Director, Strategy & Planning

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 08/17/2026 Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received . Meet the Team Americas Sales Strategy, Planning, and Operations (SP&O) is a dynamic organization where innovation and technology come together to help our sales teams deliver on customer outcomes. We partner closely with Sales Leadership, Operations, Finance, and Business Units to drive strategic initiatives that fuel sales growth. Our team is collaborative, forward-thinking, and focused on enabling success across the Americas Specialist sales organization. Your Impact As the Sales GTM Strategy, Planning & Operations Director reporting to the Senior Director, you will: Develop and execute annual and long-range strategic sales growth plans using structured frameworks and cross-functional partnerships. Orchestrate end-to-end planning integrating GTM Strategy, Operations, Readiness, Recognition, and Events to ensure timely delivery of key milestones. Own and govern the Americas Specialist sales cadence, including operating models, procedures, and rhythms. Partner with revenue operations on compensation and readiness activities supporting the Specialist group. Lead high-impact strategic sales initiatives aligned with organizational goals to drive transformation globally. Conduct data-driven market and competitive analyses to identify growth levers and advise GTM strategy. Serve as a strategic advisor to the Specialist sales leader (VP/SVP) on all Strategy, Planning, and Operations aspects. Lead and develop a dynamic Sales GTM Strategy Planning & Operations team to foster innovation and continuous improvement. Communicate growth plans and priorities clearly to senior executives and prepare leadership for strategic meetings. Collaborate cross-functionally with sales, marketing, product, and operations to ensure alignment and execution of initiatives. Advocate and implement change management practices to facilitate adoption of new strategies. Assess optimal allocation of coverage dollars across customers, regions, and products to maximize output. Minimum Qualifications 10+ years of experience in management consulting, GTM strategy, strategy planning, or sales with people leadership/management. Bachelor’s degree (BA/BS) required; MBA or equivalent experience preferred. Preferred Qualifications Proven experience in management consulting or equivalent, focusing on strategy planning and transformation within a sales context. Demonstrated success leading strategy teams and developing talent. Sales/GTM Strategy experience in the technology sector highly preferred. Strong skills in framing business problems, conducting complex quantitative and qualitative analysis, and building executive-level recommendations. Experience translating business priorities into actionable GTM programs including offer creation, campaigns, and enablement. Excellent communication and presentation skills with the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels. Demonstrated ability to lead strategic initiatives and drive transformation in a complex global organization. Self-starter with high initiative, able to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment. Curious, flexible, and collaborative with a growth mindset and a fail-forward attitude. 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 $200,600.00 to $258,400.00 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: $243,300.00 - $364,400.00 Non-Metro New York state & Washington state: $217,700.00 - $327,000.00 * 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.