New

Senior Director (Engineering Project & Program Management) - AI Platforms and Enablement

Cisco Systems, Inc.
$280,100.00 to $384,800.00
life insurance, vision insurance, parental leave, paid holidays, sick time, 401(k)
United States, California, San Jose
170 W Tasman Dr (Show on map)
Mar 25, 2026
The application window is expected to close on: 04/03/2026 Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received. Meet the Team The AI Platforms and Enablement team is the engine behind Cisco's internal AI transformation. Our mission is to build and scale CIRCUIT, Cisco's universal enterprise AI platform designed to collapse information silos and amplify productivity through intelligent, agentic experiences. CIRCUIT is more than a platform-it is the foundation for how Cisco will reimagine work through secure, scalable AI. Our team combines platform development with enterprise enablement, ensuring that business units can adopt AI capabilities, integrate proprietary data, and transform legacy workflows into intelligent, autonomous experiences. The organization operates through an Eight-Pillar CIRCUIT model spanning Platform Engineering, Solutions Engineering, Process Engineering, Product Management, UX Design, Technical Program Management, Innovation & Advanced Architecture, and Strategy & Operations. Together, these pillars balance specialized execution with cross-functional collaboration to move from invention to production at enterprise scale. Within this model, Technical Program Management is the Execution Engine-the function responsible for organizational velocity, cross-pillar synchronization, operational rigor, and delivery of Cisco's most strategic AI initiatives. Your Impact As the Sr. Director of Technical Program Management (TPM), you will lead the execution engine for the AI Platforms and Enablement organization. You will define and scale the TPM function to support CIRCUIT's platform roadmap, enterprise adoption strategy, and cross-functional operating model. Central to this role is operationalizing the Product-UX-TPM triangle: Product defines the "what," UX defines the "how," and TPM ensures the "when" is aligned, actionable, and delivered. Own the TPM pillar as a strategic leadership function. Hire, mentor, and develop a high-performing team, defining role clarity, career paths, and operating expectations to scale with the organization. Serve as a key member of the leadership team, acting as a strategic advisor to the VP of AI Platforms and Enablement. Translate strategic priorities into executable plans and ensure progress is visible, measurable, and aligned with enterprise outcomes. Mature the organization into a durable, high-performing model that balances startup velocity with enterprise rigor. Build an execution culture that prioritizes innovation, speed, and sustained scale. Establish the end-to-end program management framework for CIRCUIT, including governance, planning rhythms, portfolio reviews, milestone management, dependency tracking, escalation paths, and executive reporting. Introduce lean, agile, and AI-enabled methods to improve execution speed, predictability, and quality. Define and monitor operational metrics, specifically focusing on On-Time Delivery (OTD), decision velocity, and overall organizational health. Lead steering committees and cross-functional execution forums. Identify systemic execution risks early, resolve cross-team blockers, and maintain transparency regarding dependencies, tradeoffs, and delivery health. Lead the execution of interdependent programs across all eight CIRCUIT pillars (Product, UX, Platform Engineering, Solutions Engineering, Process Engineering, Innovation, and Strategy & Operations). Drive the delivery of high-impact initiatives, establishing standards, frameworks, and scalable patterns for AI adoption across Cisco,Coordinating deep integration across engineering, UX, platform, and enterprise teams. Executing strategic goals across orchestration, autonomous workflows, platform scale, and enterprise agent experiences. Minimum Qualifications Bachelor's or Master's degree or equivalent 15+ years of industry experience, preferably in technical program management, with proven experience in leadership experience managing senior TPMs or TPM leads in a complex, matrixed engineering organizations. Proven track record of leading large-scale, cross-functional programs that involve multiple business units and diverse technology stacks. Deep expertise in building and scaling high-performing TPM teams from the ground up. Strong experience with modern program management methodologies (Agile, Lean) and the ability to adapt them to a high-velocity AI environment. Preferred Qualifications Experience delivering AI/ML, cloud-native, platform, or enterprise software products at scale. Familiarity with developer platforms, APIs, desktop applications, enterprise integrations, or developer experience initiatives. Strong business and financial acumen, with the ability to connect execution priorities to adoption, ROI, and long-term strategy. Experience leading globally distributed or multi-site teams across complex organizational structures, influenceing senior stakeholders and drive alignment across competing priorities. Relevant certifications such as PMP, PgMP, or equivalent are a plus; however, proven leadership, technical depth, and execution excellence are paramount. 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 $280,100.00 to $384,800.00 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: $280,100.00 - $442,600.00 Non-Metro New York state & Washington state: $267,600.00 - $390,300.00 * 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.