Director, Enterprise Data, Analytics & AI

Cisco Systems, Inc; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 276,000 - 350,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc is seeking a senior leader for the Enterprise Data, Analytics & AI team within the Silicon One Business Operations. You will guide the data strategy, build AI-ready architectures, and drive analytics across product lifecycles, forecasting, and financial performance.

You will lead a cross-functional team of 5+ ICs, delivering scalable data products, responsible AI standards, and self-service BI for executives and operations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; 15+ years of related experience preferred.
• 4+ years of people leadership experience.
• 4+ years of SQL and Python experience for data engineering/analytics.
• 4+ years leading data science and AI/ML initiatives from problem definition to deployment.
• 4+ years defining enterprise data architecture and data governance standards.

Responsibilities

• Set technical direction and roadmap for data, analytics & AI initiatives.
• Define secure, governed, and AI-ready data architecture with reusable data products.
• Lead development of predictive models, anomaly detection, and forecasting for business decisions.
• Identify and deploy production-ready AI agents and automation with responsible AI standards.
• Deliver intuitive self-service BI and executive dashboards as a single source of truth.
• Hire, coach, and develop a high-performing team of technical contributors.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Data architecture

SQL

Python

AI/ML initiatives

Forecasting

Executive reporting

Team development

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master’s or PhD preferred

Tools

BI tools

Cloud platforms

Data governance tools

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 09/29/2026

Meet The Team

Cisco Silicon One is revolutionizing the industry by delivering a unified, programmable architecture that powers the future of the internet. You will lead the Enterprise Data, Analytics & AI team within Silicon One Business Operations. This multidisciplinary group of 5+ individual contributors is responsible for building the data foundation that drives Silicon One’s strategic planning and operational execution. We focus on delivering trusted data, advanced analytics, and AI-enabled capabilities to improve decision-making across product lifecycles, demand forecasting, and financial performance.

Your Impact

In this role, you will set the technical direction and roadmap while fostering a culture of high performance and professional growth. Your impact will be defined by your ability to:

• Strategic Leadership:Partner with cross-functional leaders to translate ambiguous business needs into scalable data and AI solutions, managing priorities, risks, and investment tradeoffs.
• Data Architecture & Engineering:Define secure, governed, and AI-ready data architecture. Build reliable, reusable data products that maintain high standards for quality, lineage, and traceability.
• Decision Intelligence:Lead the development of predictive models, anomaly detection, and forecasting initiatives that support critical operational decisions in product planning, capacity, and risk management.
• AI Innovation:Identify and deploy high-value, production-ready AI agents and automation to improve workflows. Establish robust standards for responsible AI, including security, observability, and cost-efficiency.
• Executive Reporting:Lead the delivery of intuitive, self-service BI products and executive dashboards that provide a single source of truth for operational and financial performance.
• Team Development:Hire, coach, and develop a high-performing team of technical contributors, providing both mentorship and hands-on technical guidance.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelors + 15 years of related experience developing scalable data pipelines and operational execution.
• 4+ years ofexperience in people leadership, including coaching, developing, and managing technical teams.
• 4+ years of experience and technical proficiency in SQL and Python for data engineering and analytics.
• 4+ years of experience leading data science and AI/ML initiatives from problem definition through deployment and measurable impact.
• 4+ years of experience defining enterprise data architecture and establishing data governance standards.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree or PhD in a relevant technical or quantitative field.
• Domain expertise in semiconductors, hardware systems, supply chain, or manufacturing operations.
• Advanced experience in forecasting, optimization, simulation, or predictive modeling.
• Experience with metadata management, cataloging, and advanced semantic-layer design.
• Proficiency in cloud-native deployment, infrastructure automation, or multi-model AI optimization.

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 $276,100.00 to $349,700.00 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 ofunused sick timecarried forwardfrom one calendar yearto 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:

$276,100.00 - $402,200.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$234,600.00 - $340,900.00

* 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.