Engineering (AI/Hardware) Project Manager

Cisco Systems, Inc.; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 155,000 - 225,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. in San Jose, CA is seeking a CHG HW PMO leader to drive small to mid-sized hardware programs, building schedules, governance, risk management, and clear decision points.

You will anchor plans and partner across engineering, product management, operations, and leadership to deliver on commitments. You will lead AI transformation efforts, embed AI-enabled workflows, manage dependencies, and drive adoption of AI tools and dashboards while communicating progress through executive

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree with 7+ years or master's degree with 4+ years in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field, with experience in program/project management, business operations, PMO, Chief-of-Staff support, or hardware/product development.
• Experience leading multi-functional programs or projects, including project plans, turning points, dependencies, risks, issue resolution, and partner communications.
• Experience supporting business operations or leadership operating rhythms, such as staff meetings, business reviews, action tracking, executive updates, dashboards, or organizational communications.
• Experience using AI-enabled tools, workflow automation, or AI assistants to improve project execution or operational efficiency; familiarity with AI concepts, LLMs, or AI agent workflows, prompt engineering, and AI evaluation best practices.

Responsibilities

• Lead small to mid-sized multi-functional programs across the CHG hardware portfolio, driving execution, alignment, and predictable delivery.
• Develop and maintain project plans, schedules, breakthroughs, communication frameworks, and governance processes while proactively managing risks, dependencies, and issue resolution.
• Partner with engineering, product management, operations, marketing, account teams, and leadership to coordinate planning cycles, business reviews, executive updates, and operational excellence initiatives.
• Drive the PMO organization's AI transformation by identifying high-impact opportunities, leading AI adoption initiatives, and embedding AI-enabled ways of working into day-to-day program execution.
• Drive AI-related initiatives by managing cross-functional AI projects from requirements, planning, and execution through delivery, rollout, adoption, and continuous iteration, while defining, tracking, and monitoring adoption, performance, efficiency, and business impact KPIs.
• Assess data readiness for AI use cases, including structured and unstructured data, data quality, and foundational data architecture, while partnering with technical teams to enable AI solutions.
• Apply AI-enabled productivity tools and demonstrate working familiarity with AI agents (e.g., Codex, Claude Code), including prompt engineering, AI workflows, evaluation methods, and testing approaches, to improve team productivity, automate workflows, and find opportunities for operational innovation.

Skills

Program management

Cross-functional leadership

AI-enabled tools

Education

Bachelor's/Master's in CS/EE

Tools

AI tools familiarity

Prompt engineering

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 09/12/2026

Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.

This role requires the employee to work onsite at the San Jose, CA office location.

Meet the Team

The Common Hardware Group (CHG) creates innovative hardware platforms central to the AI era, powering Cisco's core Switching, Routing, and Wireless products for organizations globally. Our innovations in silicon, optics, and hardware platforms—like Silicon One—are shaping the technology industry.

The CHG HW PMO team is the program management engine for Cisco's hardware portfolio. We partner across engineering, product management, operations, supply chain, marketing, sales, and leadership teams to turn strategy into executable plans, clear decision-making, and predictable delivery. We create operating rhythms, governance, clarity, and multi-functional coordination that help teams manage dependencies, resolve risks, and deliver products that power Cisco's customers at scale.

Your Impact

• Lead small to mid-sized multi-functional programs across the CHG hardware portfolio, driving execution, alignment, and predictable delivery.

• Develop and maintain project plans, schedules, breakthroughs, communication frameworks, and governance processes while proactively managing risks, dependencies, and issue resolution.

• Partner with engineering, product management, operations, marketing, account teams, and leadership to coordinate planning cycles, business reviews, executive updates, and operational excellence initiatives.

• Drive the PMO organization's AI transformation by identifying high-impact opportunities, leading AI adoption initiatives, and embedding AI-enabled ways of working into day-to-day program execution.

• Drive AI-related initiatives by managing cross-functional AI projects from requirements, planning, and execution through delivery, rollout, adoption, and continuous iteration, while defining, tracking, and monitoring adoption, performance, efficiency, and business impact KPIs.

• Assess data readiness for AI use cases, including structured and unstructured data, data quality, and foundational data architecture, while partnering with technical teams to enable AI solutions.

• Apply AI-enabled productivity tools and demonstrate working familiarity with AI agents (e.g., Codex, Claude Code), including prompt engineering, AI workflows, evaluation methods, and testing approaches, to improve team productivity, automate workflows, and find opportunities for operational innovation.

Minimum Qualification

• Bachelor's degree with 7+ years or master's degree with 4+ years in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field, with experience in program/project management, business operations, PMO, Chief-of-Staff support, or hardware/product development.

• Experience leading multi-functional programs or projects, including project plans, turning points, dependencies, risks, issue resolution, and partner communications.

• Experience supporting business operations or leadership operating rhythms, such as staff meetings, business reviews, action tracking, executive updates, dashboards, or organizational communications.

• Experience using AI-enabled tools, workflow automation, or AI assistants to improve project execution or operational efficiency; familiarity with AI concepts, LLMs, or AI agent workflows, prompt engineering, and AI evaluation best practices.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting hardware, system-level, networking, telecom, or enterprise infrastructure programs within a PMO or product development environment.

• Experience in business operations, executive operations, or PMO role supporting senior leadership operating mechanisms in a highly matrixed, fast-paced, and globally distributed environment while balancing program execution with operational priorities.

• Familiarity with product development lifecycles, release readiness, change enablement, and launch or operational governance processes.

• Experience identifying AI use cases and partnering with engineering teams to deliver AI-enabled business solutions. Experience managing AI engineering, machine learning, data science, or automation initiatives is a plus.

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 $154,900.00 to $225,300.00 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:

$154,900.00 - $259,100.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$136,500.00 - $228,300.00

* 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.