Senior Director, AI Strategy & Productivity - Enterprise

Cisco•San Jose, CA

3d•$286,200 - $364,400

About The Position

Cisco’s Product Organization is establishing an enterprise-wide AI strategy and productivity function to accelerate developer velocity, modernize software delivery lifecycles, and drive business transformation across its global product portfolio. The Senior Director, AI Strategy & Productivity will partner with senior Product, Engineering, IT, Security & Trust, and Finance leaders to define and drive a multi-year Product AI vision. The role translates developer innovation and executive strategy into a cohesive AI productivity roadmap informed by practices from leading engineering organizations. The role steers enterprise-wide transformation, sets strategic investment priorities, and establishes operational frameworks that empower Cisco engineers to build products more effectively. It spans developer tooling, coding harnesses, software development lifecycle practices, and operational workflows. The leader will move the organization from fragmented experimentation toward scalable, repeatable, enterprise-grade capabilities; build shared standards while preserving team autonomy; and measure outcomes including engineering throughput, code quality, developer satisfaction, and financial value. The role also champions an AI-first workforce grounded in trust, accountability, and psychological safety, while modernizing workflows and supporting distributed teams through continuous change.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Business, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical work experience.
15+ years of professional experience across software engineering, developer platforms, technical strategy, engineering leadership, or technology transformation.
Experience with enterprise-scale software delivery modernization strategies, developer productivity platforms, or AI-enabled technical transformations; hyperscaler experience is preferred.
Track record influencing VP- and SVP-level leaders, aligning cross-functional partners, and driving large-scale organizational change in a complex, matrixed technology environment.
Strategy experience implementing modern software development lifecycle practices, including CI/CD, security, observability, and platform engineering, and practical generative AI applications such as AI coding assistants, agentic workflows, automated testing, or code modernization.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree or Ph.D. in Computer Science or Engineering, or an MBA.
Ability to build business investment cases, model trade-offs, and explain technical value in terms of cost, operational risk, and customer impact.
Experience driving AI developer productivity, platform engineering, or technical transformation at a top-tier technology company, cloud provider, or hyperscaler.
Success scaling AI developer tooling and engineering practices across large, globally distributed engineering organizations and diverse, multi-billion-dollar product lines.
Experience collaborating with frontier AI model providers and developer-tool vendors to influence external product roadmaps and lead beta partner programs.
Expertise designing enterprise-grade developer productivity telemetry frameworks, such as DORA and SPACE metrics, velocity analytics, and financial benefits realization models.
Prior hands-on experience in software engineering, technical product management, or systems architecture.
Experience building and leading teams focused on program operations, data analytics, and technical change enablement.

Responsibilities

Define strategic priorities, market positioning, and a multi-year roadmap for AI-enabled productivity across developer tooling, coding harnesses, SDLC practices, and operational workflows.
Establish an operating model connecting bottom-up developer innovation, cross-functional strategic initiatives, and executive mandates.
Create a prioritization framework to evaluate trade-offs, model business impact, and scale enterprise-grade AI capabilities.
Partner with Corporate Partnerships to influence external AI model provider and tool vendor roadmaps, secure early access to emerging capabilities, and improve vendor ecosystem return on investment.
Collaborate with Engineering, Product, IT, Legal, Security & Trust, and Finance leaders to align stakeholders and represent engineering constraints.
Lead a cross-business-unit community of practice to establish shared tooling, governance, and prioritization standards while preserving team autonomy.
Design and operationalize measurement frameworks for engineering throughput, code quality, developer satisfaction, and realized financial value.
Champion an AI-first workforce grounded in trust, accountability, and psychological safety.
Modernize engineering workflows, clarify technical ownership, and coach distributed teams through continuous change while maintaining quality and resolving risks early.

Benefits

Medical insurance
Dental insurance
Vision insurance
401(k) plan with Cisco matching contribution
Paid parental leave
Short- and long-term disability coverage
Basic life insurance
Cisco restricted stock unit grants may be available, subject to eligibility and continued employment
10 paid holidays per full calendar year
One floating holiday for non-exempt employees
Paid birthday day off
Paid year-end holiday shutdown
Four paid personal wellness days
Flexible vacation time off for eligible exempt employees, subject to availability and business limitations
16 days of paid vacation per full calendar year for non-exempt employees
80 hours of sick time off provided on hire and each January 1, with up to 80 unused hours carried forward
Additional paid time away may be requested for critical or emergency family matters
Optional 10 paid volunteer days per full calendar year
Annual bonuses may be available for non-sales roles, subject to Cisco policies
Sales-plan incentive compensation for eligible sales employees, subject to applicable plans