Leader, Project & Program Management- Finance

Job description

Meet the Team Cisco's Global Disbursements team is responsible for delivering world-class finance operations that are scalable, compliant, and customer-centric. As part of our transformation journey, we are focused on leveraging automation, AI, data analytics, and continuous improvement to simplify processes and enhance operational excellence across our global finance organization. Your Impact As a Delivery Excellence Manager , you will lead strategic transformation initiatives across Global Disbursements, driving operational excellence, governance, process optimization, and business outcomes. You will partner with global stakeholders to deliver projects, improve operational performance, strengthen controls, and foster a culture of innovation and continuous improvement. Key Responsibilities Lead end-to-end delivery of strategic projects, ensuring successful execution within agreed timelines, scope, quality, and business objectives. Drive transformation initiatives by identifying opportunities to simplify, standardize, automate, and optimize Accounts Payable and Global Disbursement processes. Partner with Finance, Operations, Compliance, Technology, and Business stakeholders to deliver scalable and sustainable process improvements. Establish and lead governance forums with internal teams and strategic partners to review project progress, resolve risks, and drive decision-making. Coordinate User Acceptance Testing (UAT), business validation, implementation readiness, and post-production support for new initiatives. Develop executive-ready presentations, dashboards, scorecards, and project communications for leadership updates and governance reviews. Build and maintain project plans, monitor milestones, manage dependencies, and proactively mitigate risks and issues. Lead cross-functional meetings to drive alignment, remove roadblocks, and ensure successful delivery across multiple workstreams. Develop Operational Excellence dashboards and KPI reporting packages to measure productivity, quality, compliance, customer experience, and operational performance. Apply Lean Six Sigma methodologies to eliminate waste, improve process efficiency, and enhance service delivery. Utilize data analytics to identify trends, root causes, risks, and opportunities, enabling informed business decisions. Ensure operational controls and regulatory compliance across US and Canada Accounts Payable operations while maintaining strong governance standards. Build trusted relationships with global business partners and promote a collaborative One Team culture across geographically dispersed teams. Coach and mentor project teams, fostering accountability, continuous learning, and a high-performance culture. Champion the adoption of AI-powered solutions and digital tools to improve operational efficiency and employee experience Minimum Qualifications Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, or a related field; MBA (Finance) preferred. 12–15+ years of progressive experience in Finance Operations, with significant expertise in Accounts Payable and Global Disbursements. Minimum 6–7 years of experience leading Delivery Excellence, Business Transformation, Program Management, or Operational Excellence initiatives. Strong knowledge of end-to-end Accounts Payable processes, financial controls, governance, and compliance. Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt Certification . Proven experience leading cross-functional, global transformation programs and driving measurable business outcomes. Strong project management skills with experience managing multiple initiatives simultaneously. Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making capabilities with proficiency in data analysis and reporting. Experience working with automation, AI-enabled solutions, ERP platforms (SAP/Oracle), Power BI, and process improvement tools is highly desirable. Outstanding communication, executive presentation, stakeholder management, and influencing skills. Demonstrated ability to thrive in a fast-paced, matrixed, and global environment while driving collaboration and innovation. 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.