Strategy & Operations Manager, CX Marketing

Strategy & Operations Manager, CX Marketing

The Customer Experience (CX) Marketing team's role is to differentiate and elevate Cisco as an advanced customer experience that is personalized, proactive, and predictive.

About the Role:

We are seeking an experienced and proactive Chief of Staff to support the VP of CX Marketing. This position is central to driving operational excellence, fostering team engagement, and advancing strategic initiatives across the CX Marketing organization. The ideal candidate will be a highly-organized and collaborative leader, adept at managing complex projects, facilitating effective communication, and ensuring alignment across diverse teams.

Key Responsibilities:

• Strategic Planning & Execution
  • Lead quarterly engagement pulse conversations, synthesizing insights and driving follow-up actions to enhance team engagement.
  • Organize and facilitate annual team kickoffs, quarterly strategy sessions, and offsites, focusing on strategic alignment and measurable outcomes.
  • Collaborate on key transformation projects, partnering with contractors and internal teams to deliver high-impact results.
  • Stand up new initiatives, ensuring robust processes and enabling teams to achieve self-sufficiency.
• Operational Excellence
  • Manage quarterly budgeting cycles and ongoing budget planning with the CX Marketing team.
  • Oversee headcount requests and resource planning across the CX Marketing organization, ensuring optimal team structures.
  • Coordinate with the VP's Executive Assistant (EA) to schedule and track key meetings and action items for accountability.
• Team Engagement & Culture
  • Run the CX Marketing monthly all-hands, recognizing and celebrating team achievements.
  • Champion morale-boosting activities, including organizing swag purchases and fun team events.
  • Support change management efforts, drafting key communications and facilitating a smooth transition during organizational changes.
• Leadership Enablement
  • Drive business value estimation workshops with leaders and stakeholders, ensuring initiatives are prioritized for impact.
  • Assist in managing the CX Marketing Leadership Team weekly agendas, driving follow-ups and ensuring alignment.
  • Organize Weekly Stand up Meeting, sourcing topics and questions in advance to foster productive discussions.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business Administration, or related field (MBA preferred).
• 7+ years of experience in marketing, operations, or chief of staff roles, ideally within a large, matrixed organization.
• Demonstrated ability to manage cross-functional projects, drive organizational change, and enhance team engagement.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong organizational and analytical abilities, with attention to detail.
• Proven experience managing budgets, headcount planning, and executive-level communications.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment and adapt to shifting priorities.

#WeAreCisco where every individual brings their unique skills and perspectives together to pursue our purpose of powering an inclusive future for all.

Our passion is connection—we celebrate our employees' diverse set of backgrounds and focus on unlocking potential. Cisconians often experience one company, many careers where learning and development are encouraged and supported at every stage. Our technology, tools, and culture pioneered hybrid work trends, allowing all to not only give their best, but be their best.

We understand our outstanding opportunity to bring communities together and at the heart of that is our people. One-third of Cisconians collaborate in our 30 employee resource organizations, called Inclusive Communities, to connect, foster belonging, learn to be informed allies, and make a difference. Dedicated paid time off to volunteer—80 hours each year—allows us to give back to causes we are passionate about, and nearly 86% do!

Our purpose, driven by our people, is what makes us the worldwide leader in technology that powers the internet. Helping our customers reimagine their applications, secure their enterprise, transform their infrastructure, and meet their sustainability goals is what we do best. We ensure that every step we take is a step towards a more inclusive future for all. Take your next step and be you, with us!

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 $199,200.00 to $273,800.00 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.