Detection Engineering Technical Leader

Cisco; United States; Hybrid; USD 151,000 - 191,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) with matching

Paid parental leave

Disability coverage

Life insurance

Job summary

Cisco is seeking a Security Engineer in Detection Engineering to advance our enterprise threat detection capabilities. You will design data pipelines that convert large security telemetry into actionable alerts and leverage AI/ML to outpace adversaries.

The role collaborates with Threat Hunting, SOC, IR, and product teams to drive detection initiatives end-to-end. You will mentor teammates, review code, and deliver production-ready security content across AWS, GCP, and Azure environments.

Qualifications

• Deployed enterprise security content in a production SOC environment.
• Built detection queries in SPL at scale with alerting & baselining.
• Applied AI/ML techniques to detection pipelines in security.

Responsibilities

• Design and build data processing pipelines for security telemetry.
• Develop scalable detection content and reduce false positives.
• Collaborate with SOC, IR, threat intel, and product teams from requirement to deployment.
• Mentor teammates on detection standards and patterns.

Skills

Detection engineering

Python

AI/ML in security

Threat intel

Code reviews

Education

Bachelor’s degree + 8 years

Master’s degree + 6 years

PhD + 3 years

Tools

Git-based platforms

SPL

Cloud providers (AWS/GCP/Azure)

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 10/06/2026 The successful applicant will be performing work in FedRAMP High or IL-5 environments, and therefore, must be a U.S. Person (i.e. U.S. citizen, U.S. national, lawful permanent resident, asylee, or refugee). This position may also perform work that the U.S. government has specified can only be performed by a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil.

Meet the Team

This role works within Splunk’s internal security organization as a member of the Detection Engineering team responsible for securing the Splunk portfolio. The role will partner fluidly with our multi-functional peer teams: Threat Hunting & Intelligence, SOC, Advanced Response, and others, to ensure that Splunk is always prepared for emergent threats. This is a true hybrid role. You will move dynamically between building new scalable detection content, collaborating with incident response organizations, mentoring teammates on detection standards and design patterns, as well designing the future of engineering threat detection solutions at Splunk.

Your Impact

You’ll be joining a team of like-minded engineers focused on securing our enterprise and building for the future — together, we engineer scalable detection systems and automation that power 24x7 monitoring operations and rapid response to cybersecurity threats. We sit at the intersection of deep security expertise, strong engineering rigor, and data science: you’ll design and build data processing pipelines that efficiently transform high-volume security telemetry into actionable alert signals for downstream agentic and human triage, and we lean hard into AI/ML to stay ahead of adversaries rather than chasing them. Beyond the technical craft, we drive complex, cross-organizational initiatives with business partners to continuously expand visibility and close detection gaps — working across boundaries to make the whole security program better. We bring our experience to bear through code reviews and technical mentorship, helping elevate detection engineers and security content developers around us, and we hold ourselves to a standard where engineering excellence isn't aspirational…it's how we work.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s + 8 years of related experience or a Master’s degree with 6+ years of related experience, or a PhD + 3 years of related experience as a Security Engineer, Detection Engineer, Security Content Developer, SOC Analyst, or Security Operations professional
• Deployed and maintained Splunk Enterprise Security content in a production SOC environment, including detections, data models, and data management
• Built detection queries in SPL at scale, including risk‑based alerting, statistical baselining, and optimized searches across high‑volume data sources
• Integrated AI/ML techniques (e.g., anomaly detection, LLM‑assisted workflows) into detection engineering pipelines to reduce false positive rates and accelerate content development
• Translated threat intelligence and ATT&CK‑mapped adversary behaviors into detection requirements with defined coverage metrics and measurable success criteria

Preferred Qualifications

• Contributed to collaborative development workflows using Git‑based platforms (GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket), including branch strategy, code review, and CI/CD integration
• Built or tuned security monitoring coverage across AWS, GCP, or Azure, including native logging services (e.g., CloudTrail, GCS audit logs, Azure Monitor) and cloud‑native threat detection
• Tracked and responded to emerging threats and attacker techniques through ongoing research, published work, conference participation, or contributions to detection content
• Wrote production Python (or equivalent) with unit tests, code reviews, and version‑controlled deployments in an operational security environment
• Applied statistical methods or ML techniques (e.g., threshold baselining, clustering, anomaly scoring) to security data to improve detection signal quality
• Identified and delivered automation that measurably reduced manual toil or cycle time in detection, triage, or response workflows
• Produced technical documentation, runbooks, or presentations tailored to both engineering and non‑technical security stakeholders
• Partnered with SOC, IR, threat intel, and product teams to drive multi‑functional detection initiatives from requirement to deployment

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 $150,500.00 to $190,800.00 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 Benefits

• 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 of unused sick time carried forward from one calendar year to 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.

Applicable Salary Ranges by State

• New York City Metro Area: $180,300.00 - $263,000.00
• Non‑Metro New York state & Washington state: $160,700.00 - $234,100.00

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

Cisconians power the future. We make impact as a team, innovating fast and fearlessly to create meaningful solutions on a large scale. The depth and breadth of our technology doesn’t just benefit our customers – it also means limitless opportunities for us to experiment and learn. We understand the power each of our unique backgrounds bring when we work together. Because of that, we have a global network of thinkers, doers, experts, and curious creators who help one another do their life’s best work.