Hardware Project Manager

The application window is expected to close on: 11/29/2026

The preferred location is in RTP, NC but open to San Jose, CA.

Meet the Team

The Common Hardware Group (CHG) creates innovative hardware platforms central to the AI era, powering Cisco’s core Switching, Routing, and Wireless products for organizations globally. Our innovations in silicon, optics, and hardware platforms—like Silicon One—are shaping the technology industry.

The CHG HW PMO team is the program management engine for Cisco's hardware portfolio. We partner across engineering, product management, operations, supply chain, marketing, sales, and leadership teams to turn strategy into executable plans, clear decision-making, and predictable delivery. We create operating rhythms, governance, transparency, and multi-functional coordination that help teams manage dependencies, resolve risks, and deliver products that power Cisco's customers at scale.

What You'll Do

• Lead NPI project and program management activities across hardware engineering, product management, operations, marketing, account teams, EPM, power, thermal, and other partner organizations.
• Lead small to mid-sized programs with moderate complexity, multiple dependencies, and multi-functional stakeholder groups across the CHG hardware portfolio.
• Develop and maintain project plans, schedules, milestones, deliverables, communication frameworks, and execution cadences that keep teams aligned and accountable.
• Track program health, identify risks and dependencies, drive issue resolution, and escalate decisions or blockers with clear recommendations.
• Support operational work for HW groups, coordinate planning cycles, business reviews, status reporting, leadership updates, and other operating mechanisms that improve visibility and execution.
• Establish and improve documentation frameworks, governance processes, templates, and team execution models; use collaboration, automation, and AI-enabled productivity tools responsibly to improve operational efficiency.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelors + 5 years of related experience, or Masters + 3 years of related experience, or PhD + 0 years of related experience, or equivalent related work experience.
• Related experience in program/project management, business operations, PMO, chief-of-staff support, or hardware design, HW manufacturing processes, NPI product development.
• Experience leading cross-functional programs or projects, including project plans, milestones, dependencies, risks, issue resolution, and stakeholder communications.
• Experience supporting business operations or leadership operating rhythms, such as staff meetings, business reviews, action tracking, executive updates, dashboards, or organizational communications.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting hardware, system-level, networking, telecom, or enterprise infrastructure programs within a PMO or NPI product development environment.
• Experience in business operations, executive operations, or PMO role supporting senior leadership operating mechanisms.
• Familiarity with product development lifecycles, release readiness, change management, and launch or operational governance processes.
• Ability to operate effectively in a highly matrixed, fast-paced, and globally distributed environment while balancing program execution with operational priorities.
• Strong analytical problem-solving skills with the ability to turn ambiguous inputs into clear plans, owners, actions, and decisions.
• Experience using collaboration, automation, AI-enabled productivity, or workflow tools to improve program execution, executive communications, and team efficiency.

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 $138,100.00 to $196,500.00 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:

$138,100.00 - $226,000.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$124,000.00 - $201,000.00

* 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.