Customer Program Manager

This role leads and manages the full lifecycle of customer-facing projects and programs across Cisco technologies, from initiation through planning, execution, and closure, ensuring alignment with customer business goals and Cisco's strategic objectives. The position is accountable for the successful execution of projects and programs, including scope, schedule, budget, quality, and customer satisfaction, and provides regular updates to Service Delivery Managers (SDMs) and Customer Experience Managers (CXMs) to ensure transparency and alignment across delivery and customer adoption goals. Responsibilities include managing project-level budget execution, ensuring operational excellence through accurate project reflection in Cisco's systems and tools, overseeing financial forecasting and reporting, and maintaining compliance with delivery governance standards. The role also coordinates with Cisco's vendor management teams to source bids, recommend partner selections, and create statements of work (SOW) and terms and conditions (T&Cs), while collaborating with SDMs, who have final accountability for partner selection, SOW approval, and performance. The position operates within industry methodologies such as PMI and Agile, and Cisco's operational processes, ensuring compliance, financial responsibility, and rigorous governance through structured communications, risk and issue management, and stakeholder alignment. Additional duties include maintaining project governance by managing invoicing, payment tracking, and forecasting processes, executing change management strategies to ensure operational discipline and adherence to Cisco's business standards, applying AI and automation tools to streamline planning, reporting, risk detection, and closeout activities, and championing continuous improvement through lessons learned, retrospectives, and knowledge sharing across teams and engagements.
What You’ll Do:
•Typically responsible for delivery of large-scale, strategic projects or programs, ensuring profitability and customer satisfaction
•Leads cross-functional collaboration across Cisco, partners, and customers to ensure alignment on scope, delivery process, and operational governance
•Drives alignment with customer stakeholders and provides technical oversight
•Ensures strategic delivery data is accurately reflected across Cisco systems to support governance, forecasting, and partner alignment
•Shapes delivery approaches based on deep understanding of customer business and lifecycle
•Acts as a trusted advisor to high-value leaders (e.g., IT and CXOs) influencing key business decisions
•Expands customer relationships and opportunities, partnering with a range of Cisco stakeholders to offer tailored and comprehensive solutions
•Coordinates and negotiates contract change requests with customers and sales teams in support of Service Delivery, may lead the process in the absence of an assigned Service Delivery Manager to ensure continuity and alignment with delivery objectives
•Presents program status and areas requiring decisions to executives, and leverages cross-functional purview to inform status discussions
•Leads planning, design, and implementation of complex project plans and delivery timelines that address current customer needs and anticipate future challenges
•Oversees execution across workstreams, monitors delivery health, and activates early interventions in collaboration with SDM and CXM
•Anticipates and mitigates cross-functional risks through scenario planning, resource reallocation, and stakeholder alignment
•Monitors delivery performance and financial health using Cisco tools, ensuring accurate tracking in revenue, cost, and margin across Cisco’s operational tools
•Manages partner coordination and oversees contract change management processes, ensuring SOWs and T&Cs align with delivery and financial plans
•Provides project/program expertise and leverages in-depth knowledge of multiple engineering/technical domains to achieve program outcomes
•Shapes delivery plans using deep understanding of product capabilities, limitations, and integration points
•Partners with engineering and AI teams to identify automation or transformation opportunities aligned with program goals and customer outcomes
•Leads cross-project continuous improvement initiatives, driving adoption of best practices and reusable assets
•Coaches project teams on technical delivery standards
•Enhances customer partnerships by co-developing innovative solutions, and influencing high-value outcomes
•Synthesizes customer feedback and collaborates cross-functionally to prioritize and advocate for enhancements to Cisco services and solutions
•Drives unified engagement by aligning efforts across Delivery, Sales, and Business Development
•Provides leadership and mentorship to project/program managers; influences organizational practices, shapes team norms and drives engagement consistency
•Contributes thought leadership through participation in industry events such as Cisco Live and IETF forums
Minimum Qualifications:
Bachelors + 8 years of related experience, or
Masters + 6 years of related experience, or
PhD + 3 years of related experience, or
equivalent relevant work experience
PMP and CPMAI expected
Preferred Qualifications:
Additional professional certifications preferred
Technical certification preferred (e.g., CCST Networking, CCST Security, CCNA)

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.

Why Cisco?

Cisconians power the future. We make impact as a team, innovating fast and fearlessly to create meaningful solutions on a large scale. The depth and breadth of our technology doesn't just benefit our customers – it also means limitless opportunities for us to experiment and learn. We understand the power each of our unique backgrounds bring when we work together. Because of that, we have a global network of thinkers, doers, experts, and curious creators who help one another do their life’s best work.