Senior AI Researcher, AISWP (Hybrid)

Cisco Systems, Inc.; Milpitas (CA); Hybrid; USD 203,000 - 259,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. is seeking a Senior AI Researcher to advance generative AI for networking, security, and observability. You will develop domain-specific foundational representations and lead research that differentiates Cisco’s AI capabilities on a global scale.

You will publish at top venues, present talks, and collaborate across engineering and strategy teams to turn research breakthroughs into tangible products and security enhancements.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's in CS with 7+ years, or Master/PhD with related experience
• Experience with LLM pre-training and post-training in industry or academic labs
• Minimum of 3 publications in top AI venues (ACL, EMNLP, ICLR, ICML, NAACL, NeurIPS)
• Experience with ML frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch, Hugging Face)
• Prior experience driving research projects in industry or university labs

Responsibilities

• Build purpose-built large language models for Cisco's networking, security, data center, and observability infra
• Drive pre-training initiatives to build foundational models with differentiating value
• Conduct innovative research in generative AI to improve model capabilities for networking automation and HCI
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to translate research into business solutions
• Publish research in top venues and contribute to the scientific community

Skills

LLM pre-training

Post-training

ML frameworks

Publications

Education

Bachelor's in CS

Master's

PhD

Tools

TensorFlow

PyTorch

Hugging Face

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 10/29/2026

This is a hybrid role based out of Cisco's Seattle or San Jose office.

Meet the Team

The Cisco AI Research team is a dynamic group of scientists and engineers dedicated to building the future of proprietary intelligence. Our core mission is to develop purpose-built large language models tailored specifically for Cisco's networking, security, and observability domains. We operate at the intersection of basic and applied research, ensuring that Cisco maintains its technological edge without reliance on external AI providers. Our team is composed of doers and experts who thrive in a collaborative environment, blending deep technical rigor with a shared passion for solving complex, real-world problems at a global scale.

Your Impact

As an Senior AI Researcher, you will produce research advances in the field of Generative AI that improve the capabilities of models or agents for networking automation, human-computer interaction, model safety, or other strategic gen-AI powered networking areas. You will research building domain-specific foundational representations relevant to networking, etc. that provide differentiative value across diverse sets of applications. You will be a thought leader in the global research community via publishing papers, giving technical talks, organizing workshops etc.

• Help build purpose-built large language models to secure and optimize Cisco's proprietary networking, security, data center, and observability infrastructure.
• Drive pre-training initiatives to build foundational models that provide unique, competitive value across our product portfolio.
• Conduct innovative research in generative AI to improve model capabilities for networking automation and human-computer interaction.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams of engineers and strategists to integrate research breakthroughs into tangible business solutions.
• Establish Cisco as a global thought leader by publishing research in top-tier AI venues and contributing to the broader scientific community.

Minimum qualifications

• Bachelor's in computer science + 7 years of related experience, or Masters + 4years of related experience, or PhD + 1 years of related experience,
• Experience with LLM pre-training and post training experience within an industry or academic research lab and
• Minimum of 3 publications within top AI Venues such as ACL, EMNLP, ICLR, ICML, NAACL, NeurIPS
• Experience working with Machine Learning Models (MLMs) and familiarity with associated frameworks, such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, Hugging Face, or equivalent platforms
• Prior experience driving research projects within an industry or university research lab (full-time, internship etc.)

Preferred qualifications

• Interest in combining representation learning and problem-specific properties
• Experience in building, fine-tuning foundation models including LLMs and multi-modal models or domain specific models
• Ability to maintain cutting-edge knowledge in generative AI, Large Language Models (LLMs), and multi-modal models and apply these technologies innovatively to emerging business problems, use cases, and scenarios
• Outstanding communication, interpersonal, relationship building skills conducive to collaboration

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 $203,000.00 to $258,600.00 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.

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:

$203,000.00 - $297,400.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$181,000.00 - $264,600.00

* 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.