terms, and working through legal, finance, and supply chain.

  • Bachelor's degree in engineering, computer science, or business, or equivalent experience.

Preferred:

  • Background as a sales engineer or network architect before moving into account leadership.

  • Direct experience with AI training and inference cluster build-outs, GPU clouds, or neo-cloud providers.

  • Existing relationships with network engineering, infrastructure, or supply leaders at major cloud providers or AI labs.

  • Familiarity with Ultra Ethernet, scale-out vs. scale-up networking, and next-generation switch silicon roadmaps.

Who thrives here

  • Owner, not coordinator. You treat the account like your business and take accountability for every outcome, good or bad.

  • Technical credibility. Engineers trust you because you understand their architecture and never oversell.

  • Long-game thinker. You invest in relationships and positioning years before the deal, and you protect trust when a short-term win would cost it.

  • Calm under pressure. Hyperscale buying is fast, ambiguous, and high-stakes. You stay steady and keep the team focused.

  • Detail-obsessed on execution. Big strategy means nothing if the quote, PO, or delivery date is wrong.

  • Team player. You make SEs, product, and operations better, and share what you learn across the team.

Compensation Information:

The new hire base pay for this role has a salary range of  135,000 to184,000k USD. The actual salary offered will be based on a wide range of factors, including skills, qualifications, relevant experience, and US location. The salary range provided reflects the base salary and in addition may also be eligible for discretionary Arista bonuses, commissions, equity, and benefits including medical, dental, vision, wellbeing, tax savings and income protection. The recruiting team can share more details during the hiring process specific to the role and location.

 

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Additional Information

Arista Networks is an equal opportunity employer.  Arista makes all hiring and employment-related decisions in a non-discriminatory manner without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin or any other factor determined to be unlawful under applicable federal, state, or law law.  All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

Arista Networks is an equal opportunity employer.  Arista makes all hiring and employment-related decisions in a non-discriminatory manner without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin or any other factor determined to be unlawful under applicable federal, state, or law law.  All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

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