Strategy & Planning Manager - Campus and Branch Networking (Remote)

020 Cisco Systems, Inc.; Milpitas (CA); Remote; USD 173,000 - 232,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision insurance

401(k) matching contributions

Paid parental leave

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. is seeking a Senior Program Manager to own the executive engagement program across key accounts and priority customer engagements. You will develop concise executive briefings, prep materials, and drive readiness discussions with senior leaders.

You will track commitments, lead strategic initiatives, and collaborate with Product, Engineering, Sales, and Marketing to ensure cohesive execution and measurable outcomes for Cisco’s Campus & Branch Networking initiatives.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree plus 8 years related experience, or Master’s degree with 6 years, or PhD with 3 years in strategy and planning, program management, or related field.
• Experience owning cross-functional programs involving senior executives.
• Experience analyzing financial, operational, product, customer, or market data.

Responsibilities

• Own the SVP/GM's executive engagement program across sponsored accounts and priority customer engagements.
• Develop concise executive briefings, agendas, talking points, and preparation materials.
• Track commitments and follow-up actions from engagements, assign owners and dates.
• Lead or support strategic and analytical initiatives identified by the Chief of Staff.
• Partner across Product, Engineering, Sales, and Marketing to align stakeholders.

Skills

Executive engagement

Cross-functional collaboration

Executive communication

Problem solving

Data-driven analysis

Education

Bachelor’s degree + 8+ years experience (or advanced degree)

Tools

Excel

Tableau

Power BI

SQL

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 11/19/2026 This role is open to remote within the Unites States.

MEET THE TEAM

The Campus & Branch Networking organization- covering Enterprise Switching, Wireless, Routing, SD-WAN, Cisco Spaces, and Cameras- drives the strategy and execution for Cisco's portfolio of networking solutions.

YOUR IMPACT

• Executive Engagement Ownership: Own the SVP/GM's executive customer engagement program across sponsored accounts and other priority customer engagements, managing program objectives, executive readiness, and outcome tracking to increase engagement impact.
• Executive Preparation and Readiness: Develop concise executive briefings, agendas, talking points, and preparation materials; lead readiness discussions and drive resolution of gaps and risks, advancing decisions where needed before customer engagements.
• Commitment and Action Follow-Through: Track commitments and follow-up actions from customer engagements, establish clear owners and dates, drive actions through completion, and gather outcomes and recurring themes.
• Strategic Initiative Leadership: Lead or support selected strategic and analytical initiatives identified by the Chief of Staff. Structure business challenges into actionable work plans, employing data-driven fact bases to test assumptions and provide clear strategic recommendations.
• Cross-Functional Orchestration: Partner across Product, Engineering, Sales, and Marketing to align stakeholders, identify dependencies, and ensure cohesive execution of both programs and initiatives.
• Operational Scalability: Build and implement repeatable templates, cadences, and tracking mechanisms that increase efficiency, transparency, and consistency across executive programs.
• Executive Advisory: Synthesize data into decision-ready briefings and communication materials that clearly articulate business issues, trade-offs, and critical next steps for senior leadership.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelors + 8 years of related experience, or Masters + 6 years of related experience, or PhD + 3 years of related experience in strategy and planning, program management, product operations, or a related field.
• Experience owning cross-functional programs involving senior executives.
• Experience structuring ambiguous business problems, establishing a fact base, evaluating options and trade-offs, and developing practical recommendations.
• Experience analyzing financial, operational, product, customer, or market data using tools such as Excel and business intelligence platforms.
• Experience preparing executive briefings, communicating complex business topics, and influencing senior stakeholders without direct authority.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience owning cross-functional programs involving customer-facing teams and multiple partner organizations in a fast-paced, matrixed environment.
• Experience designing and managing executive customer engagement programs and individual meetings involving senior company and customer leaders, including stakeholder alignment, briefing preparation, meeting coordination, and action follow-through.
• Experience combining detailed operational execution with strategic and analytical problem-solving.
• Experience partnering with Sales and account teams on executive customer engagements, account planning, or customer success programs.
• Experience in management consulting, corporate strategy, strategy and operations, or a similar strategic role, preferably in enterprise technology or networking.
• Experience using data-visualization or analytical tools, such as Tableau, Power BI, or SQL, to identify trends and communicate business insights.

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 $173,400.00 to $231,800.00 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 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.

• 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.

Cisconians power the future. We make impact as a team, innovating fast and fearlessly to create meaningful solutions on a large scale. The depth and breadth of our technology doesn't just benefit our customers – it also means limitless opportunities for us to experiment and learn. We understand the power each of our unique backgrounds bring when we work together. Because of that, we have a global network of thinkers, doers, experts, and curious creators who help one another do their life's best work.