Strategy & Planning Manager - Global Security & Networking Sales

Cisco; United States; Remote; USD 128,000 - 192,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco is seeking a Strategy & Planning Lead to architect executive narratives and decision frameworks. You will partner with S&P leadership to translate sales metrics and market dynamics into clear strategic priorities, bridging data analytics and strategy for leadership reviews.

You will drive cross-functional alignment, develop decision templates, and help leadership evaluate trade-offs and investment choices in a fast-growing security and networking portfolio.

Qualifications

• 6-8+ years in corporate strategy, management consulting, or sales strategy/operations.
• 3+ years of executive communication and narrative synthesis for senior audiences.
• 3+ years of structured problem solving with top-down analysis.
• 2+ years with business metrics, financial modeling, and sales analytics.
• 2+ years in a matrixed environment with cross-functional alignment.

Responsibilities

• Lead SLT/ELT narrative design and delivery of quarterly outlooks and strategic readouts.
• Structure ambiguous strategic problems across Security & Networking business units.
• Translate finance and operational data into executive-ready insights.
• Bridge BE, geo S&P leads, and teams to align central messaging and decisions.
• Develop governance models to enable executive trade-off evaluation and pivots.

Skills

Executive communication

Narrative synthesis

Data translation

Strategic storytelling

Problem solving

Stakeholder alignment

Education

MBA or equivalent

Tools

Excel

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 10/11/2026 The remote role is open to candidates who reside in the United States and no relocation benefits are available.

Meet the Team:

The Global Security & Networking Sales Strategy & Planning organization is the strategic Nerve center for Cisco's largest revenue streams. We operate at the intersection of strategy, sophisticated analytics, and go-to-market execution, directly partnering with sales leadership, Business Entity (BE) leaders, and operations. Our Strategy and Analytics team is responsible for crafting executive decision-making, architecting multi-year growth trajectories, and creating narratives delivered to Cisco's Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and Executive Leadership Team (ELT).

Your Impact:

As a Strategy & Planning Lead (Individual Contributor), you will be the primary architect of narratives and decision frameworks. You will partner directly with S&P leadership to define, structure, and articulate our global strategic priorities-translating sophisticated sales metrics, inflections, and market dynamics into compelling executive storylines. You will bridge the gap between deep data analytics and strategy, directly shaping how leadership evaluates performance, allocates investment, and brings together growth.

Key Responsibilities:

• SLT & ELT Executive Narrative Leadership: Drive the end-to-end design, narrative synthesis, and delivery of results, including Quarterly Business Outlooks (QBOs), ELT strategy reviews, and strategic readouts for senior leadership.
• Structured Strategic Problem Solving: Structure ambiguous, complex business challenges across Security & Networking (e.g., portfolio attach motions, pricing elasticity/ASP dynamics, competitive takeouts, and go-to-market model evolution).
• Strategic Storytelling & Data Translation: Partner with the Central Analytics & BI teams to distill financial, bookings, and operational data into clear, top-down, productive insights and executive decision support.
• Cross-Functional & BE Strategic Alignment: Serve as the bridge across Business Entities (BEs), Geo S&P leads, and team members to unify central messaging, establish decision templates, and drive consensus on key business asks.
• Executive Decision Governance: Develop streamlined presentation decision frameworks and governance models that enable sales leadership to evaluate trade-offs, align incentives, and implement high-impact strategic pivots.

Minimum Qualifications:

• 6-8+ years of progressive experience in corporate strategy, management consulting (top-tier firm preferred), or sales strategy & operations within a global technology enterprise.
• 3+ years of high level executive communication and narrative synthesis skills, with a proven record of authoring presentation materials for Director, VP, and executive-level audiences.
• 3+ years of mastery in structured problem solving, hypothesis-driven analysis, and top-down communication frameworks.
• 2+ years with command of business metrics, financial modeling, and sales performance analytics.
• 2+ years operating as an influential Individual Contributor (IC) in a highly matrixed environment, aligning cross-functional VP stakeholders without direct authority.

Preferred Qualifications:

• MBA from a premier institution or equivalent advanced degree.
• Management consulting background with direct engagement experience in tech, enterprise software, or networking/security verticals.
• Familiarity with enterprise networking, cybersecurity architectures, or recurring SaaS/subscription GTM business models.
• Experience driving cross-architecture strategic alignment across multiple business units or cross-functional teams.

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, a