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Director of Strategy and Planning
(US ONLY, Remote)
Meet the Team
Splunk, a Cisco company, is building a safer, more resilient digital world with an end‑to‑end, full‑stack platform designed for hybrid, multi‑cloud environments. Join the AI team at Splunk, where we advance the state of AI for high‑volume, real‑time, multi‑modal machine‑generated data — including logs, time series, traces, and events. We combine deep AI research expertise with the scale and operational excellence of Splunk and Cisco’s global engineering capabilities. Our work spans networking, security, observability, and customer experience — designing and deploying foundation models that enhance reliability, strengthen security, prevent downtime, and deliver predictive insights across Splunk Observability, Security, and Platform at enterprise scale. You’ll be part of a culture that values technical excellence, impact‑driven innovation, and cross‑functional collaboration — all within a flexible, growth‑oriented environment.
Your Impact
As the Chief of Staff for Splunk’s AI organization, you will serve as a strategic operator, organizational integrator, and trusted partner to the VP of AI. You will help define where we are going, develop and refine the processes that get us there, and ensure our teams are aligned, focused, and driving with excellence.
In this role, you will:
Develop and drive organizational strategy, leading annual and multi-year planning cycles, identifying strategic priorities, and ensuring alignment across Product, Engineering, Design, GTM, and the broader Cisco ecosystem.
Establish and run our operational cadence, including leadership rhythms, OKRs, business reviews, headcount planning, and execution tracking—creating clarity, accountability, and momentum across the org.
Act as a strategic thought partner to senior leadership, providing analysis, frameworks, insights, and recommendations that inform decisions and guide organizational direction.
Lead and orchestrate cross-functional programs that accelerate delivery of Splunk’s AI roadmap and improve how teams collaborate across internal organizations and external partners.
Manage key partner relationships, representing the AI org in executive forums and ensuring tight coordination with internal teams, customers, and strategic partners.
Drive executive communications and storytelling, preparing strategic narratives, leadership updates, board-level materials, and organizational communications that convey clarity and impact.
Uplevel operational efficiency, identifying gaps, removing friction, improving processes, and establishing systems that enable the AI organization to scale.
This is a high-impact, high-trust role for a leader who thrives at the intersection of strategy, operations, and organizational leadership, and who is passionate about shaping the future of AI at Splunk.
Minimum Qualifications:
8+ years of experience in strategy, business planning, management consulting, or Chief of Staff roles in a technology or enterprise software environment.
Demonstrated experience leading organizational planning, critical initiatives, or operational cadences at scale.
Strong analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills with the ability to structure ambiguity into clarity and drive decisions.
Exceptional communication skills—able to craft clear, compelling narratives for executive audiences and influence partners at all levels.
Proven ability to lead complex cross-functional programs and work effectively with Product, Engineering, Design, GTM, Finance, and Operations teams.
Highly organized, meticulous, and adept at managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
Demonstrated ability to operate with discretion, sound judgment, and a high degree of emotional intelligence.
Preferred Qualifications:
Experience supporting or partnering closely with executives in a Chief of Staff or strategy leadership capacity.
Background in AI/ML, enterprise software, cybersecurity, or a related technical domain.
Experience in large global organizations, particularly with partner management across regions and functions.
Familiarity with OKR frameworks, portfolio planning, business reviews, and operational excellence practices.
Strong program management and change management skills, with the ability to drive alignment across diverse teams.
Ability to “zoom out” to strategic vision and “zoom in” to operational details, moving fluidly between both.
MBA or advanced degree in a relevant field (Strategy, Business, Engineering, or related rigor).
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. Simply put – we power the future.
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.
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.
The starting salary range posted for this position is $244,200.00 to $312,500.00 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:
$244,200.00 – $375,900.00
Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:
$217,400.00 – $318,100.00
* 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.
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