Technical Product Owner

Technical Product Owner

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• Location:RTP, North Carolina, US

• Area of InterestInformation Technology

• Compensation Range USD - USD

• Job TypeProfessional

• Technology Interest*None

• Job Id

Role Description

Cisco Enterprise DevOps as a Service (EDaaS) is seeking a Technical Product Owner / Program Manager to lead adoption and optimization of AI Assistant tools such as Cursor, Windsurf, and GitHub Copilot. These tools are transforming the way our engineers design, code, and deliver software.

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.

Key Responsibilities

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.

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. Simply put - we power the future.

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:

When available, the salary range posted for this position reflects the projected hiring range for new hire, full-time salaries in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including equity or benefits. For non-sales roles the hiring ranges reflect base salary only; employees are also eligible to receive annual bonuses. Hiring ranges for sales positions include base and incentive compensation target. Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location and additional factors, including but not limited to skillset, experience, and relevant education, certifications, or training. Applicants may not be eligible for the full salary range based on their U.S. or Canada hiring location. The recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.

U.S. employees haveaccess ( to quality medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, short and long-term disability coverage, basic life insurance and numerous wellbeing offerings.

Employees receive up to twelve paid holidays per calendar year, which includes one floating holiday (for non-exempt employees), plus a day off for their birthday. Non-Exempt new hires accrue up to 16 days of vacation time off each year, at a rate of 4.92 hours per pay period. Exempt new hires participate in Cisco's flexible Vacation Time Off policy, which does not place a defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use, but is subject to availability and some business limitations. All new hires are eligible for Sick Time Off subject to Cisco's Sick Time Off Policy and will have eighty (80) hours of sick time off provided on their hire date and on January 1st of each year thereafter. Up to 80 hours of unused sick time will be carried forward from one calendar year to the next such that the maximum number of sick time hours an employee may have available is 160 hours. Employees in Illinois have a unique time off program designed specifically with local requirements in mind. All employees also have access to paid time away to deal with critical or emergency issues. We offer additional paid time to volunteer and give back to the community.

Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components. 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 up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid.

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.

Cisco will consider for employment, on a case by case basis, qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.