Director, AI Infrastructure

Cisco Systems, Inc.; Riyadh; On-site; SAR 449,000 - 600,000; Full time

Job summary

A global technology leader in Riyadh seeks a Director for AI infrastructure with a strong background in program management and technical sales. The ideal candidate will drive product solutions and maintain key customer relationships while coordinating cross-functional teams. 10+ years in networking or product management and experience in the Middle East are essential.

Benefits

Medical, dental and vision insurance

401(k) plan with matching

Flexible vacation time

Paid time off for volunteering

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in program management or product management in networking.
• Demonstrated experience working in the Middle East.
• Extensive understanding of hyperscale cloud environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead the planning and execution of an AI infrastructure program.
• Build and maintain trusted customer relationships.
• Coordinate efforts across internal teams to deliver effective solutions.

Skills

Program management

Technical sales

Solutions architecture

Product management

AI infrastructure

Cloud environments

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering or Computer Science

Master's degree or equivalent experience

Tools

JIRA

Job description

Engineer - Pre Sales and Product Management

Job Type

Professional

AI or Artificial Intelligence, Cloud and Data Center, Networking

Job Id

1447074

Meet the Team:

Cisco is seeking a highly skilled and dedicated Director to lead a critical AI infrastructure program within the Middle East, such as our partnerships with Humain. This role will be an integral part of the AI Infrastructure team, responsible for driving Cisco’s product solutions, running the day-to-day relationship, and supervising all technical and operational aspects of a specific, high-profile AI project. The ideal candidate will possess a strong technical background in hyperscale environments and AI workloads, coupled with validated experience navigating and succeeding within the local business and cultural landscape of the Middle East.

Your Impact:

• Product Solution & Portfolio Leadership: Drive the adoption and integration of Cisco’s comprehensive product portfolio (hardware, software, and services) to meet the unique technical and operational demands of AI infrastructure within sovereign cloud environments. This includes understanding and influencing product roadmaps across various organizations such as AI networking, AI compute, Optics, CHG (Common Hardware Group), Security, and more.
• Technical & Operational Expertise: Apply deep technical and operational understanding of hyperscale cloud environments, AI infrastructure, and advanced networking to the program. This includes:
• Understanding AI workload requirements, including GPU consumption and the shift from InfiniBand (IB) to Ethernet Back-End (BE) networks.
• Ability to document and analyze the customer's network architecture (Front-End, Back-End, Backbone) and identify Cisco's positioning and opportunities.
• Awareness of driven solutions and the ability to articulate Cisco's value proposition within the program context.
• Program Leadership & Execution: Lead the successful planning, execution, and delivery of a designated strategic AI infrastructure program (e.g., Humain), ensuring alignment with customer requirements and Cisco's strategic objectives.
• Customer Relationship Management: Serve as the main point of contact for the assigned customer program, building and maintaining strong, trusted relationships with key technical and operational partners. Understand their evolving needs and translate them into actionable plans for Cisco.
• Multi-functional Coordination: Facilitate seamless teamwork across various Cisco internal teams, including engineering, sales, product management, and services, to ensure timely and effective delivery of solutions for the assigned program. Create vital forums for opportunity identification and issue resolution.
• Opportunity & Prioritization: Identify and assess new opportunities within the assigned program, bringing together both successes and lessons learned from any lost opportunities. Prioritize program activities and technical requirements to increase impact and strategic imperative.
• Communication & Influence: Effectively communicate sophisticated technical and program-related information to both technical and non-technical audiences, influencing decisions and driving consensus within the program.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Senior Product Leadership: 10+ years of dynamic experience in program management, technical sales, solutions architecture, or product management within the networking, ASIC, or network software domains, with a consistent track record of leading large-scale, complex technology programs.
• In-Region Expertise: Demonstrated experience working within the Middle East region, with a strong understanding of local business practices, cultural nuances, and regulatory environments.
• Deep Technical Competence: Extensive technical and operational understanding of hyperscale cloud environments, AI infrastructure, and data center networking, including:
• Experience with network/ASIC product management and/or network software product management.
• Validated knowledge of the shift to Ethernet Back-End networks and GPU-centric architectures for AI workloads.
• Ability to analyze and understand complex network topologies (FE, BE, BB).
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in engineering, computer Science, or related technical field.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Customer Engagement: Excellent customer-facing skills, including presentation abilities and a strong focus on building and maintaining relationships with key customer partners.
• Multi-functional Teamwork: Validated ability to coordinate and drive efforts across diverse internal teams within a large, matrixed organization to achieve program objectives.
• Problem-Solving: Strong critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
• Communication & Influence: Superior communication, presentation, and influencing skills, capable of engaging effectively with technical leaders and senior management.
• Operational Rigor: Experience with project management methodologies and tools (e.g., JIRA) to track and run program progress effectively.
• Cisco Internal Knowledge: Familiarity with Cisco's internal development methodologies and NPI (New Product Introduction) lifecycle.
• Master's degree or equivalent experience

Why Cisco?

At Cisco, we’re revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era – and beyond. We’ve been innovating fearlessly for 40 years to create solutions that power how humans and technology work together across the physical and digital worlds. These solutions provide customers with unparalleled security, visibility, and insights across the entire digital footprint. Simply put – we power the future.

Fueled by the depth and breadth of our technology, we experiment and create meaningful solutions. Add to that our worldwide network of doers and experts, and you’ll see that the opportunities to grow and build are limitless. We work as a team, collaborating with

empathy to make really big things happen on a global scale. Because our solutions are everywhere, our impact is everywhere.

We are Cisco, and our power starts with you.

Message to applicants applying to work in the U.S. and/or Canada:

When available, the salary range posted for this position reflects the projected hiring range for new hire, full-time salaries in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including equity or benefits. For non-sales roles the hiring ranges reflect base salary only; employees are also eligible to receive annual bonuses. Hiring ranges for sales positions include base and incentive compensation target. Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location and additional factors, including but not limited to skillset, experience, and relevant education, certifications, or training. Applicants may not be eligible for the full salary range based on their U.S. or Canada hiring location. The recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.

U.S. employees haveaccess to quality medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, short and long-term disability coverage, basic life insurance and numerous wellbeing offerings.

Employees receive up to twelve paid holidays per calendar year, which includes one floating holiday (for non-exempt employees), plus a day off for their birthday. Non-Exempt new hires accrue up to 16 days ofvacation time off each year, at a rate of 4.92 hours per pay period. Exempt new hires participate in Cisco’s flexible Vacation Time Offpolicy, which does not place a defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use, but is subject to availability and some business limitations. All new hires are eligible for Sick Time Off subject to Cisco’s Sick Time Off Policy and will have eighty (80) hours of sick time off provided on their hire date and on January 1st of each year thereafter. Up to 80 hours ofunused sick timewill be carried forwardfrom one calendar yearto the nextsuch that the maximum number of sick time hours an employee may have available is160 hours. Employees in Illinois have a unique time off program designed specifically with local requirements in mind. All employees also have access to paid time away to deal with critical or emergency issues. We offer additional paid time to volunteer and give back to the community.

Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components. For quota-based incentive pay, Cisco typically pays as follows:

.75% of incentive target for each 1% of revenue attainment up to 50% of quota;

1.5% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 50% and 75%;

1% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 75% and 100%; and once performance exceeds 100% attainment, incentive rates are at or above 1% for each 1% of attainment with no cap on incentive compensation.

For non-quota-based sales performance elements such as strategic sales objectives, Cisco may pay up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid.

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