Software Engineering Architect

020 Cisco Systems, Inc.; North Carolina; On-site; USD 139,000 - 204,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. is seeking a Senior DevOps Engineer to design scalable vault and CA platforms, drive GitOps for IaC, and enforce policy-driven security across FedRAMP/IL5-bound environments. The role emphasizes reliability, security, and automation in a multi-cloud setting.

The ideal candidate brings 8+ years in DevOps/SRE, strong Vault experience, and deep AWS/Kubernetes skills, with a focus on compliance and incident response in a global enterprise.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in DevOps, SRE, or Cloud Engineering.
• Hands-on with Vault at scale (Raft, replication, disaster recovery).
• Deep knowledge of AWS (EKS, IAM, KMS, VPC) and Kubernetes.
• IaC mastery with Terraform/Terragrunt; modular environments.
• Automation in Go, Python, or Bash for tooling and APIs.
• Operational mindset for 24x7 production and incident response.

Responsibilities

• Architect and scale Vault clusters and CA workloads across environments.
• Modernize infrastructure with GitOps: Terraform/Terragrunt, Helm, Argo CD.
• Lead zero-downtime upgrades and image pipelines (Packer/Docker).
• Build scalable isolation models for tenants migrating workloads.
• Implement Policy-as-Code (OPA, Sentinel) and ensure FIPS 140-3 compliance.
• Own end-to-end telemetry (Prometheus/Grafana/Splunk) and root-cause analysis.
• Evaluate next-gen identity and secrets tech (OpenBao, Infisical).

Skills

DevOps/SRE

Cloud engineering

Go/Python/Bash

Policy-as-Code

Security/compliance

Incident response

Education

Bachelor's degree in a technical field

Tools

Terraform/Terragrunt

Helm

Argo CD

Packer/Docker

Kubernetes

Prometheus

Grafana

Splunk

GitLab

GitHub Actions

Job description

About the Role:

Senior DevOps Engineer, Cryptographic Services Cisco’s Security & Trust Organization (STO) is the backbone of our global customer ecosystems. The Cryptographic Services team builds and operates the zero-trust infrastructure that secures digital identities and secrets at enterprise scale. We aren't just leading infrastructure; we are defining how Cisco protects its most critical data assets. Our team powers two high-impact enterprise platforms: Enterprise Secrets Management: A centralized service built on Vault Enterprise, safeguarding credentials and encryption keys across multi-cloud and high-compliance boundaries (including FedRAMP and DoD IL5). Private PKI & CA Platform: A high-assurance, automated certificate lifecycle service on AWS EKS that secures internal microservices, cloud applications, and global supply chains. What You’ll Do (Your Impact) As a Senior DevOps Engineer, you will blend platform engineering, cloud architecture, and Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) to build resilient infrastructure. Architect and Scale: Drive the reliability and scalability of Vault clusters and containerized CA workloads across diverse environments (FedRAMP, IL5, and commercial). Modernize Infrastructure: Build our GitOps future by maintaining modular Terraform/Terragrunt, Helm charts, and Argo CD Application Sets. Automate Lifecycles: Lead zero-downtime upgrades and image pipelines (Packer/Docker) that integrate seamlessly with CI/CD and incident response workflows. Enable Tenants: Build scalable isolation models that allow business units to migrate legacy cryptographic workloads to our modern, automated platforms. Champion Compliance: Implement "Policy-as-Code" (Sentinel, OPA) and ensure our infrastructure meets meticulous FIPS 140-3 and audit standards. Optimize Performance: Own end-to-end telemetry (Prometheus/Grafana/Splunk), lead root-cause analysis, and refine our operational runbooks. Innovate: Evaluate and prototype next-gen identity and secrets technologies (e.g., OpenBao, Infisical) to ensure we stay ahead of industry standards. What You Bring to the Team Foundational Experience: 8+ years in DevOps, SRE, or Cloud Engineering, supported by a degree in a technical field or practical experience. Secrets & Cryptography: Hands-on experience deploying and leading HashiCorp Vault at scale (Raft, replication, disaster recovery). Cloud Proficiency: Deep knowledge of AWS (EKS, IAM, KMS, VPC) and Kubernetes orchestration. IaC Mastery: Experience building modular, reusable Terraform/Terragrunt environments and robust CI/CD pipelines (GitLab, GitHub Actions). Automation: Proficiency in Go, Python, or Bash to compose operational tooling and API-driven automation. Operational Mindset: Experience supporting 24x7 production environments and leading incident responses with a blameless, growth-oriented perspective. Why You’ll Stand Out Compliance Expertise: Experience operating in regulated environments like FedRAMP, SOC 2, or ISO 27001. Security Integration: Knowledge of HSMs (CloudHSM, Thales Luna) and certificate management (ACME, EST, SCEP). Policy-as-Code: Familiarity with OPA, Kyverno, or HashiCorp Sentinel. Data & Database Ops: Exposure to enterprise database replication or complex middleware tiers. 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 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: $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. 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.