Strategy & Planning Manager

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Florida, +6 more states.

📋 Description

• Assist in the annual fiscal-year planning, quarterly planning, and next-quarter readiness by managing milestones, inputs, templates, dependencies, and deliverables.

• Organize QBRs, forecasting and performance reviews, leadership all-hands meetings, offsites, and business planning sessions.

• Create meeting materials and monitor decisions and action items.

• Maintain ongoing leadership calendars and action trackers.

• Identify any missed inputs, scheduling conflicts, risks, and necessary follow-ups among collaborators.

• Develop and sustain Excel-based financial and operational models for bookings, forecasting scenarios, attainment, pipeline coverage, conversion, slippage, and performance evaluation against the plan.

• Perform variance, trend, and scenario analyses to clarify performance drivers and pinpoint risks and opportunities.

• Integrate inputs from Sales, Finance, and Strategy & Planning into executive summaries, end-of-quarter factbooks, pre-earnings commentary, and data-supported recommendations.

• Create Excel models, trackers, templates, and recurring reports incorporating pivot tables, complex formulas, lookups, sensitivity analysis, data validation, and organized datasets.

• Facilitate pipeline movement, health and maintenance, and future-quarter build reporting.

• Design visualizations and dashboards utilizing Excel, Power BI, or similar tools.

• Ensure data quality, reconcile conflicting inputs, document reporting logic, and enhance the consistency and timeliness of leadership reporting.

• Utilize approved AI tools to expedite analysis, summarize inputs, draft executive materials, and assist in planning workflows while confirming outputs and safeguarding critical data.

• Develop reusable prompts, templates, automations, and documented processes to minimize manual efforts and enhance scalability.

• Collaborate with Run the Business and planning teams, Americas Sales leaders, Finance, and cross-functional Strategy & Planning stakeholders.

⛳️ Requirements

• Background in financial analysis, FP&A, sales operations analytics, business planning, corporate strategy, or another analytically rigorous business analyst role.

• High proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including financial or operational modeling, pivot tables, complex formulas, lookups, sensitivity/scenario analysis, and large dataset analysis.

• Experience in conducting variance and performance analyses, developing forecasts or scenarios, and generating decision-ready business reports or executive presentations.

• Strong quantitative reasoning and business insight.

• Capability to challenge assumptions, resolve discrepancies, interpret financial and sales metrics, and elucidate implications.

• Excellent organizational skills, attention to detail, stakeholder coordination, and ability to juggle multiple deadlines.

• Practical experience with AI tools for research, synthesis, reporting, or enhancing workflow productivity, with appropriate validation.

• Strong written and verbal communication abilities.

• Willingness to collaborate during U.S. East Coast business hours.

• Preferred: experience in corporate finance, FP&A, management consulting, commercial analytics, or enterprise Sales Operations.

• Preferred: understanding of bookings, forecasting, pipeline coverage, attainment, conversion, deal slippage, and quarter-end financial or operational reporting.

• Preferred: familiarity with Power BI, Salesforce reporting, PowerPoint, financial planning tools, or other business intelligence platforms.

• Preferred: experience in developing repeatable AI-assisted workflows, process automations, or self-service reporting.

• Preferred: exposure to annual planning, QBRs, leadership offsites, action tracking, or executive factbooks.

🏝️ Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance.

• 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution.

• Paid parental leave.

• Short- and long-term disability coverage.

• Basic life insurance.

• Potential eligibility for Cisco restricted stock unit grants.

• 10 paid holidays per full calendar year.

• 1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees.

• Paid day off for the employee’s birthday.

• Paid year-end holiday shutdown.

• 4 paid days off for personal wellness.

• 16 days of paid vacation per full calendar year for non-exempt employees.

• Flexible vacation time off program with no defined limit for eligible exempt employees.

• 80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter.

• Up to 80 hours of unused sick time carried forward.

• Additional paid time away for critical or emergency family issues.

• Optional 10 paid volunteer days per full calendar year.

• Annual bonuses for non-sales roles, subject to Cisco’s policies.

• Performance-based incentive pay for employees on sales plans.