Sr. Program Manager, Design Operations
Sr. Program Manager, Design Operations
Location:San Francisco, California, US
Area of InterestUser Experience Design
Compensation Range165700 USD - 232900 USD
Job TypeProfessional
Technology InterestAI or Artificial Intelligence
Job Id1426477
Cisco Meraki is the industry leader in simple, secure, intelligent networking and IoT platforms. We empower organizations everywhere – from local libraries to global hotels – to focus on their mission and have technology that simply works.
We’re looking for a Design Program Manager to join our growing Design Operations group supporting our Product Design teams within Meraki. This role reports to the Head of Design Operations, and will partner with our Network Products and AI design groups. Our DPMs support our designers through our agile design, planning, and prioritization processes. This is a key role in assisting our Design teams and ensuring best in class product design workflows and methodologies.
Meraki believes the quality of our products is dependent on the quality of our teams. We place a high value on cultivating the growth and development of craft. We value teamwork. We give and get feedback early and often, share what we know, and learn from each other.
What you'll do
You will help make our UX team more effective by applying process improvements, facilitating cross-functional collaboration, improving our planning and prioritization, while helping drive design work forward from strategy to implementation. The DPM role is essential to creating a more consistent UX operational experience not just within Design but also in how we collaborate with our partner teams in Product and Engineering.
In this role you will work closely with Design Ops leadership and our Network Products and AI Design leaders to deliver the highest level of program management and design process support, ensuring quality and consistency across the product portfolio in all aspects of our double diamond processes. Responsibilities include:
Partner with Design Ops leadership on initiatives that impact all of Design—including resourcing strategies, sprint and scrum management, design metrics reporting, and process improvements that help us scale and operate efficiently and optimally.
Shape, drive, and document processes for effective workflows by assessing current needs and gaps within our design teams.
Support our Jira sprint practice with process documentation, scrum management, and Jira plan oversight.
Collaborate with internal and cross-functional teams to simplify, unify, and operationalize planning, organization, and prioritization processes.
Coordinate periodic reporting on team output, quality measurements, and efficiency improvements, manage work plans, analyze data, and ensure recommendations are effectively implemented.
Collaborate with partner teams within Product and Engineering to facilitate improvements and efficiencies within the greater product development process.
Support the development of capacity planning, scoping, and roadmap planning standards within our Design teams.
Support overarching planning processes (e.g. design team ratios, objectives and key results, capacity and utilization rates) to ensure headcount staffing and contractor resourcing plan meets the larger needs of the design team.
Collaborate with UX and Design Operations team leadership to plan, prioritize, and deploy operational changes within the team.
Collaborate with Design Ops leadership and other Design Program Managers (DPMs) to ensure consistency in overarching ways-of-working to drive successful program delivery.
Facilitate key design rituals such as backlog grooming, standup, sprint kickoff, and retros
You are an ideal candidate if you:
Are able to balance long-term strategic thinking with near-term execution skills.
Are empathetic and self-aware, with a history of building successful working relationships.
Have a proactive approach with the ability to work through ambiguity to create detailed simple solutions. You can take vague problems, frame the challenge, identify a path forward, and drive an initiative over the finish line with some oversight.
Have a strong understanding of user-centered design methodologies and iterative development approaches.
Have a strong understanding of the agile design process, double diamond approach, and Scrum methodologies.
Collaborate easily with Designers, Researchers, Writers, Engineers, and Product Managers and are able to facilitate decisions and resolve issues respectfully.
Are certified in, or have experience with, CSPO, CSM, sAFE, methodologies and practices.
Minimum Requirements for this role:
7+ years as a UX/Design Producer, UX/Design Program Manager, Project Manager, or validated experience in a product focused organization, design consultancy or creative agency
Experience leading UX programs within Agile methodologies with a focus on tracking and measuring Design metrics
Experience managing workflows, program rollouts, and driving execution
Knowledge of design process, design thinking, and user-centered design approaches
Excellent written and verbal communication with a test-validate-iterate mentality
Ability to convey business outcomes through design objectives to key partners
Experience advocating for UX within groups of cross-functional collaborators
Have a strong bias towards action and are excited to take ownership or agency
Experience leading organizational change and navigating priorities
Care deeply about the people you work with
Does this sound like you? We’d love to hear from you!
Meraki is based in the Mission Bay area of San Francisco, less than a 5-minute walk from the Chase Center and with beautiful views of the Oracle Ballpark and the Bay beyond. You will have access to an onsite gym, multiple kitchens stocked with high-quality snacks, a coffee bar, catered lunches every single day, and a generous benefits package.
At Cisco Meraki, we’re challenging the status quo with the power of diversity, inclusion, and collaboration. When we connect different perspectives, we can imagine new possibilities, inspire innovation, and release the full potential of our people. We’re building an employee experience that includes appreciation, belonging, growth, and purpose for everyone.
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.
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 have access 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, plus a day off for their birthday. Employees accrue up to 20 days of Paid Time Off (PTO) each year and have access to paid time away to deal with critical or emergency issues without tapping into their PTO. We offer additional paid time to volunteer and give back to the community. Employees are also able to purchase company stock through our Employee Stock Purchase Program.
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.