CISCO - Pricing & Deal Structuring Manager

Position: Manager-Pricing & Deal Structuring, Commercial Finance

Location: New Delhi/Bangalore

Company: Cisco is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Founded in 1984, Cisco engineers have been leaders in the development of Internet Protocol (IP)-based networking technologies since the company's inception. This tradition of innovation continues with industry-leading products in the core areas of routing and switching, as well as advanced technologies in areas such as Unified Communications, Network Security, Video, Virtualization and Cloud Computing. Innovation is a core part of the Cisco culture and annually $5.5 Billion is invested in R&D; Cisco has more than 20,000 Engineers in more than 10 labs worldwide; more than 4200 patents have been awarded to Cisco inventors. Currently 750+ patents have been filed from India and 450+ issued for innovations across all technologies.

Cisco India: With sales and marketing operations spread across key cities in India and a Software Development Centre in Bangalore, Cisco leads the networking market in core technologies of routing and switching, as well as WLAN and network security.

The Incumbent will be responsible for managing, supporting and coordinating the deal structuring, review and approval process related to accounts and/or geographies that are part of the India Region. The Pricing Manager will become an integral part of the sales efforts around deal management, working closely with Area VPs, Client Directors, Finance, and many other internal and external stakeholders involved in a potential business transaction. The Pricing Manager will become exposed to many disciplines within the business and will play a critical role by managing complex, non-standard, business opportunities.

The candidates most display significant judgment skills to ensure that Cisco optimizes its margins, effectively mitigates risks, while remaining commercially competitive.

The Pricing Manager will become a strong business partner and trusted advisor for the Sales and Finance Management teams, and will ensure consistent end-to-end management of non-standard deals in alignment with Cisco non-standard deals policies and procedures.

Responsibilities Include:

- Build relationships with functional teams within Cisco in order to enable close interactions for deal reviews and approvals.

- Manage all non-standard deals for their account or geographical responsibility.

- Act as single Finance approver, for area of responsibility, on deals that fall within theatre approval matrix.

- Work with the Sales Team to optimize deals, mitigate risks for Cisco and prevent potential channel or country/theatre conflicts.

- Facilitate deal reviews and approvals by Sales and Finance by managing the communication and structuring of non-standard business opportunities.

- Participate on any Complex Deal review process related to deals in area of responsibility.

- Work closely with field sales to implement pricing and deal packaging guidelines.

- Deliver ongoing education to ensure Sales understanding and compliance with the non standard deals approval process.

- Deal structuring and/or packaging guidance to Sales, incorporating macro perspective into deal guidance in order to ensure that deals make overall business sense (precedent setting, pricing/discounts across segments/geographies and product family)

- Performs scenario analysis, what if comparisons, sensitivity analysis, NPVs & IRRs on key deal during deal structuring cycle.

- Risk assessment and exposure management.

- General understanding of revenue recognition issues, identifying non-standard terms and revenue recognition issues in coordination and collaboration with the corporate revenue accounting team.

- Understanding of global commerce and business capabilities and policies for global deals

- Engages Market Segment and Sales & Services Finance teams based on deal conditions and approval delegation matrix.

- Partners with Legal to perform contract reviews and assessments within VAP- ensuring that MDM and VAP terms and conditions match.

- Builds and manages cross functional relationships with Sales Account Teams, Legal, Segment Finance, Sales & Services Finance, Treasury, Cisco Capital, Tax, Corporate Revenue, etc.

- Maintains extensive knowledge of product and service offerings, including new offerings.

Skills Required:

- Finance related degree (MBA preferred) with a minimum of 10+ years of proven commercial environment preferably in a high technology company or banking industry.

- Experience in large multi-national company with exposure to various financial and/or commercial disciplines.

- Prior Bid, Deal, or Pricing Management experience.

- Business experience in international markets

- Experience working with and supporting Sales Organizations.

- Experience managing global deals and cross cultural teams.

- Strong Time Management and Planning skills.

- Need to be very structured and organized in his/hers approach with ability to plan work and prioritize effectively.

- Fluency in English with excellent written and oral communication skills along with excellent interpersonal skills.

- Budgeting, analytical, modeling and forecasting experience including attention to details and ability to work effectively under time pressure.

- Results driven carrier oriented individual.

- Extensive knowledge and experience in financial and accounting field.

- Deep understanding of Cisco internal policies, processes and procedures.

- Proficiency in Excel, Word, Power Point and Data base management programs.