Customer Program Manager

About the Role

This position involves leading complex, customer-oriented programs spanning Cisco's wide range of technologies and services. The role requires transforming customer priorities into coordinated strategies and tangible business results. The Customer Program Manager is responsible for overseeing delivery excellence, aligning stakeholders, enforcing financial discipline, managing governance and risks, and fostering continual process improvements throughout the program lifecycle, while incorporating responsible AI and automation tools.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end customer projects and programs involving Cisco technologies and services.
• Convert customer priorities into program strategies, delivery roadmaps, planned milestones, and measurable business outcomes.
• Oversee scope, schedule, budget, quality, financials, customer satisfaction, risks, dependencies, and change management.
• Coordinate both internal and external stakeholders, facilitating program status, financials, risks, recommendations, and executive decision points.
• Implement program governance frameworks including communication, escalation, risk and change control mechanisms. Proactively identify and address issues with mitigation and recovery plans.
• Manage forecasting, invoicing, revenue, costs, margin, and accurate reporting aligned with Cisco systems.
• Apply suitable delivery methodologies such as Agile, Waterfall, or hybrids based on program and customer specifics, while adhering to Cisco standards in delivery, finance, contracts, documentation, and operations.
• Leverage technical expertise to shape delivery plans, manage integration points, and link technical execution to business and customer goals.
• Mentor project and program managers promoting standardized delivery practices, knowledge sharing, and ongoing improvement.
• Utilize approved AI, analytics, and automation tools to enhance planning, reporting, forecasting, risk detection, communications, and program closure.
• Ensure AI-supported outputs and automated processes are accurate, relevant, aligned with customer context, controlled, and traceable.
• Uphold human accountability for customer commitments, financial decisions, approvals, and outcomes informed by AI.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree with a minimum of 8 years relevant experience; or Master's degree with at least 6 years; or Doctorate with 3 years' equivalent experience.
• Active Project Management Professional (PMP) certification or similar recognized certification.
• Experience managing programs within complex, customer-centric enterprise environments.
• Excellent executive-level communication, presentation, facilitation, negotiation, and problem-solving abilities.
• Capability to translate technical details and delivery metrics into measurable customer and business results.
• Hands-on familiarity with Generative AI, including prompt engineering, output validation, data security, human oversight, and awareness of AI risks.

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge of Cisco architectures, technologies, business workflows, operational tools, and service delivery methods.
• Additional certifications such as PMI-CPMAI, PgMP, Agile, Scrum, ITIL, change and financial management qualifications.
• Cisco technical credentials like CCST Networking, CCST Cybersecurity, CCNA, or equivalents.