Software Engineer, Hybrid

Cisco; North Carolina; On-site; USD 139,000 - 204,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. is seeking talented software engineers to drive enterprise AI platform initiatives within the Hybrid Cloud and AI-Native transformation efforts. You will design, develop, test, and deliver scalable software, collaborating with product management and design to meet customer needs.

Join a team that emphasizes secure coding, rigorous code reviews, and end-to-end ownership, mentoring peers while advancing modern CI/CD pipelines and IaC practices in an Agile environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree with 7+ years of related experience, or Master's with 4 years, or PhD with 1 year.
• Proven ability to write clean, functional code and perform unit testing with secure coding practices.
• Experience leading the software development lifecycle, debugging production issues, code reviews, threat modeling, and root cause analyses.
• Ability to lead end-to-end projects and mentor team members, partnering with product management and design teams.

Responsibilities

• Develops functional, clean code and unit tests.
• Focuses on secure coding practices and user privacy.
• Partners with design, product management, and cross-functional teams to align solutions with customer needs.
• Creates technical design documentation and contributes to end-user guides.
• Performs code reviews for scale, velocity, reliability, and security.
• Debugs issues during development and in production environments.
• Acts as escalation point for on-call issues and leads postmortems.

Education

Bachelor's degree +7 years of related experience OR Master's +4 years OR PhD +1 year of related experience

Tools

CI/CD pipelines

Infrastructure-as-code

Automation tools

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 11/29/2026 Meet the Team Today's challenging business environment is more than that – it's a period of disruption between the pandemic, global business change and internal process complexity. For us to focus on simplicity and the best customer experience, we need great talent and the right skillsets to be successful. This is now a mantra for our Cisco leadership team and for us. The Cisco IT team is changing the way we run Cisco’s operations by maximizing the power of technology, the best of business processes and superior data insights. Together, we will Reimagine the Cisco experience. Show the world how to Reinvent applications and leverage the future of the Internet to Showcase the power of Cisco: our people, products, processes, systems, and data. This includes actively adopting and leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance our capabilities, drive innovation, and deliver smarter solutions across our operations. Please join us and make this journey together! Your Impact In the Enterprise AI Platforms and Infrastructure organization, we are embracing Hybrid Cloud and AI-Native transformation of our Cisco IT workloads, embracing Agile ways of working, and increasing automation of our business processes to deliver faster and better. To support this transformation, we are looking for talented software engineers to drive our business capabilities forward.

Responsibilities include:

• Develops functional, clean code and unit tests consistent with Cisco ‘Design Thinking Principles.’
• Focuses on simplification, UX, secure coding practices, and user privacy.
• Partners with design, product management, and cross-functional teams to align solutions with customer needs, gather requirements, and complete project steps.
• Creates technical design documentation and contributes to end-user guides.
• Performs code reviews to optimize for scale, velocity, reliability, and security (including threat modeling).
• Debugs and addresses software issues during development and in production environments.
• Serves as an escalation point for on‑call issues, leads postmortems, and writes root cause analyses.
• Identifies and recommends improvements to the software development lifecycle, Agile practices, and product innovation.
• Functions as an advanced professional with deep knowledge of technical job families and business issues to improve products and services.
• Works independently with minimal guidance to determine the best approach for complex tasks.
• Leads projects from end‑to‑end and may contribute to defined software engineering roadmaps.
• Acts as a resource for colleagues, mentoring peers or junior members and sharing knowledge through formal and informal channels (presentations, blogs, etc.).
• Thinking: Integrates product sense (market awareness, competition, production adoption) and tracks related metrics to identify opportunities for multiple products to create value.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelors + 7 years of related experience OR Masters + 4 years of related experience OR PhD + 1 year of related experience.
• Demonstrated ability to write clean, functional code and perform unit testing using secure coding practices, with a focus on ‘Design Thinking Principles’ and user experience.
• Proven experience in managing the software development lifecycle, including debugging production issues, conducting code reviews, performing threat modeling, and leading root cause analysis.
• Ability to lead projects from end‑to‑end, mentor team members, and partner effectively with product management and design teams to gather requirements and deliver solutions.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Proven experience in working with AI-native frameworks and integrating machine learning capabilities into enterprise applications to drive innovation and automated decision‑making.
• Proficiency in architecting, deploying, and managing scalable workloads across hybrid cloud environments to ensure high availability and operational agility.
• Strong background in CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure‑as‑code (IaC), and automation tools designed to increase delivery speed and improve system reliability in an Agile environment.
• Demonstrated success in applying ‘Design Thinking Principles’ throughout the software development lifecycle to prioritize intuitive user experiences and simplify complex business processes.

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 $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 includ