Software Engineer, Compute Performance

020 Cisco Systems, Inc.; Milpitas (CA); On-site; USD 155,000 - 223,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. is seeking a Software Engineer to analyze and improve AI compute performance across hardware, system software, and application workloads. You will run AI training, inference, and HPC workloads on GPU-accelerated systems and collaborate with hardware and software teams to resolve performance issues.

The role requires 5+ years of related experience, strong Linux debugging skills, and proficiency in Python, C/C++, Go, or Bash. CUDA/NCCL experience is highly valued.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher with related experience.
• Experience debugging, testing, or tuning Linux-based systems.
• Experience running or evaluating AI, machine learning, or HPC workloads.

Responsibilities

• Run and analyze AI training, inference, and HPC workloads on GPU-accelerated systems.
• Investigate compute, memory, PCIe, storage, and workload scaling issues.
• Use telemetry, logs, traces, and profiling tools to identify performance bottlenecks.
• Develop automation for performance testing, regression detection, and failure triage.
• Work with hardware and software teams to resolve system and workload performance issues.
• Document findings, test procedures, and performance results.

Skills

Python

C++

Go

Bash

Linux

Performance tuning

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Master’s degree

PhD

Tools

Nsight

DCGM

rocprofiler

CUDA

NCCL

Job description

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

Meet the Team Cisco Validated Infrastructure Services (CVIS) establishes and proves the performance of large AI clusters before they are handed over to customers. We deploy each cluster, validate it against performance baselines, and deliver the evidence that it is ready for service. The platform behind that work is full stack. It combines workflow and API services, network and infrastructure automation, and the UI used to run validation across labs and customer environments.

Your Impact

As a Software Engineer, you will help analyze and improve the performance of AI compute systems across hardware, system software, and application workloads.

In this role you will:

• Run and analyze AI training, inference, and HPC workloads on GPU-accelerated systems.
• Investigate compute, memory, PCIe, storage, and workload scaling issues.
• Use telemetry, logs, traces, and profiling tools to identify performance bottlenecks.
• Develop automation for performance testing, regression detection, and failure triage.
• Work with hardware and software teams to resolve system and workload performance issues.
• Document findings, test procedures, and performance results.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with + 5 years of related experience, or Master’s degree with + 3 years of related experience, or PhD with relevant research experience, or equivalent related work experience.
• Experience debugging, testing, or tuning Linux-based systems.
• Experience running or evaluating AI, machine learning, or HPC workloads.
• 3 + years of experience with a programming or scripting language such as Python, C, C++, Go, or Bash.

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with GPU computing technologies such as CUDA, ROCm, NCCL, or RCCL.
• Familiarity with performance tools such as Nsight, DCGM, rocprofiler, or similar tools.
• Understanding of GPU system components such as memory, NUMA, PCIe, and scale-up interconnects.
• Exposure to NVIDIA NVLink and NVSwitch or AMD Infinity Fabric/xGMI.
• Experience with Kubernetes, Slurm, or other distributed workload environments.
• Strong ownership, documentation, and cross-team collaboration skills.

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 $155,000.00 to $222,600.00 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 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 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: $155,000.00 - $256,000.00 Non-Metro New York state & Washington state: $138,100.00 - $227,900.00 * 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. Cisconians power the future. We make impact as a team, innovating fast and fearlessly to create meaningful solutions on a large scale. The depth and breadth of our technology doesn't just benefit our customers – it also means limitless opportunities for us to experiment and learn. We understand the power each of our unique backgrounds bring when we work together. Because of that, we have a global network of thinkers, doers, experts, and curious creators who help one another do their life’s best work.