Program Manager: Financial Services Operations

Cisco Systems, Inc.; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 183,000 - 232,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. is seeking a Senior Manager, Finance PMO to drive strategic transformation and operational excellence across global Finance teams.

You will partner with the SVP of Corporate Finance and other senior leaders to map processes, align annual plans, and execute cross-functional programs with IT, Engineering, Sales, and Finance partners. You will champion AI automation, scalable solutions, and metrics-driven enablement while delivering transparent progress to executives.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, or a related field.
• 8+ years of experience in Strategy, Operations, FP&A, or Management Consulting, including at least 3 years of direct support to a senior executive (VP/SVP level).
• Demonstrated expertise in running company-wide strategic planning cycles and leading large-scale, cross-functional programs.
• Outstanding communication and presentation skills, with a validated ability to craft compelling, high-level narratives for executive audiences.
• Deep experience in process optimization and driving technology-led transformation within a Finance or Operations organization.
• Ability to operate with a high degree of independence, manage ambiguity, and thrive in a fast-paced, sophisticated environment.

Responsibilities

• Define role definitions and map processes to identify bottlenecks and dependencies.
• Align finance initiatives with corporate objectives through annual planning cycles.
• Lead execution and tracking of corporate finance goals and cross-functional programs.
• Run cross-functional programs with IT, Engineering, Sales, and global Finance teams.
• Lead high-priority strategic initiatives to meet executive requirements as they arise.

Skills

Strategic planning

Cross-functional leadership

Executive communication

Process optimization

Technology-driven transformation

Independent work

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, or related field

Tools

Project management tools

Financial systems

SQL or Python

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 10/15/2026

Your Impact

Cisco is seeking a Senior Manager, Finance PMO, to provide strategic support to the SVP of Corporate Finance and the broader FP&A organization. This high-impact leadership role is responsible for driving organizational transformation, innovation, and operational excellence at scale. You will run critically important programs across global Finance teams and cross-functional partners, ensuring transparency and alignment with corporate objectives.

By demonstrating critical thinking and operational difficulty, you will reduce organizational friction, standardize operational practices, and champion the adoption of AI and new technologies to enable scalable automation and predictive insights. You will serve as a key partner to teams across Finance (including Corporate, GTM, and Product FP&A) and cross-functional organizations such as IT, People, Engineering, and Pricing. Your success will be defined by your ability to plan and implement effectively, encouraging collaboration across teams with varied strengths to drive transformative change.

Corporate Finance Project and Program Management

• Role Definition & Process Mapping: Partner with departmental teams to systematically define key roles and responsibilities. Conduct comprehensive current-state process mapping to uncover operational bottlenecks and dependencies.
• Annual Strategic Alignment:Act as a primary partner in the execution and monitoring of the Annual Company Plan, ensuring all finance-led initiatives are rigorously aligned with corporate strategic objectives.
• Goal Execution:Facilitate the annual Corporate Finance goal-setting process and be responsible for the execution and tracking of these objectives.
• Cross-Functional Leadership:Run sophisticated, cross-functional programs in collaboration with partners from IT, Engineering, Sales, and global Finance teams.
• Ad Hoc Initiatives:Lead high-priority, ad hoc strategic projects to support critical Finance leadership requirements as they emerge.

Corporate Finance Operational Excellence & Transformation

• End-to-End AI Automation: Drive the AI automation lifecycle wherever possible, translating manual, repetitive, or legacy workflows into streamlined, AI-assisted operations across FP&A and broader enterprise functions.
• Organization-Wide AI Scaling: Evangelize and implement the AI automation roadmap across the entire company, ensuring local automation successes are scaled into global, platform-level capabilities.
• Metrics & Enablement:Ensure the achievement of success criteria and metrics through partner enablement and rigorous process management.
• Scalable Solutions:Partner with internal and cross-functional teams to implement scalable, automated solutions that leverage AI to improve decision-making.

Communication & Alignment

• Organizational Design:Support the strategic build and development of the Corporate Finance organization to ensure it effectively scales with Cisco's growth.
• Executive Facilitation:Facilitate executive-level communications, including the preparation of agendas and content for leadership meetings and Corporate Finance all-hands sessions.
• Reporting:Provide, transparent reporting on project progress, risks, and performance outcomes to eadership.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, or a related field.
• 8+ years of experience in Strategy, Operations, FP&A, or Management Consulting, including at least 3 years of direct support to a senior executive (VP/SVP level).
• Demonstrated expertise in running company-wide strategic planning cycles and leading large-scale, cross-functional programs.
• Outstanding communication and presentation skills, with a validated ability to craft compelling, high-level narratives for executive audiences.
• Deep experience in process optimization and driving technology-led transformation within a Finance or Operations organization.
• Ability to operate with a high degree of independence, manage ambiguity, and thrive in a fast-paced, sophisticated environment.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Proficiency with project management tools and financial systems.
• Validated experience demonstrating data and implementing AI or automation tools within a finance environment.
• Validated ability to build dashboards, cross-departmental KPIs, and present unified progress narratives to the CFO, CIO, and other C-suite executives.
• SQL or Python experience is considered a strong asset.

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 $183,400.00 to $232,400.00 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 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:

$183,400.00 - $267,300.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$174,600.00 - $257,200.00

* 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.