Software Engineer- C/C++ Networking

Cisco; United States; On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco is looking for a software engineer to join its IIoT team, focusing on product development for industrial solutions. In this role, you will design hardware platforms, develop low-level software components, and innovate in hardware and software integration.

The ideal candidate will have a Bachelor's or Master's in Computer Science or Engineering with strong C/C++ skills, Linux hardware bring-up, and embedded systems experience. Collaboration and growth opportunities are emphasized.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in relevant fields with requisite experience.
• Experience in developing and debugging embedded systems.
• Strong proficiency in writing quality code in C/C++.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop IIoT hardware platforms.
• Build control and data plane software for Cisco IIOT products.
• Innovate and contribute to IP value for the company.

Skills

C/C++ programming

Linux hardware bring-up

Device driver development

Embedded systems development

Protocol experience (I2C, SPI, UART, PCIe)

Gen AI assistant technologies

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or EE/ECE

Master’s degree in Computer Science or EE/ECE

Tools

Traffic generators/Analyzers (IXIA/Sniffer)

Kernel debugging tools (GDB, KGDB)

Job description

Join theCisco IIoT teamto work on product development for industrial switching and routing solutions that transform industrial operations. The team builds secure, scalable technologies across industrial networking, edge computing, and IoT security, helping customers in manufacturing, energy, transportation, and smart cities improve efficiency through real‑time insights. Cisco offers software engineers a unique experience that blends the scale and resources of a global organization with a startup‑like culture, strong collaboration, and broad growth opportunities.

Your Impact

• Design and development of IIoT hardware platforms, ensuring flawless integration between hardware and software layers.
• Build and development of control plane and data plane software for Cisco IIOT Switching, Routing products.
• Design and develop low‑level software components, including BSP, device drivers and kernel modules.
• Analyze requirements and problem statements to come with right software designs and solutions. To be able to write details Design documents and Functional Specifications.
• To Code and Unit Test Software components and modules. It is required to have strong white‑box testing and automating skills
• Triage, debug, and root cause simulation, software bring‑up, and customer failures
• To be able to innovate and come up with new insights that can lead to filing patents and creating IP value for the company

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelors (5-8 years) or Master’s degree(3-6 years) in Computer Science, EE/ECE or related fields.
• Proficient in writing quality code in C/C++
• Strong hardware and device driver development background, including experience with Linux hardware bring‑up.
• Proven experience in hardware and device driver development, including Linux hardware bring‑up, multi‑threading, event handling, and state machine implementation.
• Strong understanding of OS (e.g. Linux, RTOS, Unix) and experience working with Linux kernel, device drivers, and BSPs.
• Prior experience developing, debugging, and validating embedded systems using protocols such as I2C, SPI, UART, PCIe, GPIO.
• Experience in developing software/firmware for networking equipment.
• Experience using Traffic generators/Analyzers such as IXIA/Sniffer is a plus.
• Hands on experience with Gen AI assistant technologies, natural language processing (NLP) or Gen AI technologies (OpenAI, Gemini, MCP, Agentic AI etc..)

Preferred Qualifications (Optional)

Prior experience in kernel programming, open‑source technologies and kernel debugging tools such as GDB and KGDB.

Experience in development and validation of peripheral interfaces (e.g. PCI, PCIe, I2C, SPI, UART, GPIO, Ethernet) and ensure their reliable operations is a plus.

Cisco Networking certificates such as CCNA, CCNP, CCIE are desirable.

Experience with AI/ML and Agentic AI framework.

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.