Component Engineer (Hybrid)

Cisco Systems, Inc.; Maynard (MA); Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 165,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. is seeking a Senior Component Engineer to maintain high reliability and performance across passive, discrete, and logic components within our Global Supply Chain.

This hybrid role requires collaboration with design teams and suppliers to ensure lifecycle resiliency and quality excellence. You will lead qualification programs, perform failure analysis, and apply reliability modeling to advance Cisco's hardware standards.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related field (Master's preferred)
• Strong understanding of passive, discrete, and logic components technologies and their applications
• 6+ years of professional experience in capacitor, transistor, diodes and resistor component engineering, quality, or reliability in networking, server, and/or optical transceiver industries
• Demonstrated experience in defining and implementing component-level reliability qualification programs, including accelerated stress testing (e.g., THB, HAST, TC, HTOL)

Responsibilities

• Define and implement comprehensive qualification plans for passive, discrete, and logic components to ensure alignment to quality and reliability standards.
• Lead root cause analysis initiatives for technical issues, identifying failure mechanisms to provide lasting solutions.
• Manage supplier technology roadmaps to align with business needs and strengthen supply chain resiliency.
• Collaborate multi-functionally with business units and global suppliers to influence design decisions and proactively mitigate lifecycle risks.
• Apply advanced reliability modeling and rigorous validation techniques to uphold Cisco's established reliability benchmarks.

Skills

Component engineering

Reliability testing

Root cause analysis

Supplier engagement

Education

Electrical Engineering / Materials Science

Tools

THB

HAST

TC

HTOL

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 10/29/2026

This is a hybrid position with approximately 3+ days in office in Maynard, Massachusetts, US or Allentown, Pennsylvania, US.

Meet the Team

The Component Quality & Technology (CQT) team serves as the backbone of hardware excellence within Cisco's Global Supply Chain, ensuring every component meets our rigorous standards for performance. By bridging the gap between Business Units and our external supplier network, we ensure our next-generation products are built on a foundation of absolute reliability and signal integrity. Our team is a diverse, high-energy group of engineering experts who thrive in a collaborative environment where hardware design meets ground breaking manufacturing. We are incredibly excited to be at the forefront of the AI and networking evolution, directly influencing the technology roadmaps that will power the digital world of tomorrow.

Your Impact

As a Senior Component Engineer within the Component Quality & Technology organization, your work will be foundational to maintaining the high reliability and performance standards expected of Cisco products. By proactively managing the lifecycle and quality of passive, discrete, and logic components, you will serve as a critical bridge between design requirements and global supply chain resiliency. Your impact will be felt in the seamless integration of high-performance parts, the mitigation of lifecycle risks, and the delivery of systemic quality improvements that ensure our long-term technical excellence. Responsibilities include:

• Define and implement comprehensive qualification plans for passive, discrete, and logic components to ensure alignment to quality and reliability standards.
• Lead root cause analysis initiatives for technical issues, identifying failure mechanisms to provide lasting solutions.
• Manage supplier technology roadmaps to align with business needs and strengthen supply chain resiliency.
• Collaborate multi-functionally with business units and global suppliers to influence design decisions and proactively mitigate lifecycle risks.
• Apply advanced reliability modeling and rigorous validation techniques to uphold and elevate Cisco's established reliability benchmarks.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related field (Master's preferred)
• Strong understanding of passive, discrete, and logic components technologies and their applications
• 6+ years of professional experience in capacitor, transistor, diodes and resistor component engineering, quality, or reliability in the networking, server, and/or optical transceiver industries.
• Demonstrated experience in defining and implementing component-level reliability qualification programs, including accelerated stress testing (e.g., THB, HAST, TC, HTOL).

Preferred Qualifications

• Outstanding ability to communicate complex technical concepts, risks, and trade-offs to diverse audiences, including senior engineering leadership and collaborators.
• Practical experience leading global supplier technical engagements, including supplier site audits, technology roadmap alignment, and systemic quality management (e.g., CAPA/8D methodology).
• Proficiency in reliability modeling, lifetime prediction, failure analysis techniques, and statistical data analysis.
• Solid understanding of application-level design, including derating methodologies, electrical stress analysis (voltage, temperature, ripple current), and mechanical reliability (board flex, solder joint integrity).
• Expertise in addressing component reliability challenges specific to high-density AI infrastructure and high-speed optical networking applications.
• Familiarity with industry manufacturing standards (IEC, JEDEC, EIA, IPC) and regulatory compliance requirements related to high-reliability hardware.

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.

Message to applicants applying to work in the U.S. and/or Canada:

The starting salary range posted for this position is $130,300.00 to $164,800.00 and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation*, equity, or benefits.

Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location, market conditions, job-related skillset, experience, qualifications, education, certifications, and/or training. The full salary range for certain locations is listed below. For locations not listed below, the recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.

U.S. employees are offered benefits, subject to Cisco's plan eligibility rules, which include medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability coverage, and basic life insurance. Please see the Cisco careers site to discover more benefits and perks. Employees may be eligible to receive grants of Cisco restricted stock units, which vest following continued employment with Cisco for defined periods of time.

U.S. employees are eligible for paid time away as described below, subject to Cisco's policies:

• 10 paid holidays per full calendar year, plus 1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees
• 1 paid day off for employee's birthday, paid year-end holiday shutdown, and 4 paid days off for personal wellness determined by Cisco
• Non-exempt employees** receive 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year, accrued at rate of 4.92 hours per pay period for full-time employees
• Exempt employees participate in Cisco's flexible vacation time off program, which has no defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use (subject to availability and some business limitations)
• 80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter, and up to 80 hours ofunused sick timecarried forwardfrom one calendar yearto the next
• Additional paid time away may be requested to deal with critical or emergency issues for family members
• Optional 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer

For non-sales roles, employees are also eligible to earn annual bonuses subject to Cisco's policies.

Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components, subject to the applicable Cisco plan. For quota-based incentive pay, Cisco typically pays as follows:

• .75% of incentive target for each 1% of revenue attainment up to 50% of quota;
• 1.5% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 50% and 75%;
• 1% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 75% and 100%; and
• Once performance exceeds 100% attainment, incentive rates are at or above 1% for each 1% of attainment with no cap on incentive compensation.

For non-quota-based sales performance elements such as strategic sales objectives, Cisco may pay 0% up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid.

The applicable full salary ranges for this position, by specific state, are listed below:

New York City Metro Area:

$143,100.00 - $213,800.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$130,300.00 - $189,600.00

* For quota-based sales roles on Cisco's sales plan, the ranges provided in this posting include base pay and sales target incentive compensation combined.

** Employees in Illinois, whether exempt or non-exempt, will participate in a unique time off program to meet local requirements.