Director, Operations

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 08/28/2026Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received. Location: Anywhere in U.S. Meet the Team The Cisco Cyber Security, Trust and Compliance team is at the heart of Cisco’s dedication to cyber security, privacy, and digital integrity across Cisco. Our team forms the backbone of Cisco efforts to deliver industry leading market access and compliance and helping Cisco to implement foundational cyber security based on industry standards. We are a diverse group of technical, business and policy experts dedicated to building a secure future for our customers, partners, and the global digital economy in the age of AI. By bridging the gap between complex and rapidly evolving regulatory landscapes, advancing adoption of cyber security foundational standards, and driving critical market access certifications, our team plays a meaningful role in driving growth and supporting revenue through market access. In addition, this team plays a crucial role in leading technical and policy-level cyber security consultations with key global governments, standards organizations, and inspiring change within the industry to advance cyber security. Your Impact As a leader within this organization, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the operational strategy that safeguards our global compliance portfolio. You will orchestrate complex cross-functional efforts, ensuring our security posture remains robust, agile, and aligned with evolving international regulations. Your core responsibilities will include: Leading organizational operational functions that go across cloud, software, and on-premise compliance portfolios. Supporting our efforts in strategic country engagement team to ensure seamless global regulatory alignment with our compliance operations and the company’s overall cyber security objectives. Driving leadership for EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) compliance and managing the customer trust implications of major industry evolutions like the use of frontier AI models in Project Glasswing. Integrating overall team operations with Cisco’s Product Organization to drive alignment and prioritization. Prioritizing Sales and customer requirements to ensure our compliance efforts directly support revenue growth and customer success. Managing complex budgeting, forecasting, and multi-vendor relationships to optimize operational efficiency. Accelerating the transition to AI-enabled compliance, leveraging automation to improve speed and accuracy. Minimum Qualifications 10+ years of substantive work experience related to technology, cybersecurity, or complex operational environments. Demonstrated deep expertise in the cybersecurity domain. Proven experience in technical or engineering roles within complex product architectures. Demonstrated experience leading complex operations reviews across cross-functional teams, including both product and sales organizations. Proven track record of managing complex budgeting, financial forecasting, and multi-vendor relationships. Ability to engage senior executives (VP and above) as key stakeholders. Preferred Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in a technical field (B.S.) is helpful, though not required. Technical certifications are desirable, though not required, to include, CISSP, CCSP, CCNP, etc. Outstanding collaboration and interpersonal communication skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels. Demonstrated ability to lead in a highly dynamic, fast-paced environment and drive organizational focus. Proven experience establishing, tracking, and reporting on clear goals and success metrics. Strong bias toward data-driven decision-making, process automation, and the implementation of AI solutions. 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 $190,900.00 to $241,400.00 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: $230,000.00 - $334,