Operations Manager – Partner/Distribution

Company: Cisco –

WebSite: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Job Description:Job Description Operations Manager The Operations Manager serves as a crucial liaison between the Commerce Operations organization and Cisco’s clients (Partners, Distributors, Customers, and Field teams), focusing on enhancing client experience and operational efficiency. This role requires a strategic advisor who provides operational expertise and assumes accountability for performance management, enablement, readiness, and advocacy initiatives, ultimately saving clients time and resources. The Operations Manager will also articulate Operations’ strategy and represent client experience and requirements within the organization. This individual must possess the ability to identify automation opportunities, translate them into actionable digital use cases, and leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) to implement solutions that drive efficiency and innovation across the business. Achieving these objectives requires close collaboration with cross-functional teams, including the Commerce Operations Global Delivery Centers team. The Operations Manager will improve workflows, minimize points of friction, manage and facilitate client expectations, proactively address client challenges, and utilize data-driven insights to influence simplification and efficiency across specified services. A key responsibility of the Operations Manager is to drive AI and digitization initiatives by improving intent detection through testing and refining knowledge bases. This includes overseeing knowledge curation to ensure accurate and effective information dissemination and enabling and supporting partners in adopting AI technologies, including conducting partner demonstrations. Furthermore, the Operations Manager will collect and analyze use cases from partners to foster continuous improvement and innovation. The Operations Manager will also support the implementation of the new Partner 360 program by thoroughly understanding program details and ensuring partners are fully enabled for a seamless and successful transition. Competencies AI Proficiency: Expertise in feeding and leveraging AI models to optimize and enhance internal productivity workflows. Client Centricity: Demonstrated ability to build strong partnerships with clients to understand their personas, business priorities, goals, and operational needs, including their structure, systems, requirements, and challenges. Experience Design: Experience in developing operational plans for clients, aligning their goals with operational objectives to drive client productivity, profitability, and experience. Operational Advisory: Expertise in advocating for and consulting on operational resources, driving process, tool, and support model changes that improve the client experience, promote client self-sufficiency and readiness, and coordinating large ad hoc requests or projects, such as Mergers & Acquisitions. Problem Identification and Solution Adoption: Proven ability to identify and document operational problems (process, policy, and capability) to drive simplification, automation, productivity, and experience, while also driving client awareness and adoption of solutions and enhancements. Communication Framework: Expertise in informing, educating, and engaging clients on operations processes and changes across commerce and transformation initiatives. Metrics that Matter: Skill in measuring performance through key outcome metrics and reviewing progress through quarterly operational reviews. Key Responsibilities Operational Leadership & Strategy Alignment: Own operational engagement with strategic partners and distributors to ensure smooth execution of Cisco programs, policies, and processes. Act as a trusted advisor to Cisco stakeholders by articulating Operations’ strategy and aligning it with Partners/Distribution requirements and experiences. Drive operational excellence through performance management, readiness, and enablement activities that reduce complexity and save time for clients. Collaborate with global and regional operations teams to simplify partner/distributor interactions and improve ease of doing business with Cisco. Identify opportunities for automation and digital transformation, leveraging AI and data insights to implement innovative solutions that improve efficiency and client experience. Engage and onboard Partners with cross-functional teams, including the Commerce Operations Global Delivery Centers, to streamline workflows, reduce friction, and resolve operational challenges. Represent the voice of the partner and distributors, using feedback and data-driven insights to influence simplification, efficiency, and continuous improvement. Manage Partners/Distributors expectations, proactively problem-solve, and advocate for enhancements that improve the overall partner and customer journey. Support the rollout of Partner 360 program, ensuring partners are fully enabled for a seamless and successful adoption of the new program. Lead operational readiness and partner/distributor enablement during the transition to the new T5 entity, ensuring challenges are addressed and partners/distributors are supported throughout the process. Oversee all order processing activities, including DSV, B2B, and POS reporting, ensuring accuracy and efficiency. Manage multi-tiering processes to guarantee seamless and successful order booking. Handle RMA cases, order cancellations, and after-sales adjustments, including negative DSVs, with accuracy and accountability. Proactively identify operational issues across processes, policies, and capabilities. Champion change management to ensure smooth implementation of operational improvements across the ecosystem. Minimum Qualifications Excellent communication, data presentation, and relationship-building skills (Arabic & English proficiency is required). Experience in planning (project management) and analysis (analyzing trends and using data for problem identification and articulation). External stakeholder-facing experience in an operational capacity. Deep operational knowledge (processes, policies, capabilities, approaches). Preferred Qualifications Accountability for stakeholders’ experience and operational performance. Ability to handle escalations, including at the executive level. Adaptability to changing priorities (taking ownership while remaining flexible and resilient). Demonstrated ability to engage at the executive level for regular operational reviews. Excellent proficiency in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint. Why Cisco? At Cisco, we are revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era and beyond. We have 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.

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