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Customer Support Engineer

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Business Overview

Cisco Services - We know that the network works better when services, *together with products, create solutions that align to needs and opportunities. Customer Advocacy employs a collaborative methodology that joins the forces of Cisco, its skilled network of partners and customers, to ensure we deliver the best team results that intelligently enable networks, applications and the people who use them.

Our Opportunity

Title: Customer Support Engineer
Location: Brussels (Training), Brussels after training
Program Start Date: September 2008
Eligibility: You must be able to live and work in Belgium without visas or sponsorship
Language: English

Summary of Role

The Customer Support Engineer position is part of Cisco's Technical Assistance Centre (TAC), which is an escalation center for resolution of technical issues. With over 1000 skilled engineers, of which 450+ are CCIE certified, TAC engineers are working on complex networking problems requiring strong analytical, problem solving, engineering, team working and communication skills. This is a fast paced, high impact environment where you will directly contribute to the success of Cisco's customers in deploying and utilizing the latest cutting edge networking technologies.

The TAC Graduate Training Program is an extensive training and work experience program that prepares you to be a brilliant Customer Support Engineer.

As a Customer Support Engineer your main responsibility will be to provide the highest level of escalation support for the Cisco technologies to partners and customers remotely. You will be based in a team in our TAC Center in Brussels.

You will become the Cisco technical expert that the customers demand.

Primary Responsibilities

• Developing solid basis in networking and achieve technical excellence in the specific domain of work: Voice, Applications or Core technologies.
• Receiving and resolving complex issues for partners and customers
• Working in the TAC team or with other Cisco's teams to solve problems and enhance future products.
• Using debugging tools and lab simulations to analyze problems and identify solutions
• Keeping up-to-date with the latest technology products in order to provide a high level support when they are launched into the market.
• Become Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert (CCIE) Certified.

Professional Competencies

• Passion for learning and demonstrated ability for independent study, classroom instruction and team learning.
• Strong analytical troubleshooting skills
• Ability to participate as a team member
• 'Why does it work this way?' attitude
• Ability to clearly communicate technical concepts
• Ability to understand technical issues and solve complex problems
• Ability to drive and resolve crisis situations
• Passion for setting and achieving goals
• Technical and service Culture focus
• Ability to take impacting decisions

Technical Experience

• Good technical foundation in the area of networking (TCP/IP, routing protocols, switching)
• Knowledge of Microsoft (Active Directory, Exchange 2000/2003, Windows 2000 Server, SQL) or of Unix/Linux is desirable
• Other technical knowledge or experience related to networking products and software is desirable

Education Requirements

• Engineering, electrical engineering or computer science degree [Bachelor or Master] or equivalent experience

Program Training

Location - Belgium (Brussels)

Phase I: The first month in the Cisco TAC office in Brussels you will spend 100% of your time training to acquire the basis on most of the Networking Technologies as well as on the troubleshooting and professional skills needed to be a successful Customer Support Engineer (CSE). All technical training sessions include theory and labs and are delivered by TAC experts in each area.

Phase II: Following the Cisco model of education the second phase is a combination of training, exposure and experience for a variable duration adapted to the personal progression

• Specialized Training in either Voice, Core or Applications technologies. Training duration is typically 3 weeks with additional sessions in the following 3 months.
• Mentorship from 3 to 6 months mentorship from a senior TAC CSE who helps with guidance on technical and non technical issues.
• On the job learning 3 to 9 months of work in a controlled environment with selected cases of limited complexity and business impact.

Phase III: During the first year you will receive a set of training courses to fully benefit from your initial experience and develop your technical and professional skills. The specific training courses depend on the technology domain you work on and will include some standard Professional courses like a 4 days Kepner Tregoe Analytical troubleshooting class.

Phase IV: During the initial two years you will receive support in different ways to pass the CCIE theoretical and Lab exams:

• Access to the necessary lab equipment and literature dedicated for your preparation.
• Preparation time to study and practice before the Lab exam.
• Guidance sessions on how to prepare the CCIE exam.

Upon completion of the Phase I training in Brussels, you will be based in Brussels depending on Cisco's business needs.