Principal Software Engineer, Developer Platforms

Cisco Systems, Inc; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 241,000 - 371,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) with company match

Paid parental leave

Generous PTO and holidays

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. in Seattle, WA seeks a senior software engineer to lead quality platforms that empower thousands of developers.

You will design production-grade internal platforms, guide modernization efforts, and mentor engineers to deliver durable solutions that improve release confidence across the organization. The role emphasizes cross-functional collaboration with Cisco and other teams, hands-on contribution, and strong focus on developer experience, automation, and scalable delivery

Qualifications

• 8+ years designing and operating production-grade systems.
• 3+ years in developer platforms, quality engineering, CI/CD, or release automation.
• Experience with automated testing and service architecture.
• Experience leading architectural change across multiple teams.
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or related field, or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Provide senior technical leadership for quality systems across Developer Platforms.
• Design platforms that improve software validation and release confidence.
• Translate architectural change into practical platform direction with Cisco collaboration.
• Mentor senior engineers and drive durable platform adoption.

Skills

Senior software engineering

CI/CD & release automation

Distributed systems

Architectural leadership

Mentoring engineers

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 11/03/2026

Meet the Team

Developer Platforms builds the internal systems that enable more than 3,000 Splunk engineers to build, test, and release world-class products at scale. Our work connects the daily developer experience to the wider software delivery lifecycle. You will join a cross-functional team of engineers and leaders who value practical innovation in making complex engineering work easier for others. The team is helping shape Splunk’s next generation of quality platforms. This work gives engineers greater confidence as they deliver software.

Your Impact

Provide senior technical leadership for quality systems across Developer Platforms. Design production-grade platforms that improve software validation and release confidence across Splunk. Partner with technical leaders across Splunk and Cisco to translate architectural change into practical platform direction. Guide modernization and migration efforts across multiple engineering teams. Contribute hands-on while mentoring senior engineers; success means durable platforms that teams adopt and that measurably improve delivery confidence.

Minimum Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience designing, building, and operating production-grade systems or internal platforms.
• 3+ years of experience in one or more of developer platforms, quality engineering, test frameworks, CI/CD, build systems, release automation, infrastructure platforms, or developer tooling.
• Experience with automated testing, release pipelines, service architecture, distributed systems, or comparable modern software development practices.
• Experience leading architectural change, platform modernization, or large-scale technical migrations across multiple engineering teams.
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience providing technical leadership across teams without direct reporting authority.
• Experience building platforms for large internal engineering communities or organizations with thousands of developers.
• Experience with AI-enabled engineering workflows, quality analytics, or emerging developer productivity technologies.
• Ability to create clarity, communicate complex technical ideas, and align engineers, managers, and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Passion for improving developer experience, engineering quality, automation, and software delivery confidence.

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 $241,400.00 to $322,600.00 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.

• 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

$250,600.00 - $416,900.00

Non-Metro New York State & Washington State

$241,400.00 - $371,000.00

• 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.