Leader, Controller

 Meet the Team

At Cisco, we are transforming the way people connect, communicate, and collaborate. We are driven by the goal of powering an inclusive future for all through technology. Our finance organization plays a critical strategic role in fueling this mission, acting as trusted advisors to business leaders, driving focused capital allocation, and ensuring excellence across the enterprise.

Join us!

Your Impact

Cisco is seeking a dynamic and strategic Finance Leader to join our IT-Operations Finance organization. In this high-impact role, you will be responsible for leading a dedicated team of three financial analysts, driving end-to-end financial planning / reporting and serving as a key strategic business partner to senior operational leadership. The ideal candidate combines outstanding analytical rigor with superior leadership skills, a passion for talent development, and the ability to influence business decisions in a fast-paced technology environment.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Business Partnering: Act as the primary financial advisor to functional business leaders, providing actionable insights, financial guidance, and scenario modeling to drive growth, optimize operational efficiency, and achieve strategic objectives.
• Team Leadership & Development: Lead, mentor, and inspire a high-performing team of three financial analysts. Foster a culture of continuous learning, collaboration, and accountability, while actively supporting career development and professional growth.
• Financial Planning, Reporting, Analysis: Own the annual budgeting, quarterly forecasting, and long-range planning processes for your supported business units. Supervise key financial metrics, evaluate variance analysis, ensure forecast accuracy is maintained and find opportunities to improve cost structures and resource allocation. Focus will be in the IT organization, leading and supporting those priorities.
• Financial Modeling & Decision Support: Spearhead complex financial modeling for strategic initiatives, investments, and business cases. Translate large sets of financial data into clear, concise, and compelling narratives for executive-level consumption.
• Process Improvement & Governance: Drive continuous improvement of financial processes, reporting frameworks, and tools. Ensure adherence to corporate financial policies, internal controls, and compliance standards.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or a related quantitative field. An MBA or certification (CFA, CPA) is strongly preferred.
• 8+ years of progressive financial experience, with a strong foundation in FP&A, cost accounting, spends, strategic finance, and business partnering, preferably within the high-tech or software industry.
• Demonstrated experience leading, managing, and developing direct reports, with a proven track record of building high-performing teams.
• Advanced proficiency in financial modeling, forecasting tools, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems (such as SAP, Oracle, or Hyperion).

Preferred Qualifications

• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to present complex financial concepts clearly to executive leadership and cross-functional partners.
• High intellectual curiosity, a proactive mentality, and the ability to navigate ambiguity in a dynamic, matrixed global organization.

Cisco is an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, genetic information, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis.

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.