Business Operations Manager

The Data Center and Internet Infrastructure team is critical in crafting the future of networking and compute solutions for enterprise, hyperscalers, and service provider customers. This team is instrumental in advancing Cisco's critical initiatives, which include modernizing enterprise infrastructure, adopting AI technologies, and redefining service provider networks through innovative architectures and solutions. 

As a Business Operations Manager within the Data Center and Internet Infrastructure (DCII) product organization, you will serve as a key operational strategist and partner. You will work closely with executive leadership to drive the rhythm of the business, streamline operations across the entire DCII organization, and champion initiatives that define our culture and competitive edge. This role requires a blend of operational rigor, strategic communication, and a passion for leveraging emerging technologies to improve organizational efficiency. 

• Central Operational Leadership: Act as an operational partner overseeing core operational cadences, the rhythm of the business, support the measurement of our strategic priorities, and ensure follow-up is rigorously tracked across the entire organization. 
• Employee Experience & Onboarding: Own the end-to-end employee lifecycle experience. This includes designing and managing a best-in-class onboarding program for new hires and leading the organizational internship program to build our pipeline of talent. 
• AI Strategy & Advocacy: Support the DCII AI Ambassador program. You will be responsible for identifying opportunities to implement AI tools to optimize workflows, sharing best practices across the organization, and driving AI literacy. 
• Executive Communication & Wins: Collaborate with Executive Communications to document, socialize, and celebrate critical customer wins. You will be responsible for maintaining a consistent data collection process regarding our customer impact and success in the market. 
• Strategic Initiatives: Lead high-impact, cross-functional projects that require complex stakeholder management and drive toward measurable business outcomes. 

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. 

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:

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

* 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.

• Experience in high-tech business operations, chief of staff roles, program management, or a similar function.   
• Experience with the Microsoft Office (such as SharePoint, Excel, Word, PowerPoint) 
• Experience using AI platforms such as Codex, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, ChatGBT 
• Bachelors + 8 years of related experience, or Masters + 6 years of related experience, or equivalent relevant work experience 

• Demonstrated experience using AI tools for business productivity and a strong desire to stay at the forefront of AI innovation. 
• Expertise in managing end-to-end programs, from planning and cross-functional alignment through execution, measurement, and continuous improvement. 
• Ability to identify operational bottlenecks and proactively implement scalable solutions. 
• Exceptional written and oral communication skills; ability to synthesize complex information into compelling narratives for executive audiences.