The application window is expected to close on: 10/15/2026

2024989 - Risk Lead, IT Risk Management (Remote)

• The role is listed as remote and can be performed from anywhere in the US
• NOTE: Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.

Meet the Team

Commerce Engineering Productivity & Platforms (CEP&P) is a fast paced, multifaceted engineering organization that adapts quickly to changing business and technology needs. We are launching IT Risk Management (ITRM) to support all of Cisco AI + IT with real-time risk insight, resilience testing, and closed-loop remediation. CEP&P brings together shared-service functions that enable teams across Cisco. You’ll work with some of Cisco’s most cutting-edge engineers and technical leaders as we invent how AI-native delivery changes the way we build, operate, and manage risk.

Your Impact

You will lead ITRM as an expert practitioner at the leading edge of AI-enabled risk management. You will define the standard and methodology, use AI and agentic tools to turn fragmented signals into risk intelligence, and build the assurance model that tests resilience, control effectiveness, and AI safeguards. You will guide where AI can safely detect, prioritize, act, test, and verify; challenge disaster-recovery capability with evidence rather than accepting plans at face value; and ensure the organization confirms that remediation held. This role combines deep risk expertise with hands-on proficiency in AI, agents, automation, telemetry, and the systems that make closed-loop remediation possible.

• Own the ITRM standard and methodology: risk sensing, aggregation, prioritization, risk appetite, taxonomy, thresholds, and common methods.
• Lead the AI-enabled risk intelligence model. Define how sub-agents use signals from across AI + IT to prioritize exposure by business impact and support real-time leadership insight.
• Define the assurance model for critical service outcomes, failure tolerances, resilience, control effectiveness, and AI lifecycle safeguards. Challenge disaster-recovery capability through evidence-based tests of objectives, dependencies, and recovery procedures.
• Operate the closed-loop model through named owners, action tracking, risk acceptance and escalation paths, and verification that risk reduction actually occurred. Feed incidents, test results, and lessons back into standards and design.
• Provide technical thought leadership on AI-enabled risk management. Partner with the Software Engineer and leaders across AI + IT, STO, Finance, Security, Compliance, and Resiliency to set guardrails, evaluate agent behavior, enable automation and telemetry, and preserve domain ownership of risk decisions and remediation execution.

Minimum Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience in IT risk, GRC, audit, control assurance, or technology risk program management.
• Experience establishing a common risk framework, taxonomy or scoring method, enterprise risk register, and recurring executive review cadence.
• Experience partnering with executive team members and domain owners to define RACI, escalation paths, risk acceptance, and decision rights.
• Experience working across at least two of the following domains: SOX or control assurance, vulnerability management, lifecycle management, business continuity or disaster recovery, application resiliency, CMMC, or GRC or audit.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in Information Systems, Risk Management, Computer Science, Business, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience applying AI, agentic workflows, automation, or sophisticated analytics to technology risk, security, resilience, control assurance, or operations, including guardrails and human-in-the-loop review.
• Experience leading evidence-based resilience, control-effectiveness, or AI lifecycle testing as systems, models, data, and dependencies evolve.
• Experience connecting fragmented risk or compliance programs into a common operating model while leaving domain risks and remediation execution with the teams that own them.
• Experience building closed-loop risk management with named owners, action tracking, verified closure, and measures such as automation coverage, signal-to-action time, or repeat-risk reduction.
• Fosters candid communication and balanced debate. Acknowledges all perspectives and drives consensus on decisions that improve business outcomes.

Why Cisco? 

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. 

Message to applicants applying to work in the U.S. and/or Canada:

The starting salary range posted for this position is $155,900.00 to $204,600.00 and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation*, equity, or benefits.

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:

$187,800.00 - $283,200.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$167,200.00 - $252,100.00

* 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.