Senior Software Engineer (Identity Engineering - SSO)

Cisco Systems, Inc; United States; Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonuses

Restricted stock grants

Paid time off including holidays, well

Sick leave and vacation

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. is seeking a senior backend engineer to build core SSO and identity-broker services used across products and enterprise systems.

Role spans authentication, federation, and identity orchestration, taking complex backend components from design through delivery and collaborating with product, engineering, and architecture partners. Emphasis on secure, scalable Python services and AI-assisted workflows to improve development quality and speed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree with 7+ years of related experience, master's with 4+ years, or PhD with 1+ year.
• Professional experience building enterprise or customer-facing backend services and APIs with Python.
• Experience designing distributed-system components and explaining technical decisions and tradeoffs.
• Track record of delivering quality software using automated testing and modern development practices.
• Day-to-day experience with AI-assisted engineering tools and validating their output.

Responsibilities

• Develop secure, scalable SSO and identity-broker services in Python.
• Build APIs and platform features for authentication, federation, and integration across products.
• Own complex components through design, implementation, testing, and release.
• Assess security, scalability, performance, and extensibility tradeoffs; document decisions.
• Translate requirements into specifications, acceptance criteria, and incremental delivery plans.
• Use AI-assisted tools across the software lifecycle; review and collaborate with teams.

Skills

Python

Backend services

Distributed systems

Automated testing

AI tools

OpenAPI

SAML/OIDC/OAuth

AWS

SQL

Redis

React/TypeScript

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree

PhD

Tools

OpenAPI tooling

Job description

Role overview

Build core single sign-on and identity-brokering services for an identity platform used across products and enterprise systems. The work spans authentication, federation, and identity orchestration, with responsibility for taking complex backend components from technical design through delivery.

Responsibilities

• Develop secure, scalable SSO and identity-broker services in Python.
• Build APIs and platform features for authentication, federation, and integration across products.
• Own complex components through design, implementation, testing, and release.
• Assess security, scalability, performance, and extensibility tradeoffs, and record key decisions in design documents or Architecture Decision Records.
• Translate uncertain requirements into specifications, acceptance criteria, and incremental delivery plans.
• Use AI-assisted development tools across the software lifecycle, checking generated work for security, correctness, and maintainability; contribute through reviews and collaboration with product, engineering, and architecture partners.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree with at least 7 years of related experience, master’s degree with at least 4 years, or PhD with at least 1 year.
• Professional experience building enterprise or customer-facing backend services and APIs with Python.
• Experience designing distributed-system components and explaining technical decisions and tradeoffs.
• Track record of delivering quality software using automated testing and modern development practices.
• Day-to-day experience with AI-assisted engineering tools and the ability to validate their output.

Nice to have

• Spec-driven development and REST API work using OpenAPI specifications or code-generation workflows.
• Familiarity with identity and federation standards such as SAML, OpenID Connect, OAuth 2.0, SCIM, or WS-Federation.
• Experience with AWS, SQL, Redis, asynchronous Python, or event-driven systems.
• React and TypeScript experience, or a background producing technical specifications, design documents, or Architecture Decision Records.

Benefits and work setup

Preferred locations are Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Austin, Texas; remote candidates may also be considered. The listing describes eligibility for annual bonuses in non-sales roles, possible restricted stock grants, and paid time off that includes holidays, wellness days, sick leave, and vacation. Specific compensation details are incomplete in the provided source.