Sr. Director, Strategy & Planning (Hyperscale & AI)

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 08/21/2026Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received. Meet the Team Join the Americas Sales Strategy, Planning, and Operations (SP&O) team – a dynamic organization where innovation and technology converge. We are the engine that empowers our sales teams to deliver exceptional customer outcomes, combining strategic foresight with operational excellence to drive growth across the Americas. Your Impact As the Hyperscale & AI Strategy, Planning and Operations Senior Director, you will be a pivotal leader shaping the future of Americas Sales. You will drive high-impact transformation initiatives, oversee the "run the business" planning processes, and lead market & competitive intelligence efforts that translate directly into sales growth. This role offers the exciting opportunity to act as a primary advisor to the Sales Leadership Team, influencing a multi-billion dollar business in a fast-paced, matrixed global environment. Visionary People Leadership: Lead and develop a high-performing Strategy & Planning team; own the vision and roadmap while fostering career growth and mentorship. Build Growth Plans: Develop and operationalize annual and long-range strategic sales plans using structured frameworks and data-driven insights. Strategic Initiative Leadership: Identify and lead GTM transformation initiatives that align with long-term organizational priorities across global markets. Data-Driven Analysis: Utilize advanced AI, Business Intelligence, and statistical tools to provide actionable GTM recommendations and competitive insights to executives. Executive Communication: Synthesize complex data into compelling stories for senior leadership (COO, SVPs) to align sales, product, and finance teams. Cross-functional Collaboration: Partner with marketing, product development, and operations to ensure seamless execution of strategic priorities. Strategic Assessment: Optimize resource allocation (invest/divest) across regions and products to maximize output and refine sales organization design. Who You Are: You work for a mid-to-large sized tech company or a strategy consulting firm, where you've been instrumental in defining and implementing GTM strategies. You have a proven track record of leading large, distributed teams to success, ensuring alignment across multiple departments such as Sales, Operations, Corporate Strategy and Finance. You possess deep expertise in the Technology industry and key performance metrics. Your experience with direct sales or channel sales, including resell, MSP, MSSP, Webscale or Service Provider channels, sets you apart. You excel in drawing insightful business conclusions from sophisticated data sets, and your strong executive-level presence enables you to present compelling recommendations and influence partners effectively. You bring your authentic self to work, contributing to our inclusive and diverse environment. Minimum Qualifications: 12+ years' experience in a combination of sales strategy, operations, or management consulting. BA/BS Degree Preferred Qualifications: Demonstrable experience partnering with executive sales leaders to achieve growth targets. Preferred experience directly in the Hyperscale and AI business. Extensive experience working directly with Executive leadership and steering Executive alignment across multiple functional areas. Ability to motivate and lead cross-functional teams by example, even when challenges are extremely complex, and solutions are unclear. Consistent track record in cross-functional collaboration, establishing relationships, and driving successful outcomes in a matrixed environment. Project Execution: You have run programs that span approx. 6-12 months through to completion. Strong communications & influencing skills, experience speaking publicly & working with partners at all levels, producing exec level content and conducting exec conversations. Strong in framing & structuring business problems, prioritizing the effort, conducting complex quantitative and qualitative analysis, building an exec level story complete with recommendations. Data specialist, able to see the heart of the results or opportunities to drive action. Knowledge of CRM and Project Management tools. Curious and flexible, you enjoy variety and are willing to tackle different roles/responsibilities as business needs evolve. A standout colleague: You love a challenge, you've always got your teammate's ask, and you're inspired working with others to achieve success. Fail forward demeanor, leads as a natural innovator in the face of change and adversity. MBA or equivalent experience is preferred. 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 $286,200.00 to $364,400.00 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