Cisco Technical Product Owner 

United States, North Carolina, Cary 

23625985

In this dual-capacity role, you will not only define and drive the product vision but also manage programs and execution at scale — coordinating across multiple teams, vendors, and stakeholders to ensure successful enterprise adoption. This position requires a balance of technical expertise, leadership, product ownership, and program management skills.

Product Ownership

· Own and communicate the product vision and roadmap for AI Assistant tools, ensuring alignment with organizational and business goals.

· Define and prioritize the product backlog to maximize developer productivity and business outcomes.

· Collaborate with engineering teams to translate product features into technical requirements and ensure feasibility.

· Drive integrations of AI assistants with enterprise development environments, CI/CD pipelines, and security frameworks.

· Continuously assess tool performance, adoption, and ROI; iterate on features and workflows.

· Responsible for Leadership readouts across the enterprise.

Program Management

· Manage program-level execution across multiple teams, ensuring timely delivery of features and adoption milestones.

· Coordinate across engineering, operations, business units, and executive stakeholders to align priorities and dependencies.

· Partner with vendors (e.g., OpenAI, GitHub, Cursor, Windsurf) to manage licensing, contracts, escalations, and roadmap alignment.

· Track KPIs and success metrics; provide regular status reports and executive-level updates on adoption, usage, and outcomes.

· Identify risks, dependencies, and organizational blockers; implement mitigation strategies.

· Drive change management and communication plans to ensure smooth adoption across global teams.

· Ensure compliance with security, privacy, and governance requirements during AI adoption.

Required Skills & Qualifications

· Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, information systems, or a related field (or equivalent experience).

· 7–10 years of experience in technical product or program management, with at least 3 years as a product owner in a technical environment.

· Strong understanding of Agile/Scrum methodologies and experience in backlog management.

· Proven track record in program management — managing cross-functional initiatives, vendors, and large-scale rollouts.

· Experience with AI/ML-based developer productivity tools (e.g., Copilot, Cursor, Windsurf) or similar intelligent assistants.

· Familiarity with software development lifecycles (SDLC), CI/CD pipelines, APIs, and cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP).

· Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence technical and non-technical stakeholders.

· Strong organizational skills with experience managing multiple priorities and projects in a fast-paced environment.

Desired Skills & Qualifications

· Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), SAFe Product Owner/Manager (POPM), PMP, or equivalent certifications.

· Experience with developer workflow tools (e.g., GitHub, GitLab, VS Code, JetBrains IDEs).

· Familiarity with LLMs, prompt engineering, and AI-assisted development paradigms.

· Knowledge of compliance, governance, and privacy requirements for enterprise AI adoption.

· Experience leading distributed, global teams and managing large-scale vendor engagements.

Key Competencies

· Strategic Thinking – Ability to evaluate long-term enterprise adoption strategies while balancing near-term delivery.

· Leadership & Influence – Inspire, align, and guide cross-functional teams and stakeholders toward shared outcomes.

· Execution Excellence – Skilled at delivering large-scale initiatives on time, within scope, and with measurable impact.

· Problem Solving – Adept at resolving technical, operational, and organizational challenges effectively.

· Customer-Centric Mindset – Passion for enabling developers to be more productive and innovative through AI tools.