QA Software Engineer NC Hybrid

Cisco; Durham (NC); Hybrid; USD 129,000 - 185,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco is seeking an Automation QA Engineer to own the automated testing ecosystem for the Circuit platform. You will design end-to-end, API, and performance test automation, building scalable frameworks integrated into CI/CD pipelines.

You will leverage AI-assisted coding tools to generate and maintain tests, validate AI artifacts for security, and mentor peers in automation best practices within a hybrid work model.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with 4+ years, Master’s 3+ years, or PhD with 1+ year in CS/AI/ML or related field.
• Experience in test automation and regression framework development for QA.
• Experience with Playwright for E2E/UI automation and/or Python with Pytest/Robot Framework; Selenium familiarity.
• Experience with REST API testing and API contract testing; GraphQL testing a plus.
• Knowledge of CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, Jenkins or similar) and automated testing best practices.
• Experience with AI-assisted coding tools (GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code) and Agile/Git workflows.

Responsibilities

• Architect, build, and maintain automated regression and end-to-end test suites for Circuit using Playwright, Python, and Selenium.
• Design and automate REST and GraphQL API tests covering functional correctness, errors, and performance.
• Plan and execute load, stress, and soak tests; monitor p95/p99, throughput, and AI-specific metrics.
• Use AI agents to generate/maintain regression suites; ensure generated code respects security standards.
• Develop testing approaches for AI/LLM features, validating model responses and stability.
• Integrate tests into CI/CD pipelines and build dashboards and quality reports for engineering leadership.

Skills

Automated testing

Playwright

Python Pytest

REST API testing

GraphQL testing

CI/CD pipelines

AI-assisted coding tools

JavaScript

Education

Bachelor's degree with 4+ years, Master’s 3+ years, or PhD 1+ year in CS/AI/ML

Tools

Selenium

Docker

Kubernetes

Google Cloud Platform

GitHub Actions

Jenkins

Job description

Meet the Team

Our team is part of the Cisco AI and Automation portfolio, responsible for the 'Circuit' platform - the central AI engine that powers productivity and process automation for all of Cisco. We are a rapidly expanding, high-impact group dedicated to building the vehicle for AI-driven business transformation. We operate at the intersection of applied research and production, ensuring our technology is not only cutting-edge but also optimized for performance, reliability, and functional-quality for our 80,000+ monthly users.

As an Automation QA Engineer, you are the guardian of that functional quality - owning the automated testing ecosystem that keeps Circuit reliable, scalable, and production-ready across every release. This is a hybrid position.

Your Impact

As an Automation QA Engineer, you will drive the transformation of our regression testing ecosystem, moving beyond manual processes to build AI-driven, fully automated test suites for both new and legacy features. You will design and own end-to-end (E2E), API, and performance test automation that ensures the Circuit platform continues to meet Cisco's high standards for functional-quality and performance.

You will build and maintain scalable test frameworks, integrate them into CI/CD pipelines for continuous quality feedback, and leverage AI-assisted coding tools (such as Cursor, Copilot, or Claude Code) to generate and maintain tests - while rigorously validating that AI-generated artifacts are stable, correct, and compliant with security standards. This is a high-visibility role where your ability to automate functional-quality and reduce technical debt directly ensures Circuit remains a reliable vehicle for process automation across Cisco.

Responsibilities

• Architect, build, and maintain comprehensive automated regression and end-to-end test suites for the entire Circuit platform using Playwright (TypeScript/JavaScript), Python/Pytest, and Selenium, replacing manual QA with scalable automation.
• Design and automate REST and GraphQL API test suites covering functional correctness, contract validation, error handling, and performance - including validation of AI/model-serving endpoints under concurrent load.
• Plan and execute load, stress, and soak tests using k6 or JMeter, track response-time percentiles (p95/p99), throughput, error rates, and AI-specific metrics such as Time to First Token (TTFT) and inter-token latency.
• Use AI agents and AI-assisted coding tools (Cursor, Copilot, Claude Code) to generate and maintain regression suites for new and legacy features; read and judge the stability of auto-generated code and ensure it does not violate security standards before it is merged.
• Develop testing approaches for AI/LLM features - validating model response quality, behavior consistency (stability testing), and end-to-end AI agent workflows across both the reasoning and action layers.
• Integrate all automated tests into CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, Jenkins, or equivalent) for continuous validation; build dashboards and reports (Grafana, Allure) and communicate quality metrics, risk assessments, and defect trends to engineering leadership.
• Act as a 'Team Captain' for automation initiatives - defining standards, mentoring peers, and collaborating with development, product, and UX teams to embed automation-first testing into the core development lifecycle.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree with 4+ years, Master's degree with 3+ years, or PhD with 1+ year of related experience in Computer Science, AI/ML, or a related technical field.
• Experience in test automation and regression framework development, with a deep understanding of functional quality assurance.
• Experience with Playwright (TypeScript/JavaScript) for E2E/UI automation and/or Python with Pytest/Robot Framework; familiarity with Selenium.
• Experience with REST API testing (and familiarity with API contract testing); GraphQL testing a plus.
• Solid conceptual and practical knowledge of software development lifecycles, including CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, Jenkins, or similar) and automated testing best practices.
• Experience in AI-assisted coding tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code), critical thinking, and Agile/Git workflows to ensure high-quality, scalable test automation

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience testing AI/ML-powered web applications, including LLM-based features, chatbots, or AI agent workflows.
• Hands-on experience with performance/load testing (k6, JMeter) and AI/LLM performance metrics (TTFT, inter-token latency, token throughput).
• Experience in AI Ops / MLOps, or building/fine-tuning custom LLMs.
• Experience with observability and reporting tools such as Splunk, Grafana, Prometheus,
• Familiarity with Docker and Kubernetes for test environment management, and with Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
• Proven track record of leading technical projects and mentoring junior engineers.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills; ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders.
• Experience building and productizing agentic applications with a focus on evaluation and business acceptance.

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 $128,600.00 to $184,900.00 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.

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.