Senior Software Engineer - Backend & AI

Cisco Systems, Inc.; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 139,000 - 204,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental and vision insurance

401(k) with company match

Paid parental leave

Short and long-term disability

Life insurance

RSU grants

Paid holidays

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. in Austin is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to join our Cisco IQ team. You’ll own meaningful, high-visibility work in a rapidly adopting product, shaping solutions with technical leaders and mentoring junior engineers who look to you for guidance.

You'll collaborate with cross-functional teams across product, architecture, and engineering to deliver production-ready software that customers actually use, while learning and growing as part of a seasoned team.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science or related field and 6+ years of software engineering experience.
• Experience in QA, testing, and debugging in a production environment.
• Experience mentoring junior engineers and leading technical initiatives across engineering teams.
• Experience with AI/ML development and integrating AI-driven features into production systems.

Responsibilities

• Own meaningful, highly visible work in Cisco IQ on a scrum team.
• Design solutions with technical leaders and principal engineers, guiding junior engineers.
• Mentor and coach teammates to raise technical quality and delivery.
• Ship production-ready software that customers use and that impacts Cisco's products.

Skills

Python

Java

QA/testing

Mentoring

AI/ML development

Education

Bachelor's degree in computer science or related field

Tools

Linux

Databases

AWS

Azure

Google Cloud

Backend Web Application Development

Web Services

Embedded Development

Job description

Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.

Meet the Team

Software is a team sport. The core of this team was hand-picked from Austin's rich SaaS startup ecosystem five years ago. Our charter is focused on building insights and AI agents for Cisco IQ, the Customer Experience flagship product — an AI-powered digital interface that transforms how customers and partners interact with Cisco's services. While some of our 40-person team is distributed, this Senior Software Engineer role is based in Austin alongside the bulk of the team. You'll find a home here if you value the craft of well-built software, appreciate working alongside excellent engineers, and know how to learn something new from your peers.

Your Impact

As a Senior Software Engineer on one of our scrum teams, you'll own meaningful, highly visible work in Cisco IQ. You'll design solutions alongside technical leaders and principal engineers who will push your thinking — and you'll have the opportunity to do the same for the more junior engineers who will look to you for technical guidance and mentorship. This is a team where ownership leads to greater ownership. The product we’re building is experiencing rapid adoption, so the work you do will land in customers' hands and make an impact on Cisco.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science or a related technical field, 6+ years of software engineering experience - designing, architecting, building and supporting large-scale or complex software systems using Python and/or Java
• Experience in QA, testing, and/or debugging in a production environment
• Experience mentoring junior engineers and leading technical initiatives across engineering teams
• Experience with AI/ML development, frameworks, and/or integrating AI-driven features into production systems

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge of Linux, Networking concepts, OS fundamentals, and/or Embedded Development
• Experience with Databases, Backend Web Application Development, and Web Services
• Experience with Cloud Platforms: AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud
• Experience deploying custom-built agents to production environments
• Ability to collaborate cross-functionally with product, architecture, and other engineering teams

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.

The starting salary range posted for this position is $139,300.00 to $203,600.00 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:

$167,700.00 - $282,000.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$149,100.00 - $250,900.00

* 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.