What You’ll Do

Cisco Security seeks a Head of Design to lead an organizational transformation of design for the User Protection Suite, Cisco’s offerings that help people at work secure their devices and enjoy safe and unfettered access to the applications they use at work. We are looking for a leader who is confident in establishing a user-centered, service-design-minded strategic partnership with multi-functional peers.

User Protection Suite is a critical part of Cisco Security’s shift away from siloed point products toward an integrated platform (think offerings like GSuite, Office 365, Creative Cloud, but for security products). The Design organization is crucial to this shift, with efforts including contributing to a new overarching vision for an improved end-to-end security experience, establishing new user-centered and service design practices to sustainably drive toward that vision, and the development of a robust design system and platform-wide information architecture that ties together Cisco Security offerings for people at work.

The User Protection Suite Head of Design will be responsible for creating a robust design culture, clear career paths, and training and mentorship opportunities for their team. Along with this, they will be establishing and updating our Product Design, UX Research, Content Design, Design Operations, and Design Systems functions in partnership with the Chief Design Officer for Cisco Security. Among the first tasks for the Head of Design will be articulating a vision for a cohesive integration of the products within the Suite.

Who You Are

The Head of Design for User Protection Suite operates primarily with two product teams, Cisco Secure Access, and Cisco Duo, while maintaining connections to the broader Security Business Group (SBG). As such, their directive is quite broad.

Who You’ll Work With

Executive leadership

• Active member of the User Protection Suite executive team, contributing to long-term planning and ongoing strategy with Product Management and Engineering leaders
• Active member of the Security Business Group’s design leadership team, contributing to overall design process development and experience strategy

Creative leadership

• For design within the User Protection Suite, as a means of delivering clarity and delight, as a key contributor to user and customer happiness, and as a driver for invention, innovation, and new critical thinking.

People leadership

• Recruit, hire, and retain in a remarkably competitive talent marketplace
• Cultivate a Positive Culture: Build and instill a positive and inclusive culture, emphasizing the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Establish professional development guidance and career paths
• Mentor managers and leaders in the Design organization on how they can be most effective

Operational leadership

• Plan an organizational structure to address the platform-oriented future of the User Protection Suite Team while capably serving existing product lines
• Build relationships with corporate operations functions (HR, Finance, IT) to ensure that the Design team has what it needs to thrive

Your experience includes

• Leading sizable (over 50 people) and high-functioning design teams, that include Product Design, Content Design, Design Operations, and Design Systems
• Shipped complex, technical SaaS enterprise products of high quality and with impact for both the business and users
• Change and transformation management, particularly around establishing new practices and processes within product development
• Working with insights derived from quantitative and qualitative research to drive vision and direction
• Successful multi-functional engagement with product management, engineering, and marketing
• Leadership of Design Thinking, Google Design Sprints, and other similar design facilitation efforts

Minimum Qualifications

• Executive presence and gravity, credibility at all levels from the Executive Leadership Team to the front line
• Able to freely move between the 10,000 ft of corporate strategy to the 1 in of design delivery without getting lost in the details
• Perseverance and grit, recognizing that given Cisco’s size and complexity, change takes persistent effort over time
• Systems thinker able to lead and weave the various components of User Protection Suite offerings
• A willingness to delegate to others, to maintain focus on that which only you can do
• Passion for the information security space,
• Compelling communicator and storyteller

Preferred Qualifications

• Collaboration with HR, facilities, IT, finance, and other operational functions to ensure your team has the resources it needs
• Proven success in building healthy and happy design organizations