Sr. Program Manager, Design Operations_

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 doYou 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 retrosYou 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 withDoes 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.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.