Senior Director, AI Strategy & Productivity - Enterprise

Cisco•San Jose, CA

About The Position

Cisco’s Product Organization is establishing an enterprise-wide AI strategy and productivity capability to accelerate developer velocity, modernize software delivery lifecycles, and transform operations 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 deliver a multi-year Product AI vision. The role integrates bottom-up developer innovation with strategic mandates and practices from leading engineering organizations. The position will steer enterprise-wide transformation, set strategic investment priorities, and create operating frameworks for AI-enabled productivity across developer tooling, coding harnesses, software development practices, and operational workflows. It will move the organization from fragmented experimentation toward scalable, repeatable, enterprise-grade capabilities while balancing shared standards with team autonomy. The role also involves working with external AI model and developer-tool providers, aligning cross-functional leaders, establishing measurement systems for engineering outcomes and financial value, and supporting an AI-first workforce grounded in trust, accountability, and psychological safety. The posting describes the role as a Director in the role overview, while the job title identifies it as Senior Director.

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, developer productivity platforms, or AI-enabled technical transformations; experience with hyperscalers is preferred.
Track record of influencing VP/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.
Practical experience with 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 product roadmaps and lead beta partner programs.
Expertise designing enterprise-grade developer productivity telemetry frameworks, including DORA, SPACE metrics, velocity analytics, and financial benefits realization models.
Prior hands-on experience in software engineering, technical product management, or systems architecture.
Ability to build and lead high-slope 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 that connects bottom-up developer innovation, cross-functional initiatives, and executive mandates.
Create a prioritization framework to assess trade-offs, model business impact, and scale enterprise AI capabilities.
Partner with Corporate Partnerships to influence AI model provider and tool vendor roadmaps, secure early access to capabilities, and improve vendor ecosystem ROI.
Collaborate with Engineering, Product, IT, Legal, Security & Trust, and Finance leaders to align enterprise priorities while representing engineering constraints.
Lead a cross-business-unit community of practice that develops shared standards for tooling, governance, and prioritization 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 ongoing 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 requirements
Paid holidays
Floating holiday for non-exempt employees
Paid birthday day off
Year-end holiday shutdown
Personal wellness days
Paid vacation or flexible vacation time off, depending on employee classification
Sick time off
Additional paid time away may be requested for critical or emergency family issues
Optional paid volunteer days
Annual bonuses for eligible non-sales employees
Performance-based incentive pay for employees on sales plans