Strategy & Planning Manager, AI Product Operations

Cisco; Dallas (TX); On-site; USD 128,000 - 192,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco is seeking a Strategy & Planning Program Manager to lead high-priority AI operations initiatives that span AI strategy, product operations, governance, and business outcomes. You will coordinate cross-functional efforts across product, engineering, IT, security, legal, finance, procurement, and operations to turn strategy into governed programs.

You will enable accountable leaders to decide and execute through structured planning, risk management, and clear executive reporting, without

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and 10+ years of experience leading complex strategic programs, business planning initiatives, business operations, or product/go-to-market operations.
• 4+ years leading large, cross-functional initiatives in an operations-focused environment.
• Experience building integrated plans, executive governance, operating cadences, performance metrics, and risk/dependency management processes.
• Experience with AI tool support and user enablement.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic, cross-functional AI operations programs from initial framing through execution, transition, and closeout.
• Translate ambiguous objectives into a clear program structure: outcomes, scope, workstreams, sponsorship, measures, dependencies, decision rights, and path to delivery.
• Develop integrated execution plans that connect teams, milestones, assumptions, risks, and commitments across organizational boundaries.
• Establish processes and operating rhythms that accelerate decisions, surface tradeoffs early, and maintain accountability through delivery.
• Provide senior leaders with concise, decision-oriented visibility into program health, progress, risks, dependencies, and actions required.
• Improve execution systems and operating mechanisms so teams spend less time on manual coordination and reporting, and more time delivering strategic outcomes.
• Capture lessons learned, reusable templates, and scalable practices that strengthen future AI programs.

Skills

Strategic programs

Cross-functional leadership

Integrated plans

AI tools experience

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 09/16/2026

Meet the Team

The Product AI Operations team partners with leaders across Product, Engineering, IT, Security, Legal, Finance, Procurement, and Operations to deliver the organization’s most meaningful AI priorities. We build the operating mechanisms that make AI execution more predictable, scalable, and repeatable: coordinated plans, decision forums, shared metrics, risk and dependency management, operating cadences, and concise leadership reporting.

Your Impact

As a Strategy & Planning Program Manager on the Product AI Operations team, you will lead high-priority, complex initiatives that span AI strategy, product operations, engineering enablement, governance coordination, economics, adoption, and business outcomes. These programs often begin with an understood destination but an unclear path: ownership, dependencies, decisions, measures, and operating mechanisms must be defined and aligned. You will serve as the connective execution layer across the organization, turning AI strategy into actionable, governed programs. You will not own product strategy, technical design, engineering delivery, or commercial decisions; instead, you will enable accountable leaders to make timely decisions and execute effectively through coordinated planning, governance, risk management, and clear executive visibility.

In This Role, You Will

• Lead strategic, cross-functional AI operations programs from initial framing through execution, transition, and closeout.
• Translate ambiguous objectives into a clear program structure: outcomes, scope, workstreams, sponsorship, measures, dependencies, decision rights, and path to delivery.
• Develop integrated execution plans that connect teams, milestones, assumptions, risks, and commitments across organizational boundaries.
• Establish processes and operating rhythms that accelerate decisions, surface tradeoffs early, and maintain accountability through delivery.
• Provide senior leaders with concise, decision-oriented visibility into program health, progress, risks, dependencies, and actions required.
• Improve execution systems and operating mechanisms so teams spend less time on manual coordination and reporting, and more time delivering strategic outcomes.
• Capture lessons learned, reusable templates, and scalable practices that strengthen future AI programs.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and 10+ years of experience leading complex strategic programs, business planning initiatives, business operations, or product/go-to-market operations
• 4+ years leading large, cross-functional initiatives in an operations-focused environment
• Experience building integrated plans, executive governance, operating cadences, performance metrics, and risk/dependency management processes
• Experience with AI tool support and user enablement

Preferred Qualifications

• Exceptional communication and influence skills, including the ability to engage senior leaders, align diverse stakeholders, and drive decisions without direct authority.
• Strong analytical judgment and ability to turn complex information into clear recommendations, tradeoffs, and executive-ready updates.
• Experience in enterprise technology, SaaS, product management, product operations, go-to-market execution, or customer lifecycle programs.
• Familiarity with AI platforms, economics, and workflows.
• Experience working across product, engineering, sales, finance, customer success, and operations organizations.
• Experience with portfolio management, financial analysis, dashboards, CRM/reporting tools, and program-management methodologies.
• PMP, Agile, Scrum, or comparable program-management certification.

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 $128,400.00 to $191,600.00 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 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 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
• Non-...

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

$173,400.00 - $265,200.00

Non-Metro New York State & Washington State

$161,300.00 - $235,500.00

• 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.