Principal ML Platform Architect — Hybrid (San Jose)

Cisco Systems, Inc; San Jose (CA); Hybrid; USD 296,000 - 375,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. is seeking a Principal Machine Learning Engineer in a hybrid role based in San Jose, CA. You will lead the architectural design and build of AI foundations powering Cisco IQ, spanning cloud, on‑prem, and air‑gapped environments.

You will drive technology strategy, evaluation of models/frameworks, and governance while delivering scalable, production‑grade AI systems and guidance to cross‑functional teams.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher with extensive related experience.
• Experience with Python ML stacks and model optimization techniques.
• Proven ability to design production AI platforms across hybrid environments.

Responsibilities

• Architect and scale AI foundation powering Cisco IQ across cloud, on‑prem, and air‑gapped environments.
• Lead architecture reviews, mentor engineers, and influence platform direction with hands‑on leadership.
• Design cost‑effective AI services, improve token efficiency, and optimize compute usage.
• Develop and deploy production LLM/SLM inference runtimes with batching and caching.

Skills

Python

PyTorch

JAX

PEFT

LoRA

Quantization

Distillation

Production-scale systems

GPU/CPU edge environments

Education

PhD

Master's degree

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Vector databases

Inference runtimes

Cloud platforms

LLM frameworks

Job description

Cisco Systems, Inc. is seeking a Principal Machine Learning Engineer in a hybrid role based in San Jose, CA. You will lead the architectural design and build of AI foundations powering Cisco IQ, spanning cloud, on‑prem, and air‑gapped environments.

You will drive technology strategy, evaluation of models/frameworks, and governance while delivering scalable, production‑grade AI systems and guidance to cross‑functional teams.