Embedded Software Engineer

Cisco; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 155,000 - 223,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision coverage

401(k) with company match

Paid parental leave

Disability insurance

Life insurance

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. is seeking a Software Engineer to design, develop, debug, and validate embedded software for Cisco networking devices.

You will work closely with platform, ASIC, systems, security, manufacturing, and product teams to bring up new switch and wireless platforms on Linux, and to improve bootloaders, drivers, and platform software. The role requires strong C programming for embedded systems, Linux experience, and a track record of testing and validating hardware-dependent

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field with 5 years of relevant experience, or a Master’s degree with 3 years of relevant experience.
• Proficient programming experience in C for embedded, systems, firmware, or device-driver development.
• Prior experience developing, debugging, and validating embedded systems or platform software on Linux.
• Prior experience writing software test plans and automated validation for hardware-dependent software.
• Strong ownership, communication, technical judgment, and ability to work effectively in a cross-functional engineering environment.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, debug, and validate embedded software for Cisco networking devices.
• Bring up new switch and wireless platforms on Linux and embedded systems, working across CPU, memory, buses, peripherals, storage, and networking components.
• Debug complex hardware/software issues on prototypes and production devices using logs, traces, debuggers, serial consoles, and lab-based test equipment.
• Build automated hardware-in-the-loop validation and regression infrastructure for real devices, including Python/Pytest test suites, testbed orchestration, power/thermal measurements, and stability testing.
• Develop and maintain CI/CD workflows for compiling, testing, analyzing, signing, packaging, and releasing firmware.

Skills

C programming

Embedded systems

Linux development

Python

Test automation

GDB debugging

Education

Bachelor’s degree in EE/CS

Master’s degree +3 yrs

Tools

Git

Jira

Jenkins

GitHub Actions

GitLab CI

U-Boot

Yocto

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 01/28/2027

Meet the Team

Team Fusion develops embedded software for Cisco networking platforms, including hyperscaler-class switches, ultra-low-end campus switches, and selected wireless devices; and is responsible for the HW security and manufacturing software for cloud dashboard products.

Your Impact

As a Software Engineer, you will design, develop, debug, and validate embedded software for Cisco networking devices. You will work close to hardware and silicon while partnering with platform, ASIC, systems, security, manufacturing, and product teams.

• Develop bootloader, BSP, diagnostics, platform software, and low-level device drivers for networking hardware.
• Bring up new switch and wireless platforms on Linux and embedded systems, working across CPU, memory, buses, peripherals, storage, and networking components.
• Debug complex hardware/software issues on prototypes and production devices using logs, traces, debuggers, serial consoles, and lab-based test equipment.
• Build automated hardware-in-the-loop validation and regression infrastructure for real devices, including Python/Pytest test suites, testbed orchestration, power/thermal measurements, and stability testing.
• Develop and maintain CI/CD workflows for compiling, testing, analyzing, signing, packaging, and releasing firmware.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field with 5 years of relevant experience, or a Master’s degree with 3 years of relevant experience.
• Proficient programming experience in C for embedded, systems, firmware, or device-driver development.
• Prior experience developing, debugging, and validating embedded systems or platform software on Linux.
• Prior experience writing software test plans and automated validation for hardware-dependent software.
• Strong ownership, communication, technical judgment, and ability to work effectively in a cross-functional engineering environment.

Preferred Skills

• Knowledge of networking fundamentals and protocols, including Ethernet, TCP/IP, VLANs, MAC learning, Layer 2/3 forwarding, etc.
• Experience with Linux kernel development or debugging, GDB/KGDB, JTAG, U-Boot, Yocto, or embedded build systems.
• Proficiency in Python and experience with Pytest or similar test automation frameworks.
• Experience with Git, Jira, Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or other CI/CD systems.
• Familiarity with secure boot, hardware roots of trust, TrustZone, cryptographic signing, or product security processes.
• Experience with wireless or radio-connected embedded devices, such as Wi‑Fi, BLE.
• Experience with power, thermal, performance, or reliability characterization of embedded or edge-compute platforms.
• Experience with C++, Go, shell scripting, or AI/ML edge workloads.

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 $155,000.00 to $222,600.00 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 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.

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

New York City Metro Area

$155,000.00 - $256,000.00

Non-Metro New York State & Washington State

$138,100.00 - $227,900.00

• 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.