Cloud & AI Strategy, Planning, & Ops Sr. Director Full-time

Application window has been extended and is expected to close on 12/13/24

Why You’ll Love Cisco

We change the World! You will become passionate about your employer and the brand you represent. Everything is converging on the Internet, making networked connections more meaningful than ever before in our lives. Our employees’ groundbreaking ideas impact everything. Here, that means we take creative ideas from the drawing board to dynamic solutions that have real world impact. You’ll collaborate with Cisco leaders, partner with mentors, and develop incredible relationships with colleagues who share your interest in connecting the unconnected. You’ll be part a team that cares about its customers, enjoys having fun, and you’ll take part in changing the lives of those in our local communities. Come prepared to be encouraged and inspired.

What You’ll Do:

• Conduct Strategic, Data-Driven Analyses: Advise GTM strategy that supports growth and scale of the global business. Define and leverage GTM levers to instrument growth-driven programs in our business.
• Executive Communication: Tell the Cloud and AI story in both what we do and what we will do to senior executives across product business unit and executive leadership teams.
• Cross-Functional Interaction: Proactively interact with cross-functional teams to better understand strengths and opportunities in the business, while aligning to action.
• Build Growth Plan: Develop a growth plan in pipe generation from efficient demand generation through marketing, partners, and the build-out of a repeatable sales play engine.
• Drive Customer Lifecycle: Drive our end-to-end customer lifecycle across the GTM, bringing together sales, customer success, and renewals into an integrated motion.
• Identify Growth Levers: Identify levers to grow across discrete new, renew, and expand sales motions.
• Strategic Assessment: Assess how best to spend a $1 of coverage against what customers, regions, products to increase output, including key strategic questions around renewals, customer success, field roles.

Who You’ll Work With:

Global Specialists is a dynamic organization, where innovation and technology come together to deliver customer outcomes. We need world-class talent who can design that plan to make our sales teams do just that. We are seeking a best-in-class Cloud and AI Strategy, Planning & Operations Senior Director to help shape strategy, build & implement operational plans, drive key initiatives that translate into sales growth in partnership with the Sales Leadership Team and cross-functional collaborators.

You will collaborate with a diverse set of leaders across Sales, Operations, Finance, and Business Units to align our strategies and drive our growth initiatives.

Who You Are:

You work for a mid-to-large sized tech company, where you’ve been instrumental in driving the GTM strategy. You have a proven track record of leading large, distributed teams to success, ensuring alignment across multiple departments such as Sales, Operations, and Finance. You possess deep expertise in the Technology industry and key performance metrics. Your experience with direct sales or channel sales, including resell, MSP, MSSP, and Service Provider channels, sets you apart. You excel in drawing insightful business conclusions from sophisticated data sets, and your strong executive-level presence enables you to present compelling recommendations and influence partners effectively. You bring your authentic self to work, contributing to our inclusive and diverse environment.

Our minimum requirements for this role:

• 12+ years’ experience in a combination of sales strategy, operations, or management consulting.
• BA/BS Degree

Desired Skills:

• Demonstrable experience partnering with executive sales leaders to achieve growth targets.
• Extensive experience working directly with Executive leadership and steering Executive alignment across multiple functional areas.
• Ability to motivate and lead cross-functional teams by example, even when challenges are extremely complex, and solutions are unclear.
• Consistent track record in cross-functional collaboration, establishing relationships, and driving successful outcomes in a matrixed environment.
• Project Execution: You have run programs that span approx. 6-12 months through to completion.
• Strong communications & influencing skills, experience speaking publicly & working with partners at all levels, producing exec level content and conducting exec conversations.
• Strong in framing & structuring business problems, prioritizing the effort, conducting complex quantitative and qualitative analysis, building an exec level story complete with recommendations.
• Data specialist, able to see the heart of the results or opportunities to drive action.
• Knowledge of CRM and Project Management tools.
• Data Center Networking, Compute or AI Strategy experience from either an IT/Networking company or consulting firm preferred.
• Curious and flexible, you enjoy variety and are willing to tackle different roles/responsibilities as business needs evolve.
• A standout colleague: You love a challenge, you’ve always got your teammate’s ask, and you’re inspired working with others to achieve success.
• Fail forward demeanor, leads as a natural innovator in the face of change and adversity.
• MBA or equivalent experience is preferred.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

Why Cisco?

#WeAreCisco. We are all unique, but collectively we bring our talents to work as a team, to develop innovative technology and power a more inclusive, digital future for everyone. How do we do it? Well, for starters – with people like you!

Nearly every internet connection around the world touches Cisco. We’re the Internet’s optimists. Our technology makes sure the data traveling at light speed across connections does so securely, yet it’s not what we make but what we make happen which marks us out. We’re helping those who work in the health service to connect with patients and each other; schools, colleges, and universities to teach in even the most challenging of times. We’re helping businesses of all shapes and sizes to connect with their employees and customers in new ways, providing people with access to the digital skills they need and connecting the most remote parts of the world – whether through 5G, or otherwise.

We tackle whatever challenges come our way. We have each other’s backs, we recognize our accomplishments, and we grow together. We celebrate and support one another – from big and small things in life to big career moments. And giving back is in our DNA (we get 10 days off each year to do just that).

We know that powering an inclusive future starts with us. Because without diversity and a dedication to equality, there is no moving forward. Our 30 Inclusive Communities, that bring people together around commonalities or passions, are leading the way. Together we’re committed to learning, listening, caring for our communities, whilst supporting the most vulnerable with a collective effort to make this world a better place either with technology, or through our actions.

So, you have colorful hair? Don’t care. Tattoos? Show off your ink. Like polka dots? That’s cool. Pop culture geek? Many of us are. Passion for technology and world changing? Be you, with us!

#WeAreCisco

Message to applicants applying to work in the U.S. and/or Canada:

When available, the salary range posted for this position reflects the projected hiring range for new hire, full-time salaries in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including equity or benefits. For non-sales roles the hiring ranges reflect base salary only; employees are also eligible to receive annual bonuses. Hiring ranges for sales positions include base and incentive compensation target. Individual pay is determined by the candidate’s hiring location and additional factors, including but not limited to skillset, experience, and relevant education, certifications, or training. Applicants may not be eligible for the full salary range based on their U.S. or Canada hiring location. The recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.

U.S. employees have to quality medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, short and long-term disability coverage, basic life insurance and numerous wellbeing offerings.

Employees receive up to twelve paid holidays per calendar year, which includes one floating holiday (for non-exempt employees), plus a day off for their birthday. Non-Exempt new hires accrue up to 16 days of vacation time off each year, at a rate of 4.92 hours per pay period. Exempt new hires participate in Cisco’s flexible Vacation Time Off policy, which does not place a defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use, but is subject to availability and some business limitations. All new hires are eligible for Sick Time Off subject to Cisco’s Sick Time Off Policy and will have eighty (80) hours of sick time off provided on their hire date and on January 1st of each year thereafter. Up to 80 hours of unused sick time will be carried forward from one calendar year to the next such that the maximum number of sick time hours an employee may have available is 160 hours. Employees in Illinois have a unique time off program designed specifically with local requirements in mind. All employees also have access to paid time away to deal with critical or emergency issues. We offer additional paid time to volunteer and give back to the community.

Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components. 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 up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid.