Business Consulting Manager

As a Business Consulting Manager within the AI Infrastructure & Connectivity team, you will act as a strategic advisor to customers and catalyst for growth within Cisco’s global sales organization. Our team serves as the "R&D engine" for sales, identifying market shifts and translating Cisco’s advanced AI infrastructure, routing, optics, and automation portfolios into compelling value narratives for Service Provider, Enterprise/Public Sector and Webscaler/NeoCloud customers.

About the role

You will thrive in an ambiguous, virtual environment, operating with autonomy to drive high-impact initiatives that capture market potential and establish Cisco as the preferred partner for AI-driven transformation.

Responsibilities

• Consultative Customer Engagement: Lead high-level business consulting projects for key accounts, aligning Cisco’s solutions with customer business outcomes to drive pipeline growth and bookings.
• Sales Motion Innovation: Transform go-to-market strategies for telco, enterprise, and cloud-native segments; design and scale high-growth selling motions that empower field teams to capture white-space opportunities.
• Thought Leadership: Translate complex technical roadmaps into clear, actionable sales assets. Author and curate content that enables sellers to articulate the cross-architectural value of the full AI Infrastructure & Connectivity stack.
• Cross-Functional Orchestration: Collaborate across Product Management, Marketing, IT, and global sales to ensure seamless program execution and alignment with organizational goals.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.
• 5+ years of work experience with strong customer engagement skills. You will have had a role in client-facing, executive-level business advisory for a top tier consulting firm, guiding strategy and transformation work within the telco and/or B2B technology sector. Additional experiences in consultative selling, sales operations and business development within the B2B technology sector are a plus.
• Proven track record of leading and program-managing complex, cross-functional initiatives with minimal oversight.
• Demonstrated ability to influence, negotiate, and drive consensus among executive-level stakeholders in a global, matrixed environment.
• Expertise in market analysis, multi-year business case development, executive storytelling, and customer workshop facilitation.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite and modern AI productivity toolsets.

Qualifications

• Master of Business Administration (MBA).
• Domain expertise in Service Provider/Telco markets and/or select Enterprise/Public Sector verticals (e.g., Financial Services, Government, Defense, Critical Infrastructure).
• Experience innovating B2B technology sales processes, go-to-market strategies, and enablement curricula.
• Demonstrated ability to act as a change agent within a distributed, virtual, and matrixed organization.
• Understanding of the Cisco product portfolio and competitive landscape, specifically in High-end routing, Optical/Optics, Automation/Assurance, and Mobility.

Benefits

U.S. employees are offered benefits, subject to Cisco’s plan eligibility rules, which include:

• Medical, dental and vision insurance.
• 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution.
• Paid parental leave, short and long-term disability coverage, and basic life insurance.
• Grants of Cisco restricted stock units, which vest following continued employment with Cisco for defined periods of time.
• Paid time away:
  • 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.
  • 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.

Pay

The starting salary range for this position is $173,400.00 to $231,800.00 for new hires 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.

For quota-based sales roles on Cisco’s sales plan, the ranges provided include base pay and sales target incentive compensation combined. Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components. For quota-based incentive pay, Cisco typically pays:

• 0.75% 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%.
• 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 full salary range for specific locations is listed below:

• New York City Metro Area: $173,400.00 - $265,200.00
• Non-Metro New York State & Washington State: $161,300.00 - $235,500.00

Employees in Illinois, whether exempt or non-exempt, will participate in a unique time off program to meet local requirements.