Director, Competitor & Market Intelligence

Cisco Systems, Inc; North Carolina; On-site; USD 201,000 - 258,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc is seeking a Director of Competitor & Market Intelligence within the Global Sales Strategy & Planning for the GTM Acceleration team. You will lead a global analytics group to deliver country-level intelligence that informs strategic investments and go-to-market decisions.

The role demands 10+ years in market/competitive intelligence, 5+ years leading global teams, and a strong command of macroeconomic modeling and primary research to translate insights into action.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of market intelligence, competitive intelligence, or corporate strategy.
• 5+ years at an IT industry analyst or research firm with credible models.
• 5+ years leading and developing globally distributed teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a global team of analysts focused on country-level intelligence.
• Set strategy and roadmap for competitor and market intelligence functions.
• Integrate macroeconomic indicators and customer insights into planning.
• Track market share by country using secondary research and models.
• Design studies combining direct feedback and partner insights for validation.
• Synthesize data into actionable recommendations for sales leaders.
• Collaborate with regional teams to embed intelligence into GTM decisions.

Skills

Leadership

Macroeconomic analysis

Primary research

Strategic thinking

Education

Bachelor's degree in Economics, Business, Finance, Statistics, or a related field

MBA or advanced degree preferred

Job description

Director, Competitor & Market Intelligence Global Sales Strategy & Planning | Cisco GTM Acceleration

The application window is expected to close on: 11/12/2026

Meet the Team

The Cisco GTM Acceleration team sits within the Global Sales Organization and is made up of sales strategy, analytics, and transformation professionals. Our mission is to drive sales growth by aligning investments and resources to the highest potential opportunities. We are a global team that partners closely with regional, specialist, and partner sales organizations to turn insight into action and execute initiatives at scale. By combining rigorous data-driven economic modeling, macroeconomic foresight, customer feedback, and operational expertise with a deep understanding of the market, we help sales leaders make faster, better-informed decisions about where and how to compete.

Your Impact

Cisco's sales go-to-market (GTM) strategy must adapt dynamically to comprehensive macroeconomic shifts, evolving customer behavior, and shifting market and competitive dynamics. Senior sales leaders therefore require an always-on intelligence function that evaluates broader global economic trends alongside direct customer feedback and competitor positioning across key technologies and geographies. As Director, Competitor & Market Intelligence, you will lead this function from a chief-economist and customer-centric perspective, managing a team of analysts dedicated to delivering granular, country-level intelligence. You will establish a forward-looking point of view on Cisco's market size, market share, and competitor presence, underpinned by rigorous primary research, customer insights, and macroeconomic modeling. Your strategic insights will directly inform global sales strategy, investment decisions, and resource allocation worldwide.

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and develop a global team of competitive and market intelligence analysts focused on country-level intelligence and macroeconomic tracking.
• Set the strategy, priorities, and roadmap for the competitor and market intelligence function, ensuring its work aligns with the needs of sales leadership and reflects comprehensive macroeconomic shifts.
• Build a deep understanding of Cisco's core and adjacent technology markets by country, integrating macroeconomic indicators, IT spend trends, market size, market share, disruptive innovations, and regulatory environments.
• Track Cisco and competitor market share by country using secondary research, industry analyst reports, and macroeconomic forecasting models.
• Design and conduct primary research studies, integrating direct customer feedback, surveys, interviews, and channel partner insights to validate customer behavior and measure Cisco and competitor market share by country.
• Synthesize complex macroeconomic data, customer insights, and market analytics into clear, actionable recommendations for senior sales leaders and executives.
• Partner with regional, specialist, and partner sales organizations and cross-functional teams to embed macroeconomic and customer-driven intelligence into planning, investment, and go-to-market decisions.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Economics, Business, Finance, Statistics, or a related field; MBA or advanced degree preferred.
• 10+ years of experience in market intelligence, competitive intelligence, or corporate strategy, with a strong background in macroeconomic analysis and customer behavior insights, preferably at a leading networking or enterprise technology company.
• 5+ years of experience at an IT industry analyst or research firm, with a proven record of designing and building credible market tracking models using rigorous data-driven economic modeling and primary/secondary research methods.
• 5+ years of experience leading and developing teams of analysts or researchers, including global or distributed teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Excellent communication and storytelling skills, with the ability to translate complex macroeconomic trends and customer data into clear, executive-level recommendations.
• Demonstrated ability to work across regions, functions, and sales organizations in a fast-paced, matrixed environment.

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. 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

The starting salary range posted for this position is $200,600.00 to $258,400.00 and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation*, equity, or benefits. Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location, market conditions, job-related skillset, experience, qualifications, education, certifications, and/or training. The full salary range for certain locations is listed below. For locations not listed below, the recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process. U.S. employees are offered benefits, subject to Cisco’s plan eligibility rules, which include medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability coverage, and basic life insurance. Please see the Cisco careers site to discover more benefits and perks. Employees may be eligible to receive grants of Cisco restricted stock units, which vest following continued employment with Cisco for defined periods of time. U.S. employees are eligible for paid time away as described below, subject to Cisco’s policies: 10 paid holidays per full calendar year, plus 1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees 1 paid day off for employee’s birthday, paid year-end holiday shutdown, and 4 paid days off for personal wellness determined by Cisco Non-exempt employees** receive 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year, accrued at rate of 4.92 hours per pay period for full-time employees Exempt employees participate in Cisco’s flexible vacation time off program, which has no defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use (subject to availability and some business limitations) 80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter, and 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 For non-sales roles, employees are also eligible to earn annual bonuses subject to Cisco’s policies. Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components, subject to the applicable Cisco plan. 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 0% up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid. The applicable full salary ranges for this position, by specific state, are listed below: New York City Metro Area: $243,300.00 - $364,400.00 Non-Metro New York state & Washington state: $217,700.00 - $327,000.00 * For quota-based sales roles on Cisco’s sales plan, the ranges provided in this posting include base pay and sales target incentive compensation combined. ** Employees in Illinois, whether exempt or non-exempt, will participate in a unique time off program to meet local requirements. Cisconians power the future. We make impact as a team, innovating fast and fearlessly to create meaningful solutions on a large scale. The depth and breadth of our technology doesn't just benefit our customers – it also means limitless opportunities for us to experiment and learn. We understand the power each of our unique backgrounds bring when we work together. Because of that, we have a global network of thinkers, doers, experts, and curious creators who help one another do their life’s best work.