Customer Project Manager are responsible for leading the projects to achieve on-time, within-budget, high-quality delivery while achieving customer satisfaction. They are responsible for project metric tracking and managing project financials and profitability.
They identify risks and issues and develop risk response strategies. They lead or support the execution of the contract Change Management process and manage partner delivery and commercials when third-party technical delivery resources are engaged. They conduct project support activities and build Cisco's project community by sharing lessons learned, best practices, and participating in the PMO Role Community.
Engagement Context
Customer Program Manager owning end-to-end delivery of Cisco CX services projects for a leading Service Provider in Australia — one of Cisco's strategic SP accounts.
Sydney-based with on-site presence at the customer's campus and a hybrid working arrangement as required by the account.
Operates within the customer's carrier-grade environment and Australian telco regulatory and critical-infrastructure obligations (e.g., SOCI Act, TSSR).
A project/program-management role using Cisco's Global PMO (GPMO) methodology — leading planning, coordination, financials, and control rather than hands-on configuration.
Role Purpose
Lead and manage the full services project lifecycle across the customer's engagements: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring/control, and closure.
Coordinate multiple concurrent projects within the program, ensuring delivery on time, within budget, and to agreed quality while adhering to Cisco's GPMO methodology.
Act as the central point of program control and communication between Cisco delivery teams, partners, and the customer.
Key Responsibilities — Planning & Delivery Control
Create and maintain detailed project/program plans, including scope, schedule, resources, cost, quality, communications, and risk/issue logs.
Drive adherence to scope and manage change requests with the customer, partners, and Cisco account teams.
Monitor baseline dimensions — schedule, cost, and quality — and proactively identify and mitigate risks with clear contingency plans.
Coordinate and direct project staff: CX/project engineers, vendors, partners, and subcontractors to achieve milestones.
Optimize and coordinate interaction between internal, partner, and customer resources across multiple concurrent projects.
Key Responsibilities — Governance & Reporting
Prepare for engagement reviews and quality-assurance procedures, reporting progress against success metrics.
Handle customer concerns or project issues promptly and lead resolution across internal and external stakeholders.
Interpret project/program financial reports, comment on irregularities, propose options, and produce realistic forecasts.
Complete time and expense reporting accurately and on time.
Typical Scope & Interaction
Maintain regular operational and executive touchpoints with the customer's project, engineering, and leadership stakeholders.
Communicate program value and status — milestones, risks, and outcomes — so stakeholders clearly see progress against objectives.
Collaborate with Cisco CX delivery leaders, the Account Team, Customer Success, and partner/subcontractor leads to ensure aligned, consistent delivery.
Translate delivery status into business-impact language for customer stakeholders.
Who You Are — Core Competencies
Strong skills in scheduling, financial reporting, performance reporting, communications, and risk/issue/action management.
Able to interpret project financial reports, comment on irregularities, and propose options; capable of producing realistic forecasts.
Skilled at coordinating matrixed teams of engineers, partners, and subcontractors across concurrent projects.
Calm and structured under pressure, with strong customer-facing communication.
Required Qualifications
Bachelor's degree in business, engineering, IT, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience).
Demonstrable years of experience managing IT or telecom networking services projects/programs end to end.
Proven track record delivering on time, on budget, and to quality across multiple concurrent projects.
Hands-on experience with scope, schedule, cost, risk, and change management in a services delivery context.
Proficiency with standard PM tooling such as Microsoft Project, Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
Valid Australian working rights.
Around 8+ years in networking/telecom or IT, with strong experience in service delivery and leading large projects or programs.
Preferred Qualifications
PMP certification or equivalent project/program management credential (PRINCE2, etc.).
Extensive project/program delivery knowledge, ideally in IT or telecom networking services.
Executive client-facing experience and prior exposure to business development or services business management in large or strategic accounts.
Working familiarity with Cisco SP delivery contexts (e.g., deployments, migrations, optimizations) sufficient to manage scope and timelines credibly.
Soft Skills & Behavioural Expectations
Excellent communication, negotiation, and stakeholder-management skills across both engineering and executive audiences.
High customer orientation: understands the business impact of delivery outcomes for a carrier and manages expectations transparently.
Proven ability to work under pressure, juggle multiple workstreams in parallel, and maintain structured, methodical program control.
Eligibility & Working Arrangements
Must have valid Australian working rights; Australian citizenship may be required given critical-infrastructure obligations.
Ability to obtain Australian security clearance (e.g., Baseline/NV1) may be required.
Sydney-based with regular on-site presence at the customer's campus.
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.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in business, engineering, IT, or related field (or equivalent experience)
- Around 8+ years in networking/telecom or IT with strong service delivery and large project/program leadership
- Demonstrable experience managing IT or telecom networking services projects/programs end to end
- Proven track record delivering projects on time, on budget, and to quality across concurrent projects
- Hands-on experience with scope, schedule, cost, risk, and change management in a services delivery context
- Proficiency with Microsoft Project, Excel, Word, and PowerPoint
- Strong skills in scheduling, financial reporting, performance reporting, communications, and risk/issue/action management
- Valid Australian working rights
- Ability to obtain Australian security clearance (e.g., Baseline/NV1)
- Sydney-based with regular on-site presence at the customer's campus
- Calm under pressure with strong customer-facing communication and stakeholder management
- Familiarity with Cisco service provider delivery contexts (deployments, migrations, optimizations)
- PMP or equivalent project/program management credential (PRINCE2, etc.)
- Executive client-facing experience and exposure to business development or services business management in strategic accounts
Cisco Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Cisco and has not been reviewed or approved by Cisco.
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Healthcare Strength — Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, mental health support via an EAP, and access to on-site or virtual health centers indicate robust healthcare offerings. Wellness programs, fitness resources, and specialized services further reinforce coverage depth.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Generous PTO, a global minimum for paid parental leave, and unique programs like company-wide recharge days and paid volunteer time expand time-away options. Additional offerings such as Critical Time Off and adoption assistance add flexibility for life events.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Restricted stock units and a discounted employee stock purchase plan are meaningful elements of total compensation. The prominence of equity can materially augment overall pay packages alongside salary and bonuses.
Cisco Insights
What We Do
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) enables people to make powerful connections--whether in business, education, philanthropy, or creativity. Cisco hardware, software, and service offerings are used to create the Internet solutions that make networks possible--providing easy access to information anywhere, at any time. Cisco was founded in 1984 by a small group of computer scientists from Stanford University. Since the company's inception, Cisco engineers have been leaders in the development of Internet Protocol (IP)-based networking technologies. Today, with more than 71,000 employees worldwide, this tradition of innovation continues with industry-leading products and solutions in the company's core development areas of routing and switching, as well as in advanced technologies such as home networking, IP telephony, optical networking, security, storage area networking, and wireless technology. In addition to its products, Cisco provides a broad range of service offerings, including technical support and advanced services. Cisco sells its products and services, both directly through its own sales force as well as through its channel partners, to large enterprises, commercial businesses, service providers, and consumers.
