Director, Hardware Engineering | Hardware design & development (enterprise & datacenter switching)

Cisco Systems, Inc; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 6,000,000 - 9,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. is looking for a senior hardware engineering leader in Bengaluru to drive a cross‑functional hardware development team.

You will guide product roadmaps, oversee budgets and staffing, and ensure top‑quality silicon, optics and platform integration from design to production. The role emphasizes strong collaboration with firmware, software, manufacturing and test teams to resolve issues and deliver high‑reliability products for global customers.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or higher in Electrical/Computer Engineering with 12+ years for Master’s or 8+ for PhD as applicable.
• 6+ years of supervisory experience in hardware design and development.
• Familiarity with Ethernet, PHYs, Switch ASIC operation, and high‑speed interfaces.
• Experience taking hardware from requirements through production support.

Responsibilities

• Lead a Hardware Development team collaborating with cross‑functional disciplines.
• Provide strategic direction for portfolio roadmap, resource investment, and feature prioritization.
• Provide and manage hardware engineering support to customer-facing, internal partner, and manufacturing teams.
• Facilitate root-cause analysis and corrective actions for hardware issues.
• Manage vendor relationships ensuring high-quality components meet project specs.
• Create effective communication schemes for team and leadership alignment.

Skills

Supervisory experience

Ethernet & PHYs

Switch ASIC operation

High-speed interfaces

Cross-functional collaboration

Hardware debugging

Education

B.E./B.Tech in Electrical or Computer Engineering

M.S. in Electrical or Computer Engineering

PhD in Electrical or Computer Engineering

Job description

Meet the Team

Network Hardware Engineering (NHE) creates innovative hardware platforms central to the AI era, powering Cisco’s core Switching, Routing, Wireless, & Industrial products for organizations globally. Our innovations in silicon, optics, and hardware platforms—like Silicon One—are shaping the technology industry. We're a global team of creative experts, bringing our unique backgrounds and bold ideas to push boundaries and help each other grow. Because full product development—from architecture to design to qualification to production is within our team, we’re able to think differently, experiment more, and work quickly. Join us to power the future of the digital world.

Your Impact

• Lead a Hardware Development team that collaborates with cross-functional disciplines to create industry-leading products and solutions. Focus areas include innovation, new technology exploration, execution, quality, cost, and lifecycle support
• Provide strategic direction for portfolio roadmap, resource investment, and feature development prioritization
• Provide and manage hardware engineering support to customer-facing, internal partner, and manufacturing teams.
• Facilitate communication and creative problem-solving to identify root causes of customer & development issues, categorize failures, and implement corrective measures.
• Effectively manage vendor relationships, ensuring suitability and performance of high-quality components and alignment to project specifications.
• Create effective communication schemes to ensure team and leadership alignment.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical or Computer Engineering + 15 years of experience, or Masters in Electrical or Computer Engineering + 12 years of related experience, or PhD in Electrical or Computer Engineering + 8 years of related experience.
• 6+ years of Supervisory experience in managing hardware design and development teams and/or leading complex technical projects
• Familiarity with relevant technologies within the Networking industry such as Ethernet, PHYs, Switch ASIC operation, and high-speed interfaces.
• Product development lifecycle: Experience taking hardware from requirements and design through qualification, manufacturing, and production support.
• Cross-functional collaboration: Ability to work with firmware, software, signal integrity, manufacturing, and test teams to resolve technical issues and deliver products.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Solid technical knowledge and ability to guide technical failure analysis investigations and design optimization.
• Hardware design and validation: Hands-on experience with board or system design, schematic and PCB review, prototype bring-up, testing, and hardware debug.
• Familiarity with mechanical and thermal designs, constraints, trade-offs, and how they affect product performance and reliability.

Why Cisco?

At Cisco, we’re revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era – and beyond. We’ve 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.