Strategy & Planning Manager

Cisco Systems, Inc.; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 199,000 - 274,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. is seeking a Strategy & Planning Manager within the Observability organization to drive annual and long-range planning, QBRs, and strategic business analysis.

You will connect business and financial performance across Product and go-to-market functions, developing actionable recommendations for leadership. Responsibilities include leading planning processes, evaluating opportunities, and delivering clear strategic narratives to guide investments, priorities, and execution

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and 10-12+ years of related professional experience.
• Experience leading annual planning, long-range planning, and/or QBR processes across multiple business functions.
• Experience performing quantitative business and financial analysis to develop business cases, forecasts, strategic recommendations, or investment plans.
• Experience in go-to-market strategy or planning, including sales pipeline, pricing, revenue, or related metrics.
• Experience developing and presenting strategic recommendations based on analysis of business performance, financial data, and market trends.

Responsibilities

• Lead annual, long-range, and Quarterly Business Review (QBR) planning processes with cross-functional partners to translate priorities into measurable plans.
• Perform quantitative business and financial analysis to evaluate opportunities, resource allocation, and investments, providing leadership-ready recommendations.
• Analyze go-to-market and business performance metrics to identify opportunities, risks, and performance gaps.
• Synthesize complex business and financial information into clear executive-level narratives for strategy reviews.
• Lead cross-functional strategic initiatives and projects, driving alignment and execution across teams.

Skills

Strategic planning

Financial analysis

Go-to-market

Executive presentation

Cross-functional leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 10/25/2026

Meet the Team

Join the Observability organization as part of a growing Strategy & Planning team responsible for driving strategic planning, business performance, and cross-functional execution. The team partners closely with Finance, Sales, Marketing, Customer Success, Product, and Engineering to align business priorities, investments, and resources to drive business growth.

Your Impact

As a Strategy & Planning Manager, you will help shape and drive the strategic direction of the Observability business through annual and long-range planning, Quarterly Business Reviews, and strategic business analysis. You will connect business and financial performance across Product and go-to-market functions, develop actionable recommendations, and partner with leaders across the organization to drive strategic priorities and execution.

Specific responsibilities include:

• Lead annual, long-range, and Quarterly Business Review (QBR) planning processes, partnering with Finance, Sales, Marketing, Customer Success, Product, and Engineering to translate business priorities into measurable plans and outcomes.

• Perform quantitative business and financial analysis to evaluate strategic opportunities, business cases, resource allocation, and investment decisions, providing recommendations to leadership.

• Analyze go-to-market and business performance, including sales pipeline, pricing, revenue, product priorities, and operational metrics, to identify opportunities, risks, and performance gaps.

• Serve as a strategic subject matter expert and partner to leadership, synthesizing complex business and financial information into clear recommendations and compelling business narratives.

• Lead cross-functional strategic initiatives and projects, driving alignment, accountability, and execution across teams to deliver against organizational priorities.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and 10-12+ years of related professional experience.

• Experience leading annual planning, long-range planning, and/or Quarterly Business Review (QBR) processes across multiple business functions.

• Experience performing quantitative business and financial analysis to develop business cases, forecasts, strategic recommendations, or investment plans.

• Experience in go-to-market strategy or planning, including experience with sales pipeline, pricing, revenue, or related commercial business metrics.

• Experience developing and presenting strategic recommendations based on analysis of business performance, financial data, and/or market trends.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in SaaS, cloud, cybersecurity, observability, or enterprise technology.

• Experience partnering with Finance, Sales, Marketing, Customer Success, Product, and Engineering organizations.

• Experience with resource allocation, headcount planning, budget planning, or investment planning.

• Experience developing executive-level business reviews, strategic presentations, or operating plans.

• Experience leading complex, cross-functional strategic initiatives in a large technology organization.

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 $198,500.00 to $273,800.00 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:

$198,500.00 - $324,100.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$180,200.00 - $278,600.00

* 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.