Susan Hayes
About Susan Hayes
Susan Hayes is the Vice President of Manufacturing at Arista Networks, with extensive experience in supply chain and product operations from her tenure at Cisco.
Title and Current Role
Susan Hayes holds the position of Vice President of Manufacturing at Arista Networks. She has been with the company since 2021, contributing her expertise from the headquarters in Santa Clara, California.
Career at Cisco
Susan Hayes has an extensive career at Cisco, where she served in multiple roles over a period of 13 years. She was the Vice President of Product Operations and Supply Chain from 2018 to 2020 in San Jose, California. Prior to that, she was the Senior Director of Product Operations, Supply Chain from 2015 to 2018 in the San Francisco Bay Area. From 2012 to 2015, she directed Central Operations and Strategy as the Supply Chain Director. Susan also worked as the Senior Supply Chain Manager for the Emerging Technologies Business from 2007 to 2012.
Early Career and Roles
Before her tenure at Cisco, Susan Hayes worked at TopSpin Communications as Director of Manufacturing Engineering from 2003 to 2005. She also held the same title at Alidian Networks Inc from 1999 to 2002, located in Mountain View, California, United States.
Educational Background
Susan Hayes has a strong educational foundation in business and engineering. She holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Boston University and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (BSME) from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Additionally, she has completed various executive programs, including Data Science for Executives and Supply Chain Leadership at MIT Sloan School of Management, the Disruptive Leadership Program at NYU Stern School of Business, and the Global Leadership Development Program at IMD Business School.
Key Initiatives and Achievements
Susan Hayes founded Cisco's Supply Chain Women's group, iWise, which has been active for over 11 years. She spearheaded the delivery of a pioneering platform to digitize the new product introduction process, enhancing global real-time decision-making. Additionally, she led the transition of business models from hardware to software, focusing on scaling subscription revenue operating models for both product and customer experience. She also built global supply chains and teams that launched two billion-dollar product categories, achieving best-in-class cost, quality, and margin targets.