Senior Technical Leader | C, Python, Large-Scale Developer tools

Cisco; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 3,500,000 - 5,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco's Cygnus team seeks a Senior Technical Leader to own architecture and strategy for BSP platform infrastructure data model compilation, automated device access generation, observability, and AI-driven tooling.

You will guide AI-powered automation, mentor senior engineers, and drive scalable solutions across multiple product lines and hardware generations, aligning with Cisco Design Thinking and secure coding practices.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with 12+ years of related experience, or Master’s with 8+ years, or PhD with 5+ years.
• Experience in architecting and delivering large-scale developer tools, infrastructure systems, or compiler/code-generation platforms.
• Proficiency in C or Python; familiarity with C++ preferred.
• Experience with test frameworks (pytest, unittest) and test infrastructure at scale.
• Experience with CI/CD systems (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI).
• Experience designing observability systems (tracing, metrics, logging).
• Proficiency with Docker and containerized environments.
• Experience leading cross-team cross-site initiatives.
• Experience mentoring engineers and improving technical quality across teams.

Responsibilities

• Define and own the long-term technical strategy and architecture for platform infrastructure.
• Architect compiler and code-generation systems at scale for hardware specifications to software data models.
• Drive AI/ML and automation strategy for platform infrastructure across the lifecycle.
• Design and build observability infrastructure, tracing APIs, metrics pipelines, and monitoring.
• Influence technical direction and deliverables across the function and across sites.
• Lead cross-team architectural decisions to ensure scalability, reliability, and developer experience.
• Lead software development lifecycle and agile engineering strategies.
• Develop processes for issue identification and proactive tooling for production systems.
• Mentor senior engineers and conduct design reviews to raise technical capability.

Skills

C/C++

Python

CI/CD

Docker

Observability

OpenTelemetry

AI/ML

Code generation

Unix/Linux

Education

Bachelor’s degree in CS or equivalent

Master’s degree (optional)

PhD (optional)

Tools

Jenkins

GitHub Actions

GitLab CI

OpenTelemetry

Grafana

Job description

Job Description

Meet the team

Cisco’s Cygnus team is building the next-generation Board Support Package (BSP) platform for high-performance routing products powered by Silicon One. We’re seeking a Senior Technical Leader to own and drive the architecture and technical strategy for platform infrastructure data model compilation, automated device access generation, observability, AI-driven tooling, and test infrastructure. The role requires expertise within Cisco on platform infrastructure, cross-team architectural decisions, and ensuring the infrastructure scales across multiple product lines and hardware generations.

You will develop software consistent with Cisco’s Design Thinking Principles with a focus on simplification and UX at its core, using secure coding practices, ensuring user privacy, and following software development best practices. You will partner with hardware, platform, and NOS teams across geographies to create scalable infrastructure that absorbs complexity and accelerates engineering velocity. You will set the long‑term technical direction, drive AI‑powered automation strategy, and mentor tech leads and senior engineers across the team.

What You’ll Do

• Recognized as an expert within Cisco on platform infrastructure; proactively identifies and participates in the resolution of complex problems that impact the direction of the business.
• Define and own the long‑term technical strategy and architecture for platform infrastructure, translating the regional and functional strategic vision into a technical vision with clear engineering priorities, ensuring understanding and alignment across teams.
• Architect compiler and code‑generation systems at scale that transform hardware specifications into software‑consumable data models and device drivers, enabling rapid PID onboarding across multiple product lines.
• Drive the AI/ML and automation strategy for platform infrastructure, identifying high‑impact opportunities to apply AI‑assisted code generation, intelligent test optimization, automated failure triage, and generative tooling across the development lifecycle.
• Design and build observability infrastructure tracing APIs, metrics pipelines, and monitoring systems that provide deep visibility into platform behavior across hardware generations.
• Influence technical direction and deliverables across the function; recognize and make trade‑offs with respect to the whole system.
• Lead cross‑team architectural decisions with a focus on scalability, reliability, consistency, and developer experience driving alignment across hardware, BSP, NOS, and silicon teams; may lead projects that span the business segment, function, or region.
• Lead the development and implementation of software development lifecycle and agile engineering strategies across applicable teams in anticipation of the changing software development environment.
• Develop and drive utilization of processes for issue identification and sustainable response, proactive tooling, and continuous improvement for production systems.
• Mentor senior engineers, conduct design reviews, improve knowledge sharing processes, and raise the technical capability of the broader organization.
• Represent the team in cross‑site technical forums and may represent or present team outputs at external events; drive alignment between San Jose and Bangalore engineering teams.
• Communicate architectural trade‑offs, negotiate with cross‑functional partners, and influence outcomes at the organizational level; build and maintain long‑term relationships with key stakeholders.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with 12+ years of related experience, or Master’s degree with 8+ years of related experience, or PhD with 5+ years of related experience.
• Experience in architecting and delivering large‑scale developer tools, infrastructure systems, or compiler/code‑generation platforms.
• Proficiency in C or Python; familiarity with C++ is preferred.
• Experience with test frameworks such as pytest, unittest, or similar automation tools, including test infrastructure design at scale.
• Experience with CI/CD systems such as Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or equivalent platforms, including build and release infrastructure.
• Experience designing observability systems, including tracing, metrics, and logging (e.g., OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Grafana, ELK stack).
• Proficiency with Docker and containerized development and test environments.
• Experience leading cross‑team and cross‑site technical initiatives.
• Experience mentoring engineers and contributing to improving the technical quality across teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with network operating systems or embedded platforms (IOS‑XR, NX‑OS, SONiC, or similar).
• Familiarity with Board Support Package (BSP) development, hardware abstraction layers, or platform bring‑up.
• Experience building developer tools with intuitive UX.
• Background in infrastructure and automation at scale.
• Experience with data modeling and schema design for complex technical domains.
• Track record of driving AI/ML adoption in engineering organizations converting manual processes into AI‑augmented workflows.
• Contributions to knowledge sharing among the wider professional community through technical blogs or publications.