Customer Engagement Programs Lead
The application window is expected to close on: 07/28/2026 Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received . Meet the Team Our team is a close-knit group at the heart of Cisco’s executive customer engagement strategy.
We are dedicated to building and nurturing deep relationships with C-level customers, ensuring their feedback directly shapes Cisco’s product vision and business direction. The team is small but mighty, comprised of passionate program leaders and key partners who bring energy, creativity, and a true sense of ownership to every executive event.
You’ll work side-by-side with Cisco, Splunk, and customer executives to deliver exceptional Customer Engagement experiences that strengthen both client relationships and drive Cisco’s strategic direction. Your Impact Cisco is seeking a strategic, relationship-driven Program Manager to lead our global Customer Engagement Programs within the GTM Operations and Strategy & Planning organization.
In this high-impact role, you will serve as the primary architect of our executive-level customer engagement strategy primarily leading and developing the Executive Customer Advisory Board (ECAB) program and fostering long-term partnerships with customers by facilitating high-level dialogue between Cisco’s senior leadership and our top-tier accounts.
Acting as a critical bridge between our most strategic customers and Cisco’s General Managers and GTM leadership, you will embed the customer voice directly into the planning process. By ensuring that operational strategy is informed by real-world market signals, you will enable agile, customer-centric decision-making across the enterprise.
The ideal candidate is a seasoned professional who excels at executive communication, complex project management, and cross-functional orchestration, ensuring that strategic insights directly influence our product roadmaps, GTM strategies, and overall business direction.
Executive Customer Advisory Board (CAB) Program (60%) Strategy & Governance: Design and execute the annual strategy for global and regional CABs, ensuring alignment with Cisco’s corporate priorities and business unit objectives. Executive Engagement: Act as a trusted advisor to Cisco’s leadership team, preparing them for high-stakes interactions with customer executives.
Manage the end-to-end experience for board members, including onboarding, meeting agendas, and ongoing engagement. Content Curation: Partner with product management and marketing teams to develop compelling, strategic agendas that address the top business challenges of our customers.
Influence & Insights: Formalize the feedback loop between CAB members and Cisco’s internal product and engineering organizations. Track, report, and drive action on customer insights to ensure measurable business impact. Cross-Functional Leadership: Collaborate with Sales, Customer Experience (CX), and Marketing teams to ensure a unified and premium experience for board members across all touchpoints.
Operational Excellence: Manage program logistics, including digital collaboration platforms, event planning, and performance metrics, ensuring the program scales effectively. Strategic Customer Engagements (30%) Manage outreach and participation for beta/alpha product opportunities, customer speaking engagements, and testimonials.
Coordinate high-touch executive briefings to strengthen relationships with priority global accounts. Establish and maintain structured feedback loops for priority accounts to ensure their strategic requirements are surfaced and addressed. GTM Ops & Strategy Support (10%) Provide cross-functional support for GTM Ops and Strategy & Planning initiatives.
Contribute to broader operational excellence by aligning customer engagement activities with organizational strategic goals. Minimum Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business Administration, Communications, or a related field, and 7+ years of related experience in customer success, loyalty marketing, or strategic engagement programs.
Strategic execution and experience designing and scaling high-impact engagement initiatives that drive measurable improvements in customer retention and satisfaction. Experience building relationships with C-suite stakeholders, providing proactive insights and anticipating executive needs to align program goals with broader business objectives.
Experience interpreting complex data sets and customer feedback loops to identify trends and influence long-term engagement strategy. Preferred Qualifications Demonstrated ability to synthesize complex customer feedback into meaningful business strategy.
Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex strategies clearly to diverse internal and external audiences Experience in the networking, cybersecurity, or SaaS industry. Ability to navigate ambiguity and influence senior stakeholders without direct authority.
Data-driven mindset with the ability to measure program ROI and influence internal product roadmaps. A natural inclination to anticipate potential friction points in the customer journey and develop preemptive solutions before they impact the user experience.
A high degree of personal accountability and a "founder’s mentality," with the drive to identify gaps in existing processes and independently lead cross-functional efforts to resolve them. Proficiency in CRM platforms (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot) and customer engagement software, with a keen interest in adopting emerging technologies to enhance program delivery 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 $168,800.00 to $241,200.00 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: $168,800.00 - $277,400.00 Non-Metro New York state & Washington state: $148,800.00 - $248,200.00 * 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.