Communications Lead, Sales Strategy Planning & Operations (SSPO) and GTM
Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.
Meet the Team
Join a high-impact team at the center of Cisco’s mission to revolutionize the way organizations connect and protect in the AI era. Our mission is to create a modern sales team with AI-enabled sellers who show up more prepared, compete differently, and unlock innovation for our customers and partners. By placing AI, the seller experience and a commitment to customer value at our core, our team is redefining how we communicate, activate, and drive adoption and change management to ensure our strategy translates into a reality that redefines our competitive edge and ensures we win as one team.
Your Impact
As the Communications Lead for Sales Strategy Planning & Operations (SSPO) and GTM, you will serve as the primary voice and strategic storytelling partner for our senior sales strategy leadership. You are responsible for crafting the narratives that drive our GTM strategy, annual readiness, and organizational advancement. You will work directly with executives to translate complex business, process, and AI-driven initiatives into strategic communications that align our global sales force and drive adoption. Your work is fundamental to building trust, ensuring transparency, and fostering a culture of excellence across all theaters, ensuring our sales team remains committed to customer value and wins as one team. You will be responsible for
Strategic Narrative Development:
Executive Voice: Partner with senior leaders to define and maintain their unique voice, ensuring consistency across all internal and external channels.
GTM Strategy Storytelling: Translate high-level GTM strategies and operational shifts into compelling narratives that explain the "why" and "what’s in it for me" (WIIFM) for the global sales organization.
Change Communication: Collaborate with the Change Management team to develop communication plans that support the adoption of new processes, systems, and AI-powered workflows.
AI for Sales Awareness: Elevate AI for Sales awareness across the organization through strategic storytelling, ensuring sellers understand how AI-powered capabilities empower them to win.
Content Creation & Delivery:
Multi-Channel Execution: Develop high-impact content, including executive speeches, all-hands presentations, blog posts, internal newsletters, social media content, and video scripts. Be fluent in using AI capabilities to create engaging content.
Event Support: Lead the content strategy for major sales events, including annual sales kick-offs, quarterly business reviews (QBRs), and leadership town halls.
Data-Driven Messaging: Distill complex technical and operational data into clear, actionable insights for diverse audiences, ranging from frontline sellers to executive stakeholders.
Stakeholder Management & Advisory:
Trusted Advisor: Act as a strategic advisor to executives, providing counsel on communication strategy, audience engagement, and crisis/change communication.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with teams across Sales to ensure messaging is aligned with the broader corporate strategy and brand guidelines.
Feedback Integration: Monitor audience sentiment and feedback to refine communication strategies, ensuring our messaging remains relevant, timely, and effective.
Minimum Qualifications:
BA/BS degree (or equivalent) in Communications, Journalism, English, or a related field.
7+ years of experience in executive communications, corporate communications, or public relations, preferably within a global technology or sales-driven organization.
Proven ability to translate complex business strategies into simple, persuasive narratives.
Exceptional writing, editing, and presentation skills with a keen eye for detail.
Preferred Qualifications:
Advanced degree (MBA or equivalent) is a plus.
Experience in supporting sales organizations and understanding the unique dynamics of GTM and operational transformation.
Demonstrated ability to influence senior leaders and manage high-stakes communication projects in a matrixed, global environment.
Expert communications skills, experienced in multi-channel campaigns and familiar with AI content/video capabilities
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 $145,000.00 to $182,800.00 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:
$165,000.00 - $239,200.00Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:
$145,000.00 - $210,200.00* 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.