Leader, Product Management Coherent Optics - Acacia (Hybrid)

Acacia Business Unit Leadership Opportunity

This is a hybrid position and will require being in office 2-3 days per week. Preference will be for candidates based in San Jose, CA or Maynard, MA.

Acacia, now a part of Cisco, is a global leader in the design and manufacture of high-speed coherent optical interconnect products. We are the architects behind the technology that transforms how data centers, cloud providers, and service providers connect. By pioneering breakthroughs in Silicon Photonics and Digital Signal Processing (DSP), Acacia is shrinking complex, power-hungry optical systems into high-performance, pluggable modules that scale the internet for the future.

As part of the Acacia team at Cisco, you will work on the cutting edge of 400G, 800G, and 1.2T technologies. We are a group of innovators dedicated to solving the world's most difficult bandwidth and power-efficiency challenges. If you are passionate about pushing the boundaries of physics and engineering to build a faster, more connected world, Acacia is where you belong.

Your Impact

We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced professional to lead and expand the coherent optical business within Cisco's Acacia business unit. This role combines technical expertise, strategic vision, and customer engagement to accelerate Cisco's leadership in coherent pluggables for service providers, enterprises, and AI infrastructure networks.

The ideal candidate can move fluidly between technology, business development, and customer strategy—driving design wins, strengthening partnerships, and aligning product execution with market needs.

• Lead customer-facing initiatives to position Cisco's coherent optics as the preferred solution for high-capacity optical networks.
• Drive cross-functional efforts between engineering and sales to execute on design wins and key customer programs.
• Develop and manage a comprehensive sales funnel to track opportunities, forecast demand, and accelerate growth.
• Deliver presentations and training to customers, sales, and SAE teams to communicate product value and differentiation.
• Partner with Cisco Sales, Product Management, and Marketing to align on product strategy, roadmap, and go-to-market plans.
• Manage key ecosystem and technology alliances to ensure product and solution success.
• Build strong relationships with cloud, enterprise, and service provider customers to identify new opportunities and strengthen Cisco's market presence.
• Gather market intelligence and competitive insights to guide long-term business and product strategy.
• Represent Cisco and Acacia at industry conferences, technology forums, and customer events to promote thought leadership.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in electrical or computer engineering or related field.
• 10+ years of relevant experience in high-speed optics, silicon photonics and/or coherent optical products, ideally with exposure to cloud, datacenter, or AI infrastructure markets.
• Demonstrated experience in product, sales, marketing, or business development for hyperscale or service provider customers.

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated ability to analyze new market segments, define product opportunities, and drive adoption.
• Exceptional communication, interpersonal, and presentation skills, including experience presenting to internal and external executives.
• Strong cross-functional leadership with a track record of working effectively across engineering, sales, and operations teams.
• Highly motivated, self-driven, and comfortable managing multiple priorities in a dynamic business environment.

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 $168,800.00 to $241,200.00 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.

The applicable full salary ranges for this position, by specific state, are listed below:

New York City Metro Area:

$168,800.00 - $277,400.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$148,800.00 - $248,200.00

* 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.