Machine Learning Engineer - CTO innovations

Cisco Systems, Inc; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. is seeking a Software Engineer to build scalable data pipelines and applied AI systems for networking and security. You will contribute to AI-powered data pipelines, LLM applications, and operational analytics that enhance visibility, anomaly detection, and incident analysis.

You will collaborate with senior engineers to write maintainable code, create user-facing dashboards, and support live production services. Strong Python/SQL skills and cloud tooling are essential.

Qualifications

• Must have strong Python and SQL programming abilities.
• Knowledge of data structures, algorithms, software engineering, and OO design.
• Experience with building production AI applications is a plus.
• Familiarity with cloud-based data platforms and ML tooling.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement scalable ETL/ELT data pipelines using Python/SQL.
• Develop production AI systems (LLMs, RAG, ML) for networking/security use cases.
• Collaborate with senior engineers to deploy dashboards and maintain live services.

Skills

Python

SQL

Data structures

Algorithms

Software engineering

OOP design

Generative AI

Education

Master’s degree in a relevant field

Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field

Bootcamp/Certification with 3 years experience

High school diploma with 4 years experience

Tools

LangChain

Neo4j

AWS

Snowflake

Airflow

PySpark

TensorFlow

OpenCV

React

Job description

Meet the Team

The Cisco CTO Organization is building the next generation of AI applications for networking and security. Our teams combine machine learning, generative AI, data engineering, cloud technologies, and domain expertise to build intelligent capabilities for Cisco’s networking and security products.

Your Impact

As a Software Engineer, you will work with experienced engineers and researchers to develop production-ready AI applications for networking and security use cases. You will contribute to AI-powered data pipelines, LLM applications, operational analytics, and automation that improve visibility, anomaly detection, incident analysis, troubleshooting, and customer experiences.

What You’ll Do

You will build scalable data pipelines and applied AI systems that transform complex networking and security telemetry into actionable operational intelligence.

• Design ETL/ELT workflows in Python and SQL across cloud and distributed data platforms to process logs, alerts, graph structures, and semantic search datasets.
• Build, evaluate, and monitor production LLM, RAG, and ML applications for automated troubleshooting, anomaly detection, and incident analysis.
• Partner with senior engineers to write maintainable code, build user-facing insight dashboards, participate in design reviews, and support live production services.

Minimum Qualifications

• Meet one of the following(completed within the past 3 years or expected to be completed within the next 12 months):
• - A Master's degree with 0 years of work experience; or
• - A Bachelor's degree with 2 years of work experience; or
• - An educational or workforce development program (e.g., Associate’s, Apprenticeship, Boot camp, or Certification) with 3 years of work experience; or
• - A High school diploma (or equivalent) with 4 years of work experience.
• Strong programming skills in Python and SQL
• Knowledge of data structures, algorithms, software engineering, and object-oriented design

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands‑on experience through internships, academic projects, research, or professional work in one or more of: Generative AI, LLMs, RAG, or machine learning
• Data engineering and ETL/ELT pipelines
• Model deployment or inference
• Cloud‑based application development
• Workflow automation or analytics
• Familiarity with Git, APIs, testing, and software development practices
• Strong analytical, communication, and problem‑solving skills
• Experience with tools such as LangChain, Neo4j, AWS, Snowflake, Airflow, PySpark, TensorFlow, OpenCV, or React
• Exposure to networking or security data, including metrics, logs, events, alerts, topology, or time‑series data
• Familiarity with network management, security operations, observability, or infrastructure automation
• Experience building dashboards, chatbots, search systems, or AI‑assisted workflows
• Familiarity with LLM evaluation, prompt engineering, model optimization, or local inference
• Relevant certifications, publications, research, or substantial technical projects

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 $165,000.00 to $211,100.00 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:

$165,000.00 - $242,800.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$148,700.00 - $216,100.00

* 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.