Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.
The successful applicant may be performing work in FedRAMP High or IL-5 environments, and therefore, must be a U.S. Person (i.e. U.S. citizen, U.S. national, lawful permanent resident, asylee, or refugee). This position may also perform work that the U.S. government has specified can only be performed by a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil.
Meet the Team
Cisco is seeking a transformational Head of Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) to lead the modernization of product security governance, compliance, and risk assurance across the Network Platform Security Organization’s global portfolio of cloud, SaaS, networking, OT/IoT, and hardware products. This leader will architect and operationalize a next-generation, AI-enabled GRC organization focused on automation-first governance, continuous compliance, risk telemetry, and scalable assurance capabilities integrated directly into engineering and product delivery workflows.
Your Impact
Lead the transformation of Network Platform Security Organization’s product GRC function into a modern, engineering-driven risk and assurance organization.
Balance regulatory rigor with speed, scalability, and business enablement.
Influence senior leaders across security, engineering, product, legal, and enterprise governance organizations.
Drive a culture of automation, measurable risk transparency, engineering partnership, and operational excellence.
Own divisional product compliance programs and certifications, including FedRAMP, ISO 27001, SOC, NIST-aligned frameworks, global privacy/security obligations, and emerging regulatory requirements.
Design and implement AI-enabled GRC operating models that leverage automation, telemetry, analytics, and workflow orchestration to improve risk visibility and operational efficiency.
Minimum Qualifications
Bachelor's Degree combined with 8 years of experience in cybersecurity, product security, governance/risk/compliance, or security engineering leadership roles within global technology organizations, or Master's Degree, combined with+ 6 years of related experience, or PhD, combined with 3 years of similar experience. Previous supervisory experience also required.
Experience leading large-scale GRC transformation initiatives in complex product or cloud environments.
Understanding of modern compliance and assurance frameworks including FedRAMP, ISO 27001, SOC 2, NIST, GDPR, NIS2, DORA, PCI, and related global regulatory frameworks.
Experience building or scaling automation-first governance, continuous compliance, or GRC engineering capabilities.
Leadership experience managing technical and cross-functional teams.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience within cloud, SaaS, enterprise networking, OT/IoT, or hardware product environments.
Background in DevSecOps, controls engineering, security automation, or risk engineering.
Experience with AI/LLM-enabled operational tooling or analytics platforms.
Experience crafting scalable governance platforms and internal assurance tooling.
Industry certifications such as CISSP, CISM, CRISC, CISA, ISO Lead Auditor, or equivalent.
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 $183,800.00 to $263,600.00 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:
$183,800.00 - $303,100.00Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:
$163,600.00 - $269,800.00* 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.
