Communications Manager

Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.

Job Description: Leader, Thought Leadership Communications

Role Overview

As a member of the Cisco Operations Communication & Strategic Engagements team, you will help build and execute communications strategies to engage and inform external audiences. You will partner with the Operations Communications leadership team to build and execute a comprehensive thought leadership platform for the EVP of Cisco Operations. You will act as a recognized expert within Cisco, developing and delivering innovative communication strategies that elevate the EVP’s profile and impact across internal and external audiences.

We are looking for a strategic expert who can anticipate industry trends, influence executive-level stakeholders, and distill complex, technical ideas into compelling narratives. Success in this role requires a proactive leader who thrives in a fast-paced environment, is able to navigate ambiguous situations, and can translate high-level business objectives into polished, enterprise-impacting results.

Key Responsibilities

• Thought Leadership Platform Development & Management: Define and manage the long-term strategy for the EVP’s thought leadership platform. Identify opportunities for executive positioning, including speaking engagements, industry events, and digital presence, ensuring alignment with Cisco’s broader business objectives. Develop and manage a holistic content calendar that integrates social media, executive blogs, and internal/external articles to ensure a consistent and authoritative voice.

• Public Relations Liaison: Serve as the primary liaison with Global Communications partners to define and execute media strategies, interview coordination, and proactive media engagements. Develop and contribute to comprehensive briefing materials and messaging documents to prep for media interactions.

• Strategic Content Development: Write, edit, and deliver high-quality strategic content, including presentations, talking points, and messaging frameworks and assets. Provide strategic oversight and quality assurance for content deliverables across the Operations organization to ensure consistency and excellence.

• Operational Excellence: Lead major business projects, using independent judgment to determine methods and evaluation criteria. Anticipate business and industry issues, recommending innovative approaches to respond to changing demands. Manage concurrent, complex projects with a detail-oriented, proactive approach, ensuring stakeholder alignment and consistent, high-quality deliverables.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree + 12 years of related experience, OR Master’s degree + 8 years of related experience, OR PhD + 5 years of related experience.

• Proven ability to think strategically, influence executive-level stakeholders, and persuade others at senior levels to adopt new points of view.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with a mastery of modern storytelling for driving engagement in a corporate setting.

• Strong ability to lead large-scale projects with potential enterprise impact and manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.

• Solid understanding of Cisco’s story, technologies, services, and solutions, with the ability to anticipate how these align with global industry trends.

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:

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:

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

* 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.