Strategy & Planning Manager, Cisco Product
About The Position
The Strategic Program Management team partners with leaders across Cisco to deliver the organization’s most meaningful and ambiguous priorities. We build operating mechanisms that make execution more predictable, scalable, and repeatable: coordinated plans, process forums, decision logs, shared metrics, risk and dependency management, and concise leadership reporting. Reporting to the Director of Strategy & Planning, you will join a team that values practical problem-solving, strong partnership, focused execution, and growth driver outcomes. As a Senior Strategy & Planning Program Manager, you will lead high-priority, complex initiatives that span products, architectures, go-to-market, operations, and customer outcomes. These programs often begin with an understood destination but an unclear path: ownership, dependencies, decisions, measures, and operating mechanisms must be defined and aligned. You will serve as the connective execution layer across the organization—turning strategy into actionable, governed programs. You will not own product strategy, technical design, engineering delivery, or commercial decisions; instead, you will enable accountable leaders to make timely decisions and execute effectively through coordinated planning, governance, risk management, and clear executive visibility.
Requirements
- Bachelors + 12 years of related experience, or Masters + 8 years of related experience, or PhD + 5 years of related experience, or equivalent relevant work experience
- 6+ years of experience leading complex strategic programs, business planning initiatives, business operations, or product/go-to-market operations.
- 4+ years leading large, cross-functional initiatives in an operations-focused environment.
- Experience building integrated plans, executive governance, operating cadences, performance metrics, and risk/dependency management processes.
Nice To Haves
- Exceptional communication and influence skills, including the ability to engage senior leaders, align diverse stakeholders, and drive decisions without direct authority.
- Strong analytical judgment and ability to turn complex information into clear recommendations, tradeoffs, and executive-ready updates.
- Experience in enterprise technology, SaaS, product management, product operations, go-to-market execution, or customer lifecycle programs.
- Familiarity with product lifecycle motions, including launches, refreshes, migrations, End-of-Sale, and End-of-Life.
- Experience working across product, engineering, sales, finance, customer success, and operations organizations.
- Experience with portfolio management, financial analysis, dashboards, CRM/reporting tools, and program-management methodologies.
- PMP, Agile, Scrum, or comparable program-management certification.
Responsibilities
- Lead strategic, cross-functional programs from initial framing through execution, transition, and closeout.
- Translate ambiguous objectives into a clear program structure: outcomes, scope, workstreams, sponsorship, measures, dependencies, decision rights, and path to delivery.
- Develop integrated execution plans that connect teams, milestones, assumptions, risks, and commitments across organizational boundaries.
- Establish processes and operating rhythms that accelerate decisions, surface tradeoffs early, and maintain accountability through delivery.
- Provide senior leaders with concise, decision-oriented visibility into program health, progress, risks, dependencies, and actions required.
- Improve execution systems and operating mechanisms so teams spend less time on manual coordination and reporting, and more time delivering strategic outcomes.
- Capture lessons learned, reusable templates, and scalable practices that strengthen future programs.
Benefits
- medical, dental and vision insurance
- a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution
- paid parental leave
- short and long-term disability coverage
- basic life insurance
- paid time away
- 10 paid holidays per full calendar year
- 1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees
- 1 paid day off for employee’s birthday
- paid year-end holiday shutdown
- 4 paid days off for personal wellness
- 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year (non-exempt)
- flexible vacation time off program (exempt)
- 80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter
- 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
- annual bonuses (for non-sales roles)
- performance-based incentive pay (for sales roles)
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
