Senior Lead Machine Learning Engineer

Cisco Systems; Milpitas (CA); Híbrido; USD 234.000 - 384.000; Jornada completa

Ventajas ofrecidas por este puesto de trabajo

Medical, dental and vision insurance

401(k) plan with Cisco matching

Paid parental leave

Disability coverage

Basic life insurance

Cisco RSU grants

10 holidays + floating holiday

Birthday day off + wellness days

Paid vacation time / Sick time

Volunteer days

Annual bonuses (non-sales)

Descripción de la vacante

Cisco Systems seeks a Senior Lead AI Researcher to architect Cisco’s proprietary intelligence, driving end-to-end pre-training and generative AI research for purpose-built models. The role supports securing Cisco’s networking and observability infrastructure, in a hybrid Milpitas, CA setting.

Responsibilities include leading LLM development, coordinating cross-functional work, and publishing in top AI venues to advance Cisco’s competitive edge.

Formación

• 12+ years in STEM with a Bachelor's, or 8+ years with a Master's, or 5+ years with a PhD in a related field.
• Experience leading or contributing to full-cycle pre-training, distillation or continual pre-training of an LLM.
• Minimum of 3 peer-reviewed publications in top AI venues.
• 3+ years using PyTorch or TensorFlow on distributed GPU clusters (100+ GPUs).
• 2+ years applying ML to networking, data center, security or observability data.

Responsabilidades

• Lead development of purpose-built large language models that secure and optimize Cisco’s infrastructure.
• Drive advanced pre-training initiatives to build foundational models delivering value across the product portfolio.
• Conduct innovative generative AI research to improve networking automation and human-computer interaction.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate research breakthroughs into business solutions.
• Publish research in top AI venues and contribute to the broader scientific community.

Conocimientos

PyTorch

TensorFlow

LLM

Distributed computing

100+ GPUs

Educación

STEM degree (Bachelor's/Master's/PhD)

Herramientas

PyTorch

TensorFlow

LLM

Distributed computing clusters

100+ GPUs

Descripción del empleo

Cisco’s AI Research team is seeking a Senior Lead AI Researcher to architect Cisco’s proprietary intelligence by driving end-to-end pre-training and generative AI research for purpose-built large language models. This role supports securing and optimizing Cisco’s networking, security, data center, and observability infrastructure, and translating research into business solutions in a hybrid setting in Milpitas, CA.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead development of purpose-built large language models that secure and optimize Cisco’s proprietary networking, security, data center, and observability infrastructure.
• Drive advanced pre-training initiatives to build foundational models that deliver unique, competitive value across the product portfolio.
• Conduct innovative generative AI research to improve 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.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in STEM with 12+ years of experience, or a Master’s degree in STEM with 8+ years of experience, or a PhD in STEM or a related technical field with 5+ years of relevant research experience.
• Experience leading or contributing to at least one full-cycle pre-training, distillation based pre-training, or continual pre-training project for an LLM or foundational model, including dataset curation, tokenization strategy, and training pipeline execution.
• Minimum of 3 peer-reviewed publications in top-tier AI venues such as ACL, EMNLP, ICLR, ICML, NAACL, or NeurIPS.
• 3+ years using PyTorch or TensorFlow to implement and train models on distributed computing clusters (for example, environments utilizing 100+ GPUs).
• 2+ years applying machine learning models to networking, data center, security, or observability datasets to solve complex system-level problems.

Technologies

• PyTorch
• TensorFlow
• Large Language Model (LLM)
• Distributed computing clusters
• 100+ GPUs

Compensation and Location

Location: Milpitas, CA (hybrid)

Salary: USD 234,400 to 383,500 per year

Education

A STEM degree is required (Bachelor’s/Master’s/PhD).

Benefits

• Medical, dental and vision insurance
• 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution
• Paid parental leave
• Short and long-term disability coverage
• Basic life insurance
• 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: 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: flexible vacation time off program with no defined limit (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
• Annual bonuses (for non-sales roles) subject to Cisco’s policies

Application Window

The application window is expected to close on: 10/25/2026.

Meet the Team

The Cisco AI Research team is a group of scientists and engineers building proprietary intelligence. The core mission is to develop purpose-built large language models tailored for Cisco’s networking, security, and observability domains. The team operates at the intersection of basic and applied research to maintain Cisco’s technological edge without reliance on external AI providers.

Notes for Applicants Applying to Work in the U.S. and/or Canada

• Starting salary range posted for this position is $256,900.00 to $333,400.00 (projected salary range for new hires in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation, equity, or benefits).
• Individual pay is determined by hiring location, market conditions, job-related skillset, experience, qualifications, education, certifications, and/or training.
• For non-sales roles, employees may be eligible to earn annual bonuses subject to Cisco’s policies.
• Cisco sales plan incentive details and full salary ranges by state are included in the original posting; New York City Metro Area: $256,900.00 to $383,500.00; Non-Metro New York state and Washington state: $234,400.00 to $341,100.00.
• Employees in Illinois participate in a time off program to meet local requirements, whether exempt or non-exempt.