Customer Engagement Programs Lead

Program Manager, Global Customer Engagement Programs

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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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, Hub Spot) and customer engagement software, with a keen interest in adopting emerging technologies to enhance program delivery.