About the Role

We are seeking a Sales Strategy & Planning Manager to join our Strategy, Planning & Operations team in direct support of the ThousandEyes APJC business, as well as the Global Sales Engineering team. This senior individual contributor role is the strategic and operational backbone for one of ThousandEyes’ most complex and high-priority regions, spanning six sub-markets across ANZ, Japan, India, ASEAN, Greater China, and South Korea.

You will partner closely with APJC Sales Leaders to translate ambiguous business challenges into clear strategy, executable plans, and measurable outcomes, acting as the connective tissue between regional strategy and cross-functional execution. The ideal candidate brings the structured problem-solving and executive communication skills of a top-tier consultant, paired with the delivery orientation and commercial instincts of a high-performing sales operator.

Additionally, you will provide dedicated support to the Global ThousandEyes Sales Engineering team, ensuring alignment between technical pre-sales capacity and regional GTM priorities. This includes optimizing engineering resource allocation, refining technical win-rate metrics, and encouraging a collaborative bridge between Sales and Sales Engineering leadership to accelerate deal velocity and product adoption.

What You’ll Do

Strategy & Planning

• Develop APJC’s sales strategy, GTM priorities, and multi-year planning frameworks; identify and size new market opportunities and connect them to Cisco’s broader strategic agenda.
• Support APJC Sales Leadership in preparing strategic narratives and executive communications for CRO, global leadership, and business reviews, including FY planning materials and QBRs.
• Own the APJC business rhythm: design and run the operating cadence (pipeline reviews, leadership forums, QBRs) with the rigor and difficulty of a Chief of Staff.
• Drive FY planning: territory design, coverage modelling, headcount return on investment, quota framework inputs, and regulatory/infrastructure.
• Design and execute growth programmes, sales incentives, and competitive initiatives; track effectiveness and iterate quickly based on data.

Sales Operations & Analytics

• Oversee APJC sales operations, forecasting cadence, coverage models, pipeline analytics, and tooling effectiveness, and build the reporting systems that give leadership real-time performance visibility.
• Lead APJC’s AI-powered analytics agenda: identify, implement, and embed data and AI tools, including prospecting platforms, CRM analytics, and pipeline health signals, that improve how the team operates.
• Deliver analytical insights that drive strategic decisions: ICP analysis, market segmentation, competitive positioning, and compensation plan inputs in partnership with Sales Ops and Finance.
   

Cross-Functional & Stakeholder Engagement

• Act as a trusted strategic advisor to APJC Sales Leadership: proactively surface risks, challenge assumptions, and bring forward recommendations, while driving cross-organisational alignment on key initiatives.
• Navigate a matrixed, multicultural organisation across six sub-markets with clarity, influence, and cultural intelligence; foster candid debate and maintain momentum on high-priority programmes.

Qualifications

Required

• 8+ years in strategy, business operations, management consulting, or finance — with a strong preference for top-tier consulting or a high-calibre internal strategy function.
• Exceptional structured problem-solving: you can take an ambiguous challenge, build a rigorous framework, and deliver an executive-ready recommendation with minimal direction.
• Strong financial modelling and analytical capabilities: Business-case, quota modelling, market sizing, scenario analysis, and fluency with SaaS metrics (ARR, NRR, GRR, churn, pipeline coverage ratios).
• Excellent communication and storytelling skills with the ability to distil complex, data-heavy situations into crisp, board-ready narratives.
• Consistent track record to manage complex cross-functional programmes in a matrixed, multinational environment; high delivery orientation and comfort operating independently in ambiguity.
• Advanced proficiency in Excel/Google Sheets, PowerPoint, and BI tools (Tableau or equivalent); familiarity with CRM and revenue intelligence platforms (Salesforce, Clari, Gong).

Preferred

• Asia Pacific regional experience — direct exposure to at least two of: ANZ, Japan, India, ASEAN, Greater China, South Korea. Cultural fluency across diverse markets is a strong differentiator.
• Experience supporting or functioning as a Chief of Staff or Business Manager to a senior leader or regional GM.
• Background in enterprise technology, SaaS, or network/cloud infrastructure sectors.

Why This Role

ThousandEyes is one of Cisco’s fastest-growing businesses, and APJC is a strategically critical region at a significant inflection point. This role sits at the intersection of strategy, operations, and execution — with direct access to and influence on how a sophisticated, multi-market region is run. For a candidate who wants to move beyond slide-making and into genuine business impact, this is an opportunity to be the strategic engine behind a high-growth regional sales organisation.

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.