Networking Tech Lead- L2/L3 Forwarding Engineer

Engg; Milpitas (CA); On-site; USD 214,000 - 310,000; Full time

Job summary

The Cisco Datacenter Switching team in Milpitas builds high‑performance Nexus 9K software for AI and cloud workloads. As a Tech Lead you shape designs, enforce secure coding, and collaborate with design and product teams to deliver reliable networking software.

You will mentor senior engineers, drive architectural choices, and push scalable solutions from concept to production, aligning with Cisco’s design thinking and customer needs. Proficiency in C/C++, Linux, and networking is essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a related field.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in the networking domain.
• Proficiency in C/C++ programming within a Linux environment.

Responsibilities

• Develop software per Cisco design thinking principles and secure coding practices.
• Lead major projects and mentor senior engineers.
• Collaborate with design and product teams to deliver reliable networking solutions.

Skills

C/C++ programming

Linux

Networking

Datapath ASICs

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree

PhD

Tools

Python

VXLAN

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 10/17/2026

Meet The Team

The Datacenter Switching team at Cisco is at the core of AI Networking. We are responsible for designing and developing the next generation of high-performance networking solutions for massive-scale cloud and AI environments. Our work focuses on the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series (Nexus 9K) switches, which serve as the foundational building blocks for modern data centre architectures. Nexus 9K switches are critical in modern data centres for providing the high-density, low-latency, and power-efficient performance required for leaf-and-spine fabric. Wee focus on building and optimizing Cisco’s architecture to meet the demands of modern data centre workloads and automated cloud environments. The team drives innovation in GPU-Connectivity with architectures to support high-compute clusters. Our scope includes the development of diverse fabric technologies, such as Pure L3, VXLAN, and SRv6 fabrics. Engineers on this team solve complex challenges in programmability, scalability, and telemetry at the core of the global internet infrastructure.

Your Impact

As a Tech Lead, You are responsible for developing software consistent with Cisco ‘Design Thinking Principles’ with a focus on simplification and UX (User Experience) at its core, using secure coding practices, ensuring user privacy, and following software development best practices. Partners with other teams, including design and product management to create the right solution for the customers. Creates technical design documentation to be used by the team as well as contributing to user documentation to be used by end users. Debugs and addresses software issues during development and in production systems to support customers. Brings new ideas for product innovation and helps improve software development processes.

What You’ll Do:

• Recognized as an expert within Cisco.
• Proactively identifies and participates in the resolution of complex problems that impact the direction of the business.
• Develops and delivers innovative strategies that benefit customers and/or clients.
• Leads major business projects which impact a region or entire function.
• Contributes to the development of annual organisational objectives/priorities.
• Builds and maintains long-term relationships with key customers to ensure products and services reflect the needs and direction of the business.
• Translates and influences the regional or functional strategic vision into a technical vision with clear engineering priorities, ensuring understanding and alignment across teams.
• May lead projects that span the business segment, function or region.
• May drive large features from technical design through completion.
• Leads the development and implementation of software development lifecycle and agile engineering strategies across applicable teams in anticipation of the changing software development environment.
• Influences technical direction and deliverables across the function.
• Recognises and makes trade‑offs with respect to the whole system and defines new product categories.
• Leads design choices within the context of all Cisco offerings.
• Drives product success through creating metrics and influencing product adoption and direction.
• Writes and sets the standard for functional clean code.
• Develops and drives utilisation and support for processes for issue identification and sustainable response, proactive tooling, and continuous improvement for production systems.
• Industry or thought leader on scale, performance, or design patterns.
• May represent or present team outputs at external events.
• Communicates product or programme priorities, deadlines, and shifts in requirements in the context of engineering priorities and user needs.
• Negotiates and drives trade‑offs in timing, design, and specifications to meet the needs of users and cross‑functional partners.
• Leads, mentors, and influences senior engineers.
• Improves knowledge sharing processes.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelors + 12 years of related experience, or Masters + 8 years of related experience, or PhD + 5 years of related experience.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in the networking domain.
• Proficiency in C/C++ programming within a Linux environment.
• Experience with L2/L3 forwarding concepts, with familiarity in Datapath architecture within ASICs.
• Proven experience in feature development for network switches and routers.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with VXLAN or other Overlay technologies.
• Comfortable with using AI tools such as CoPilot and Cursor
• Proven ability to design and maintain scalable infrastructure automation using Python.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to bridge technical and non‑technical stakeholders to drive project alignment

Why Cisco?

At Cisco, we’re revolutionising how data and infrastructure connect and protect organisations 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 $214,100.00 to $309,800.00 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 ben