Strategic Operations Manager: Planning & Execution

Cisco; Phoenix (AZ); On-site; USD 135,000 - 176,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco is seeking a Business Operations Manager to partner across product, engineering, finance, and operations, translating business needs into structured workflows and actionable insights.

You will manage operating rhythms, dashboards, and cross-functional plans to drive priority execution, resource alignment, and risk management in a fast-paced tech environment. This role emphasizes data-driven decision making and scalable processes to support leadership decisions.

Qualifications

• Bachelors + 8 years of related experience, or Masters + 6 years of related experience, or PhD + 3 years of related experience, or equivalent relevant work experience.
• 3+ years of experience in business operations, business planning, program management, product operations, go-to-market operations, or a comparable operational role.
• Experience supporting cross-functional planning, operating cadences, reporting, or process improvement in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience using data to analyze and develop insights, track performance, and support business decisions.

Responsibilities

• Manage business operating rhythms, including planning cycles, team cadences, action tracking, and follow-up on key decisions and commitments.
• Build and maintain reporting, dashboards, and performance metrics that help leaders understand business health, progress against priorities, and emerging issues.
• Coordinate cross-functional workstreams by maintaining plans, dependencies, meeting outcomes, risks, and stakeholder communications.
• Analyze operational data and team feedback to identify trends, gaps, and opportunities to improve processes, resource use, and execution.
• Support annual and quarterly planning by collecting inputs, consolidating plans, tracking milestones, and preparing concise materials for leadership reviews.
• Design, document, and continuously improve scalable processes, templates, and operating mechanisms that reduce manual work and improve consistency.
• Enable teams to adopt business tools and automation that improve visibility, accountability, and speed of execution.

Skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Data analysis

Planning & scheduling

Problem solving

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher

8+ years experience in related field

Advanced degree (MS/PhD) a plus

Tools

Airtable

CRM/reporting tools

Dashboards & reporting

Job description

Cisco is seeking a Business Operations Manager to partner across product, engineering, finance, and operations, translating business needs into structured workflows and actionable insights.

You will manage operating rhythms, dashboards, and cross-functional plans to drive priority execution, resource alignment, and risk management in a fast-paced tech environment. This role emphasizes data-driven decision making and scalable processes to support leadership decisions.