Engagement Context 

• Service Delivery Leader owning the execution and governance of CX delivery for a leading Service Provider in Australia — one of Cisco's strategic SP accounts. 

• Sydney-based with on-site presence at the customer's campus and a hybrid working arrangement as required by the account. 

• Operates within the customer's carrier-grade environment and Australian telco regulatory and critical-infrastructure obligations (e.g., SOCI Act, TSSR). 

• Leads a virtual, matrixed delivery team rather than performing hands-on TAC-style troubleshooting — accountable for delivery outcomes, governance, and customer satisfaction. 

Role Purpose 

• Own a program or portfolio of CX Professional Services and delivery projects for the customer, ensuring services are delivered on time, within budget, and to a high quality standard. 

• Drive customer satisfaction and successful adoption of Cisco SP solutions across deployments, migrations, and optimizations. 

• Act as the senior delivery point of contact and "mini-GM" for the services program — owning scope, schedule, risk, commercials, and stakeholder alignment. 

Key Responsibilities — Delivery & Program Leadership 

• Lead and supervise multiple customer-facing projects under a broader services program (deployments, migrations, optimizations, success tracks). 

• Coordinate delivery staff across a matrix: CX consultants/engineers, project managers, architects, partners, and subcontractors. 

• Act as first point of escalation for delivery issues — working with PMs to resolve risks, scope gaps, schedule slippage, and quality concerns. 

• Govern delivery quality and consistency across the program, ensuring artifacts (designs, MOPs, NIPs, acceptance criteria) meet standards before customer handover. 

• Align the delivery program with the customer's technical adoption plan and overall account strategy, working with CX Leaders and Customer Success Managers. 

Key Responsibilities — Commercial & Governance 

• Own or co-own project/program budget: track costs, forecast, and ensure profitability or budget adherence. 

• Participate in scoping and proposals: validate that quoted scope matches the work, support Statements of Work, and manage contract change requests at program level. 

• Identify opportunities for additional services or expansions, feeding these into presales, renewals, and broader account planning. 

• Drive structured risk management and program governance cadences (status, RAID, steering reviews). 

Typical Scope & Interaction 

• Maintain regular executive and operational touchpoints with the customer's leaders, architects, and engineers. 

• Communicate the value of delivered services — outcomes, milestones, risk reduction, adoption — so stakeholders clearly see progress against objectives. 

• Collaborate closely with CX Leaders, Customer Experience Managers, the Account Team, and partner/subcontractor leads to ensure a consistent, aligned delivery experience. 

• Translate delivery and technical status into business-impact language for customer stakeholders. 

Required Skills & Experience — Technical / Domain 

• Solid understanding of Cisco SP technology domains relevant to a carrier (MPLS, Segment Routing / SRv6, IGP/BGP, IOS XR platforms such as ASR 9000 and NCS 540/5500/5700/8000), sufficient to govern delivery and challenge designs. 

• Familiarity with SP delivery patterns: greenfield builds, brownfield migrations (e.g., ZTP-based device onboarding and router migrations), and network optimization programs. 

• Awareness of automation and assurance tooling (Crosswork Network Controller, Provider Connectivity Assurance) and how they fit delivery scope. 

Required Skills & Experience — General 

• Around 8+ years in networking/telecom or IT, with strong experience in service delivery and leading large projects or programs. 

• Proven experience with budget/P&L, risk management, and contract/change management in a services context. 

• Track record delivering for SP, large enterprise, or public sector customers in a matrixed environment. 

Team Leadership 

• Provide day-to-day leadership to a virtual delivery team: mentor project managers, guide engineers on delivery priorities, and align partner/subcontractor work and commercials. 

• Effectively lead a matrix team and act as the accountable owner ("mini-GM") for the services program, even where not a direct people-manager. 

• Set and uphold delivery standards, ways of working, and continuous improvement across the program. 

Desirable Skills & Certifications 

• Formal project/program management credentials such as PMP or PRINCE2 (or substantial equivalent experience). 

• Strong communication, negotiation, and presentation skills; comfortable leading customer workshops and executive updates. 

• Good understanding of sales and presales processes, including scoping, risk assessment, and working with legal on contracts. 

Soft Skills & Behavioural Expectations 

• Excellent communication and stakeholder-management skills across both engineering and executive audiences. 

• High customer orientation: understands the business impact of delivery outcomes for a carrier and manages expectations transparently. 

• Proven ability to work under pressure, juggle multiple workstreams in parallel, and maintain structured, methodical program control. 

Eligibility & Working Arrangements 

• Must have valid Australian working rights; Australian citizenship may be required given critical-infrastructure obligations. 

• Ability to obtain Australian security clearance (e.g., Baseline/NV1) may be required. 

• Sydney-based with regular on-site presence at the customer's campus. 

Minimum Qualifications 
 
Typically requires Bachelor's degree in relevant field with 8+ years of related experience, or Master's degree with 6+ years of related experience, or equivalent related work experience