Real Estate Lead, Americas

Cisco Systems; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 149,000 - 208,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) with Cisco matching

Paid parental leave

Disability insurance

Life insurance

RSU grants

Holidays & leave

Volunteer days

Job summary

Cisco Systems seeks a Real Estate Lead for the Americas to oversee lease transactions and administration across North and Latin America. You will manage a multi-year real estate budget exceeding $100M and guide high-profile transactions from regional hubs to data centers.

You will partner with Workplace Resources teams to shape occupancy plans, build executive-ready financial models, and drive innovative analytics across the portfolio.

Qualifications

• Seasoned corporate real estate leader with 9+ years in multi-market portfolios.
• Proven track record of leading large leases and complex market strategies in the Americas.
• Strong financial fluency including capital budgeting and GAAP lease accounting.
• Knowledge of site due diligence, easements, CEQA/SEPA, and local entitlements.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end lease negotiations, acquisitions, renewals, subleases, and dispositions.
• Shape regional portfolio strategy with WPR teams for Cisco’s occupancy needs.
• Build data-driven business cases and present to Senior Leadership.
• Integrate AI tools to streamline lease administration and governance.
• Coordinate with brokers, developers, and legal to ensure compliant execution.
• Collaborate with Design & Construction, Workplace Operations, Legal, Tax, Finance, and Sustainability.

Skills

Executive negotiation

Executive presence

Financial modeling

US GAAP lease accounting

Portfolio leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Data-driven storytelling

AI tools integration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Finance/Real Estate/Engineering

MBA preferred

Professional designations (CoreNet/ RICS)

Tools

Financial modeling software

Job description

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

Locations: San Jose (Bay Area), RTP

About the Team

At Cisco, our Workplace Resources (WPR) organization is reimagining the future of work. We design, build, and operate dynamic physical and digital environments that empower our global teams to collaborate, innovate, and thrive.

Within WPR, the Real Estate Strategy & Planning team acts as the strategic architect of Cisco’s corporate footprint. We translate evolving business priorities into agile, high-value real estate strategies across both enterprise office hubs and mission-critical technical infrastructure.

What You’ll Do

As the Real Estate Lead for the Americas for our lease transactions and lease administration across North and Latin America, you will manage an annual real estate budget exceeding $100M USD and lead marquee transactions—from large-scale regional hubs to specialized data center facilities.

• Drive High-Impact Transactions: Lead end-to-end lease negotiations, acquisitions, renewals, subleases, and dispositions, crafting creative commercial deal structures that mitigate cost while maximizing operational value, enabling experience and flexibility.
• Shape Regional Portfolio Strategy: Partner directly with our WPR teams to collaboratively advise and create solutions for our businesses’ occupational needs regarding where and how Cisco should expand, consolidate, or reposition leased properties.
• Build Executive Business Cases: Build, review, and utilize data-driven financial models (cash flow, P&L, and US GAAP lease accounting) to present compelling recommendations to Senior Leadership.
• Champion Innovation & AI: Identify and integrate AI tools and modern analytics to streamline lease administration, critical date governance, market benchmarking, and executive portfolio reporting.
• Orchestrate Global Partners: Direct premier brokerage firms, development advisors, and legal counsel to ensure best-in-class execution and adherence to lease obligations, building codes, local land-use, environmental, and municipal guidelines.
• Collaborate Cross-Functionally: Advise and integrate the needs of Design & Construction, Workplace Operations, Legal, Tax, Finance, and Sustainability into our leases and operating practices to ensure strong team partnership in the wider project delivery to our business clients.

Minimum Requirements

You are a seasoned, strategic corporate real estate professional who pairs deep commercial negotiation experience with polished executive presence. You know how to distill complex market dynamics and legal nuances into clear, actionable business storytelling.

• Proven Portfolio Leadership: 9+ years of progressive corporate real estate, transaction management, or property investment experience managing large, multi-market corporate portfolios.
• Transaction & Scale Acumen: Demonstrated track record of leading large commercial leases and complex market strategies across the Americas; international experience will also be considered.
• Market Versatility: Strong background navigating diverse commercial markets, with familiarity in tech office dynamics and data center / mission-critical environments.
• Financial & Analytical Fluency: Adept at real estate financial modeling, capital budgeting, and translating US GAAP/lease accounting principles into strategic decisions.
• Regulatory & Entitlement Savvy: Working knowledge of site due diligence, easements, environmental considerations (such as CEQA/SEPA), and local municipal approval processes.
• Education & Credentials: Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Real Estate, Engineering, or a related field (MBA preferred). Industry designations such as MCR (CoreNet) or RICS, with financial modeling, project management, or Lean Six Sigma skills as differentiators.

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 $148,800.00 to $208,200.00 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 location(s) 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.

• 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:

$148,800.00 - $238,300.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$143,600.00 - $211,900.00

• 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.

Cisco is an Affluent Action and Equal Opportunity Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, genetic information, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis.

Cisco will consider for employment, on a case by case basis, qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.