Software Engineer

Cisco Systems, Inc.; Seattle (WA); Hybrid; USD 149,000 - 251,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. is seeking an experienced backend engineer to drive the long-term technical strategy for ingestion pipelines, ensuring industry-leading performance and scalability.

You will lead design and implementation of mission-critical distributed systems powering the Splunk platform, partnering with product and platform leadership to align engineering with business needs. You will elevate engineering standards, promote best practices in system design and code quality, and champion

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field.
• 7+ years of backend software development experience with a focus on large-scale distributed systems.
• Expert-level proficiency in Go or Java with deep concurrency and memory management knowledge.
• Experience architecting, deploying, and scaling high-volume data processing pipelines.
• Experience with cloud-native infrastructure including Kubernetes, microservices, and distributed storage.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the long-term technical strategy for ingestion pipelines for performance, elasticity, and scalability.
• Lead the design and implementation of distributed systems impacting the Splunk platform.
• Collaborate with product/platform leadership to align engineering initiatives with business requirements.
• Elevate engineering standards for system design, code quality, and operations.

Skills

Go

Java

Distributed systems

Backend development

Kubernetes

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in CS / related field

Tools

Kubernetes

Microservices

Distributed storage systems

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 11/02/2026

Meet the Team

The Ingest Processor Team serves as the foundational engine of the Splunk Integrated Data Platform, architecting and maintaining high-throughput pipelines that process petabytes of data. Our work sits at the critical intersection of Cisco and Splunk integration, providing the mission-critical infrastructure that powers real-time observability and security for our global enterprise customers. We are a high-performing, collaborative organization that prioritizes clean code, rigorous testing, and pragmatic architectural decision-making. Operating in a hybrid/remote environment, we foster a culture where technical excellence and continuous learning are the standards. This role offers a unique opportunity to solve complex distributed systems challenges at a scale unmatched in the industry.

Your Impact

Define and drive the long-term technical strategy for our ingestion pipelines to ensure industry-leading performance, elasticity, and scalability. Lead the design and implementation of mission-critical distributed systems, directly influencing the reliability and performance of the entire Splunk platform. Partner with product and platform leadership to bridge the gap between complex engineering initiatives and evolving business requirements. Elevate the engineering organization by establishing best-in-class standards for system design, code quality, and operational excellence. Champion the adoption of emerging technologies to solve large-scale data challenges, ensuring our infrastructure remains at the forefront of the industry.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical field.

• 7+ years of professional experience in backend software development, with a primary focus on large-scale distributed systems.

• Expert-level proficiency in Go or Java, including a deep, practical understanding of concurrency models and memory management.

• Experience architecting, deploying, and scaling high-volume data processing pipelines systems

• Experience with cloud-native infrastructure, including Kubernetes, microservices architecture, and distributed storage systems.

Preferred Qualifications

• Exceptional ability to influence technical strategy and align stakeholders across multiple teams and organizational levels.

• Demonstrated success in leading complex, multi-year engineering roadmaps from initial conception through to production.

• A strong track record of mentoring senior engineers and fostering a culture of high-performance and technical excellence.

• Advanced ability to communicate complex architectural concepts and trade-offs to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

• A demonstrated passion for driving innovation and maintaining expertise in state-of-the-art distributed systems and data platform technologies.

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 $149,100.00 to $218,100.00 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.