Business Development Director for GSSO Go to market

The application window is expected to close on: 07/17/2026

Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.

Preferred Location is Tampa, Florida and RTP, North Carolina

Director of Business Development, GTM Acceleration, Global Security Sales Organization

Meet the Team

The Global Security Sales Organization (GSSO) protects the world’s most critical infrastructure. As a leader here, you will drive a high-impact team dedicated to scaling our security business through strategic precision and operational excellence. We bridge the gap between product innovation and market adoption, ensuring our global sales force is equipped to navigate complex threat landscapes and deliver transformative security outcomes for Cisco customers.

Your Impact

You are a visionary sales leader with a proven record of scaling cybersecurity businesses. You balance high-level strategic thinking with the operational discipline required for global execution.

• Executive Presence: Extensive experience influencing at the executive level with clarity, conviction, and a focus on long-term business outcomes.

• Domain Expertise: Deep knowledge of cloud & AI security, SASE, zero-trust, network security, and threat intelligence. Ability to align technical solutions with customer business challenges.

• Strategic Execution: A catalyst for growth with a history of designing GTM frameworks that improve sales productivity and revenue predictability.

• Leadership Maturity: Experienced in leading leaders. Passionate about talent development, building high-trust teams, and fostering continuous improvement.

• Analytical Rigor: Data-driven approach to identifying bottlenecks, optimizing sales motions, and driving scalable, repeatable revenue growth.

As the Director of Business Development for GTM Acceleration, you will define and execute the global go-to-market strategy for Cisco’s security portfolio.

• Strategic GTM Leadership: Architect and execute strategies that accelerate revenue growth across the security portfolio. Translate complex solutions into scalable sales plays for diverse customer segments, from Global Enterprise to Mid-Market.

• Operational Rigor: Drive institutional excellence by implementing robust sales processes, performance metrics, and forecasting models. Ensure seamless alignment between global strategy and regional execution.

• Influencing at Scale: Serve as the primary bridge between product management, marketing, and the global field organization. Influence cross-functional stakeholders to prioritize security initiatives, refine value propositions, and optimize the sales cycle.

• Team Leadership: Build and inspire a high-performing team of Business Development Managers. Foster a culture of accountability and innovation, shifting focus from individual output to collective, large-scale impact.

• Market Intelligence: Leverage deep security domain expertise to anticipate market shifts, identify competitive threats, and pivot GTM strategies to strengthen our cybersecurity market leadership.

Minimum Qualifications

• 5–7+ years of leadership experience managing senior sales or business development executives.

• Proven success developing and leading technical go-to-market strategies.

• Ability to translate business priorities into measurable GTM programs (offer creation, campaigns, enablement).

• Demonstrated success in project management and leading cross-functional initiatives.

• Comprehensive knowledge of the Enterprise Networking portfolio.

• Proven track record operating within and leading highly matrixed organizations.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills for executive and stakeholder engagement.

• Passion for scaling programs to reach thousands of sellers.

Preferred Qualifications

• Strong business acumen, including the ability to apply financial principles to justify customer investment.

• Experience selling Cisco and competitive security and networking solutions.

• Ability to travel as needed (up to 20%).

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 $284,600.00 to $359,200.00 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:

$313,900.00 - $471,100.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$304,300.00 - $441,700.00

* 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.