Cisco GTM Lead

Cognizant; Bridgewater (MA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 175,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical/Dental/Vision/Life

401(k) plan

Paid holidays and PTO

Stock Purchase Plan

Job summary

Cognizant is seeking a Cisco GTM Lead to own the go-to-market strategy and execution for the Cisco relationship. You will coordinate between Cognizant and Cisco stakeholders, align offerings with Cisco priorities, and drive joint pipeline and revenue growth.

The role requires 10–15+ years in IT services sales or alliance management, strong networking/cloud knowledge, and the ability to lead cross-functional teams.

Qualifications

• 10–15+ years of experience in IT services sales, business development, or alliance/partnership management.
• Exposure to hyperscaler or OEM partnerships (Cisco experience strongly preferred).
• Strong understanding of infrastructure, networking, security, and/or cloud domains; Cisco portfolio knowledge is a plus.
• Experience in offering/solution development, working with practice and delivery teams.
• Strong commercial acumen — comfortable owning pipeline numbers, forecasting, and revenue reporting.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills at exec and operations levels.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary point of contact between Cognizant and Cisco stakeholders across sales, delivery, and partnership functions.
• Partner with practice teams to shape and develop joint offerings aligned to Cisco's GTM priorities.
• Translate Cisco roadmaps into Cognizant service offerings and ensure market readiness and competitive positioning.
• Coordinate with account teams to identify opportunities and drive joint pitches for Cisco-aligned opportunities.
• Own tracking, reporting, and forecasting of the Cisco-aligned pipeline, including TCV, deal stages, and closures.

Skills

IT services sales

Partnership management

Alliance management

Cisco experience

Cross-functional collaboration

Forecasting & pipeline

Education

Bachelor's degree in related field

Tools

Salesforce

Job description

Cisco GTM Lead

Role Summary

The Cisco GTM Lead will own and drive Cognizant's go-to-market strategy and execution for the Cisco relationship, acting as the central point of coordination between Cognizant and Cisco stakeholders. This role is responsible for maximizing joint business value by aligning practice capabilities with Cisco's business priorities, co-developing offerings, driving pipeline and revenue growth, and ensuring consistent governance and reporting across the partnership.

Key Responsibilities

Stakeholder & Relationship Management

• Serve as the primary point of contact between Cognizant and Cisco stakeholders across sales, delivery, and partnership functions.
• Build and maintain trusted relationships with key Cisco counterparts (sales, alliance, and technical leadership) as well as internal Cognizant leadership and account teams.
• Facilitate regular cadence meetings (QBRs, monthly/weekly syncs) to align priorities, resolve escalations, and track joint initiatives.

Offering Development

• Partner with practice teams (Cloud, Infrastructure, Security, AI/Automation) to identify, shape, and develop joint offerings and solutions aligned to Cisco's GTM priorities.
• Translate Cisco product/platform roadmaps into actionable Cognizant service offerings.
• Work with solutioning and delivery teams to ensure offerings are market-ready, differentiated, and competitively positioned.

Go-to-Market Execution

• Take developed offerings to clients — coordinating with account teams to identify relevant opportunities and driving joint pitches where applicable.
• Support proposal development, client presentations, and deal structuring for Cisco-aligned opportunities.
• Identify white space and cross-sell/upsell opportunities within existing Cognizant accounts where Cisco offerings can be embedded.

Pipeline & Performance Tracking

• Own the tracking, reporting, and forecasting of the Cisco-aligned pipeline, including TCV, deal stages, and expected closures.
• Provide regular performance updates to leadership on joint GTM progress, wins, losses, and course corrections.
• Maintain a scorecard/dashboard of key metrics (pipeline value, conversion rates, revenue realized, partner-sourced vs. Cognizant-sourced deals).

Governance & Enablement

• Ensure adherence to partnership governance frameworks and escalation protocols.
• Drive internal enablement — briefing sales teams, sharing playbooks, and ensuring consistent messaging on Cisco offerings across the organization.
• Coordinate contractual, commercial, and compliance aspects of the partnership as needed.

Required Qualifications

• 10–15+ years of experience in IT services sales, business development, or alliance/partnership management, with exposure to hyperscaler or OEM partnerships (Cisco experience strongly preferred).
• Proven track record of managing complex, multi-stakeholder partnerships and driving joint GTM outcomes.
• Strong understanding of infrastructure, networking, security, and/or cloud domains (Cisco portfolio knowledge a plus).
• Experience in offering/solution development, working cross-functionally with practice and delivery teams.
• Strong commercial acumen — comfortable owning pipeline numbers, forecasting, and revenue reporting.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills, with ability to operate at both executive and operational levels.

Preferred Skills

• Familiarity with Cisco's partner ecosystem, certifications, or GTM programs.
• Experience with CRM/pipeline tools for tracking and reporting (Salesforce, etc.).
• Prior experience managing alliance relationships with OEMs/technology partners in a similar capacity.

Top Reasons to Join Our Team

Cognizant is a leading AI builder company and top partners of tech giants and strategic partners to most of fortune 500 clients. SPE services lines commands tops positions in scale, maturity and reach in industry as regarded by all the analysts across the globe.

Excellent compensation/benefits. A strong financial incentive package that includes a solid base salary with a highly attractive bonus plan. Wide exposure to industry, product, and functional standard methodologies; as well as outstanding teams supporting your sales pursuits. Encouraging management team that rewards initiative & success. Exciting, industry leading practice where you can truly build a long-term career.

Congenial, collaborative, and goal-oriented environment; the opportunity to work with and learn from a diverse, highly experienced team of business professionals. Tremendous opportunities for growth with a real career path promoting career advancement.

Salary and Other Compensation

The annual salary for this position is between $160,000-$175,000 depending on experience and other qualifications of the successful candidate.

This position is also eligible for Cognizant’s discretionary annual bonus program, based on performance and subject to the terms of Cognizant’s applicable plans.

Benefits

• Medical/Dental/Vision/Life
• Paid holidays plus Paid Time Off
• 401(k) plan and contributions
• Long-term/Short-term Disability
• Paid Parental Leave
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Disclaimer: The salary, other compensation, and benefits information is accurate as of the date of this posting. Cognizant reserves the right to modify this information at any time, based on applicable law.

A Good fit for the Cognizant culture

A person who possesses a true passion for changing organizations for the better, and desires to do so within a goal, yet professional atmosphere filled with business professionals who all manifest a belief in partnership, innovation, and excellence. Our “Cultural Value Drivers” are well-known and clearly communicated within the organization: Open, Visible, Motivated, Empowered, Opportunity-Filled, Flexible & Collaborative.

Work Authorization

Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without the need for employer sponsorship, now or any time in the future.