Director, Product Management (AI Defense)

Cisco; Milpitas (CA); On-site; USD 234,000 - 330,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco is seeking a strategic product leader to define and implement the next generation of AI Security. You will own a core area of the AI Defense portfolio, driving strategy, adoption, and cross-functional execution across engineering, design, GTM, and research.

Lead a team to build enterprise AI security capabilities spanning governance, app security, and runtime protection. The role requires a strong background in AI platforms, enterprise software, and partnering with stakeholders across the

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with 12+ years of industry experience in AI/product spaces.
• Proven experience leading senior PMs or technical product leaders.
• Experience delivering enterprise software/cloud platform products from strategy to GA.
• Experience building AI, cybersecurity, cloud, identity, networking, observability, or related enterprise platform products.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams across Engineering, UX, Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success.
• Excellent executive communication and ability to influence senior leadership.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategy, roadmap, and execution for a major AI Security product area from concept to production and lifecycle management.
• Define multi-year product vision aligned with Cisco AI Security.
• Drive investments across AI governance, app security, runtime protection, AI supply chain security, and AI validation.
• Collaborate with Engineering, Design, Threat Research, GTM, Customer Experience, Sales, Marketing, and Biz Dev to ship market-leading products.
• Translate customer requirements and emerging AI threats into clear priorities.
• Develop durable differentiation via platform thinking and ecosystem partnerships.
• Mentor senior product managers and establish best-in-class PM practices.

Skills

People leadership

Cross-functional leadership

Enterprise software

AI platforms

Executive communication

Strategy

Platform strategy

AI architectures

Industry engagement

Product vision

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 09/10/2026

Meet the Team

Cisco’s AI Software & Platform Group builds enterprise AI platforms and developer tooling, integrating our networking, security, and observability portfolio with modern AI to power autonomous systems. We improve reinforcement learning, simulation, and predictive analytics to make enterprise AI accurate, grounded, and trustworthy.

Cisco is seeking a strategic product leader to define and implement the next generation of AI Security capabilities. This leader will own a core area of the AI Defense portfolio, driving product strategy, customer adoption, and cross-functional execution across engineering, design, go-to-market (GTM), and research teams. The role focuses on building enterprise AI security capabilities spanning AI application security, agentic AI, runtime protection, AI governance, AI supply chain security, and AI validation. This individual will help shape Cisco’s long-term vision for securing enterprise AI while translating market opportunities into differentiated products that scale globally.

Your Impact

• Lead the strategy, roadmap, and execution for a major AI Security product area from concept through production, adoption, and lifecycle management.
• Define and establish a long-term, multi-year product vision and strategy aligned with Cisco’s AI Security vision and evolving enterprise customer needs.
• Drive product investments across AI governance, AI application security, runtime protection, AI supply chain security, agent security, and AI validation.
• Partner closely with Engineering, Design, Threat Research, GTM, Customer Experience, Sales, Marketing, and Business Development to deliver market-leading products.
• Translate customer requirements, competitive intelligence, and emerging AI threats into clear product direction and execution priorities.
• Drive strategic partnerships across the AI ecosystem, including hyperscalers, AI platforms, developer ecosystems, and enterprise software providers.
• Lead cross-functional planning, investment tradeoffs, and roadmap prioritization across multiple releases.
• Develop deep relationships with customers, design partners, analysts, and strategic partners to influence product direction.
• Build compelling product narratives and represent Cisco at executive customer meetings, industry events, analyst briefings, and conferences.
• Mentor and develop senior product managers while helping establish world-class product management practices across the organization.
• Drive customer-centric innovation across the AI Security portfolio.
• Influence cross-business unit strategy and build alignment across Cisco’s Security, AI, Networking, and Observability organizations.
• Develop durable competitive differentiation through platform thinking, ecosystem partnerships, and enterprise workflows.
• Build high-performing teams that implement with urgency while maintaining exceptional product quality.
• Play an instrumental role in establishing Cisco as the trusted security platform for enterprise AI.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with 12+ years of industry experience, strong product management background in the AI products space.
• Demonstrable experience in people leadership experience managing senior product managers or technical product leaders.
• Experience defining and delivering enterprise software or cloud platform products from strategy through general availability (GA).
• Experience building AI, cybersecurity, cloud, identity, networking, observability, or similar enterprise platform products.
• Demonstrated success leading cross-functional organizations across Engineering, UX, Marketing, Sales, Customer Success, and executive stakeholders.
• Strong executive communication skills with the ability to influence senior leadership and drive organizational alignment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree or PhD preferred.
• Strong understanding of enterprise AI architectures, large language models (LLMs), AI agents, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), Model Context Protocol (MCP), AI governance, and runtime security.
• Experience developing platform strategies spanning APIs, SDKs, marketplaces, and ecosystem integrations.
• Track record of translating emerging technology trends into commercially successful product strategies.
• Experience working directly with Fortune 500 customers, strategic design partners, and industry analysts.
• Ability to balance long-term platform strategy with near-term execution and customer delivery.
• Passion for building products that simplify enterprise adoption of AI while delivering measurable business outcomes.

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 $233,900.00 to $330,400.00 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.

New York City Metro Area

$233,900.00 - $380,000.00

Non-Metro New York State & Washington State

$220,900.00 - $344,300.00

• 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.