Software Engineer, IQ Platform Infrastructure

020 Cisco Systems, Inc.; San Jose (CA); Hybrid; USD 155,000 - 223,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. in San Jose, CA is seeking an experienced engineer to help design and build the platform framework and common services for the IQ teams, including the on-premises appliance platform running in customer data centers.

You will work in design reviews, architecture debates, and postmortems, mentoring junior engineers, and collaborating with Product Management, SRE, and Experience Reliability Engineering. This hybrid role requires 2-3 days in the office per week.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or an equivalent technical degree (e.g., Mathematics, Physics).
• 5 years of related professional engineering experience (with a Bachelor’s); 3 years (with a Master’s); 0 year (with a PhD).
• Experience programming in Go, Java, or C/C++.
• Experience with debugging and unit testing.
• Experience designing, implementing, and maintaining event-driven architectures.
• Experience with Kafka for data pipelines.
• Experience with SaaS enterprise software or cloud-based infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Design and build the platform framework and common services used by Cisco IQ teams, including the on-premises appliance platform in customer data centers.
• Contribute to scalable, event-driven architectures and data pipelines using Kafka.
• Participate in design reviews, architecture debates, and postmortems with senior engineers and technical leads.
• Run research spikes on new technologies or alternative designs and mentor junior engineers.
• Collaborate with Product Management, SRE, Experience Reliability Engineering, and on-premises deployment teams.

Skills

Go

Java

C/C++

Debugging

Unit testing

Event-driven architectures

Kafka

SaaS/cloud infrastructure

Education

B.S. in Computer Science/Engineering

Master’s degree (preferred)

Tools

Kafka

MongoDB

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 10/01/2026

This is a Hybrid position located in San Jose, CA - Requiring 2-3 days per week in office.

Meet the Team

The CX Platform is the high-velocity engineering engine powering Cisco’s entire customer experience ecosystem. We build full-stack applications, robust shared services, and cutting-edge AI/ML integrations that empower our customer-facing teams to ship innovation faster and with absolute confidence. As we look toward our FY27 vision, this team is at the epicenter of Cisco’s transformation, ensuring our architecture is not just reactive, but anticipatory. You’ll be joining a group of builders who own the product lifecycle from end to end—from front-end user experiences to complex back-end services. If you thrive in an environment where technical decisions are judged by their measurable impact on customer outcomes, you’ll find your home here.

Your Impact

In this role, you’ll work on the platform framework and common services other Cisco IQ teams build against, plus the on-premises appliance platform running in customer data centers — one shared foundation supporting two very different delivery models. You will help design and build that consolidation — implementing scalable, event-driven architectures and data pipelines with Kafka. You’ll be in design reviews, architecture debates, and postmortems alongside principal engineers and technical leads who’ve earned their opinions, and you should be ready to read the code and hold your own in the discussion. You’ll also be encouraged to run research spikes on new technologies or alternative designs, and to mentor more junior engineers along the way. Day to day you’ll work closely with Product Management, SRE, Experience Reliability Engineering, and the technical leads driving on-premises deployment and framework work.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or an equivalent technical degree (e.g., Mathematics, Physics)


• 5 years of related professional engineering experience (with a Bachelor’s); 3 years (with a Master’s); 0 year (with a PhD).


• Experience programming in Go, Java, or C/C++.


• Experience with debugging and unit testing.


• Experience designing, implementing, and maintaining event-driven architectures.


• Experience with Kafka for data pipelines.


• Experience with SaaS enterprise software or cloud-based infrastructure.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in computer science or related field, with 3+ years of related experience.


• Experience designing and implementing software systems with a high emphasis on scalability and availability.


• Experience with data structures and algorithms.


• Experience working as part of a highly distributed team across multiple time zones, and comfortable with agile methodologies (Scrum, etc.).


• Experience with service-oriented architecture.


• Experience with MongoDB or other NoSQL databases.

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.

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.

Benefits and Perks (U.S.)

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.

Salary Ranges by State

• New York City Metro Area: $155,000.00 - $256,000.00


• Non-Metro New York state & Washington state: $138,100.00 - $227,900.00

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.