Director, Information Security

Meet the Team

Cisco’s Trust & Compliance team functions at the intersection of strategic engagement and operational excellence, working closely with government agencies, critical infrastructure providers, and industry leaders to shape the future of cybersecurity. You will collaborate with elite industry professionals to drive innovation in an era defined by AI-driven offensive/defensive capabilities, quantum computing, and complex sovereign technology requirements.

Your Impact

You will lead a globally distributed organization of senior cybersecurity experts tasked with advancing national and regional cyber resilience

• Executive Leadership: Provide high-level vision and operational direction. Mentor a globally dispersed team, fostering a culture of innovation, technical rigor, and cross-functional success.
• Strategic Engagement & Advisory: Serve as a trusted advisor to CISOs, government officials, and key technical decision-makers. Translate complex cyber threats into actionable strategic initiatives that enhance organizational resilience.
• Policy and Standards: Influence national and regional cybersecurity frameworks. Partner with Cisco’s Legal and Government Affairs teams to participate in standards bodies, working groups, and regulatory policy development.
• Cybersecurity Operations & AI Innovation: Act as an AI champion, leveraging machine learning and automation to modernize security operations and risk management.
• Public-Private Partnership: Build and maintain technical alliances between government, academia, and industry to bolster national security postures.

Minimum Qualifications

• Experience: 12+ years of cybersecurity leadership, with a demonstrated history of executive-level responsibility.
• Sector Expertise: Experience leading cybersecurity organizations within government, defense, intelligence, critical infrastructure, or highly regulated environments.
• Leadership: Demonstrated proficiency in managing and developing geographically dispersed, senior-level technical teams.
• Strategic Influence: Outstanding communication, negotiation, and executive presentation skills; proven ability to influence strategic decisions across technical and business stakeholders without direct authority.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Engineering, or Information Systems (or 10+ years of relevant experience combined with recognized industry certifications).
• Compliance: Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Technical Domains: Deep expertise in Zero Trust Architecture, Cloud Security (AWS/Azure/GCP), Secure-by-Design principles, SSDLC/DevSecOps, AI/ML security, and Data Protection/Privacy.
• Governance & Frameworks: Proficiency in NIST CSF, NIST SP 800 series, CMMC, FedRAMP, and DoD-specific cybersecurity policies.
• Government Agency Experience: Demonstrated collaboration with or support for organizations such as CISA, DoD, NSA, FBI, or DHS.
• Certifications: Professional credentials such as CISSP, CISM, CRISC, CCSP, GIAC, or PMP.
• Professional Presence: Ability to maintain high ethical standards and provide sound judgment under the pressure of national-level cyber events.

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.

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:

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

* 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.