Chief of Staff (Campus Networking) - Sr.… at Cisco · San Jose

Chief of Staff (Campus Networking) - Sr. Strategy and Planning Director Location: San Jose, California, US The application window is expected to close on: 05/04/2026 Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received. Meet the Team As the Chief of Staff to the SVP/GM of Campus Networking (including Ent Switching, Wireless, Cisco Spaces & Cameras), you will play a critical role in driving the effectiveness of our executive leadership. Beyond coordinating operations, this role acts as a strategic thought partner and proxy for the SVP/GM in key forums, helping shape priorities and represent the business when the SVP/GM is not present.  You will be responsible for fostering team alignment with our company's strategic vision and leading all aspects of the execution of pivotal business operations and team engagement activities. This role combines strategic insight with a deep understanding of operational rhythms to ensure our team's objectives are met with precision and agility. The successful candidate anticipates needs, resolves issues early, and operates with a high degree of autonomy and judgment. Your Impact A catalyst for change and a beacon of operational excellence, you possess the strategic acumen and interpersonal finesse required to navigate complex business landscapes. Your organizational prowess and leadership skills enable you to drive initiatives that nurture a positive and results-driven team environment. You anticipate what needs to be done without detailed direction and are comfortable operating behind the scenes to keep the organization moving. You influence relationships and data rather than authority, resolving conflicts quietly and escalating only when necessary. You are resilient and persistent in driving change in complex, matrixed environments. Team Effectiveness: Review and optimize operations cadence, ensuring alignment with broader company goals. Codify and continuously improve the operating rhythm (QBOs, monthly reviews, staff meetings) so they run as standardized, low‑friction processes. Own and drive Operational rhythm, including: Strategic planning: Long Range Planning, QBOs. Run the business: Staff meetings, OKRs. Portfolio planning. Budget planning. Internal and External Communications & Engagement: Plan and execute internal team events, meetings, and communication strategies. Collaborate with P&C and Operations Leader to strengthen team dynamics and execute staff meetings and leadership offsites. Act as a sounding board for key initiatives, filtering ideas to maintain focus on objectives. Address cultural challenges within the inner team to ensure fair and transparent decision-making processes. Cultivate a culture where the advisory team serves as a support mechanism without equal decision-making authority. SVP Effectiveness Accompany SVP in key customer meetings and events, acting as a buffer and providing feedback. Act as SVP’s proxy in decision forums when appropriate, bringing a deep understanding of strategy, priorities, and trade‑offs. Provide direct feedback to SVP on any behavior affecting team morale. Serve as an objective sounding board, providing direct feedback grounded in business impact and team health. Strategic Operations: Manage operations for the executive team, including meetings, submissions, and strategic initiatives. Provide oversight to ensure actions align with team capacity and objectives. Conduct regular reviews to maintain an efficient workflow. Assess and optimize the workload for the operations team. Strategic Initiatives Oversee and drive strategic transformation initiatives and ELT level projects for Campus Networking. Prioritize and gate incoming work to protect team and executive capacity, pushing back or resequencing where needed based on impact. Collaborate with central BI resources and ensure strategic alignment. Demonstrate an understanding of how data can be misinterpreted or manipulated and bring healthy skepticism to metrics and dashboards. Collaborate across technology owners, central licensing, CX, and other stakeholders to drive clarity and alignment in a complex, often contentious space. Minimum Qualifications: BA or BS (Preferably Finance or Business Administration or Engineering) and/or an equivalent 15+ years of industry experience. Proven experience in strategic planning, portfolio management, budget planning, and optimizing operational rhythms to support executive leadership. 8+ years of experience influencing stakeholders and driving initiatives within complex, matrixed organizations without direct authority, preferably in technology or networking sector, experience acting as an executive proxy with a deep understanding of business impact. Includes 5+ years managing large-scale strategic initiatives, leading teams with a critical approach to data and metrics. Preferred Qualifications: Extensive internal and industry network and comfortable working in a cross-functional team environment that is global in reach. Strong proficiency with the following software tools: Smartsheet, SharePoint, Microsoft Project, Excel, Word, Visio & PowerPoint. Strong organizational, leadership skills, strategic thinking and problem-solving capabilities. Commitment and ability to drive cultural change and team engagement. Experience and agility in being able to pivot and align on change and new priorities. Experience in leading large cross-functional programs including transformation programs. passionate about digitization, process, and role. 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 $287,200.00 to $364,300.00 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: $287,200.00 - $418,900.00 Non-Metro New York state & Washington state: $252,700.00 - $374,400.00 * 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.