Software Engineering Technical Leader

Cisco Systems, Inc; San Jose (CA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 320,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc is seeking an experienced engineer to design, build, and operate scalable distributed storage and cloud-native services. You will lead features from design through production, contribute to architecture decisions, and uphold secure coding and reliable delivery.

The role emphasizes Kubernetes deployments, observability, and collaboration with cross‑functional teams. The team manages on-prem and cloud deployments across AWS/Azure/GCP, focusing on security, reliability, and user

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with 8+ years of related experience or higher.
• 7 years of experience developing production backend services and APIs in Go, C++, or another systems language.
• 7 years of experience designing and operating production database-backed services (graph/relational/NoSQL).
• 7 years of experience designing distributed systems with consistency, replication, routing, or failure recovery.
• 7 years of experience delivering and operating containerized services via CI/CD on Kubernetes in public cloud or on‑premises.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and operate scalable distributed storage and key-value services in cloud and on‑prem environments.
• Lead small-to-medium features from design through implementation, testing, deployment, and production validation.
• Develop secure production code and unit tests while promoting strong coding practices.
• Contribute to service architecture decisions focusing on security, scalability, reliability, and user experience.
• Operate software in Kubernetes-based environments and improve observability and performance.

Skills

Backend services development

Distributed systems design

Kubernetes CI/CD

Cloud deployments

Go/C++/Python programming

Education

Bachelor's degree in related field

Master's degree

PhD

Tools

Go

C++

Python

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 12/27/2026

This is a hybrid role working onsite in San Jose 2 to 3 days a week.

Meet the Team

Splunk, a Cisco company, helps organizations build digital resilience across security and observability. Our team designs, develops, and operates highly scalable, reliable, and secure distributed storage services that power cloud-native applications across Cisco.

We build resilient services deployed across Kubernetes and AWS environments, with a focus on scalability, availability, security, and operational excellence. Our engineers work closely with engineering, architecture, product management, and other cross-functional partners to design solutions that simplify the customer experience while meeting demanding production requirements.

In this role, you will remain hands‑on while providing technical leadership across distributed storage and cloud‑native services. You will contribute to architectural decisions, lead features and projects from design through production, and help establish strong engineering and operational practices across the team.

Our engineers own the full service lifecycle, from design and implementation through deployment, observability, on‑call response, and continuous improvement. The team's portfolio spans graph, key‑value, and related structured‑storage services running on premises and across AWS, Azure, and GCP.

Your Impact

Design, develop, and operate scalable, highly available distributed storage and key‑value services in the cloud and on-prem environment.

Build cloud‑native services using C++, Go, Python, and related technologies.

Lead small‑to‑medium features from technical design through implementation, testing, deployment, and production validation, and contribute to larger initiatives spanning multiple teams.

Develop clean, maintainable, secure production code and unit tests while helping establish strong coding and engineering practices across teams.

Contribute to service architecture and technical design decisions with a focus on security, scalability, reliability, simplification, and user experience.

Develop and operate software deployed in Kubernetes‑based and containerized environments, including monitoring and observability capabilities that improve service reliability and performance.

Proactively identify, prioritize, and resolve risks and complex issues in development and production environments.

Lead postmortems and root‑cause analysis, drive durable corrective actions, and help ensure effective on‑call coverage and operational readiness.

Apply secure coding practices, protect user privacy, and contribute to product and feature threat modeling.

Partner with product management, design, engineering, architecture, and other cross‑functional teams to understand customer needs and develop appropriate technical solutions.

Scope work, provide reliable estimates, manage dependencies and workstreams, and communicate delivery risks and trade‑offs to cross‑functional partners.

Influence the defined software engineering roadmap by bringing forward ideas for product innovation, engineering improvements, and unmet customer needs.

Create technical design documentation and contribute to customer‑facing or user documentation where appropriate.

Mentor engineers through code reviews, design reviews, technical guidance, demonstrations, design sessions, and other knowledge‑sharing activities.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree with 8+ years of related experience, Master’s degree with 6+ years of related experience, or PhD with 3+ years of related experience.
• 7 years of experience developing production backend services and versioned APIs in Go, C++, or another systems programming language.
• 7 years of experience designing and operating production database‑backed services using at least one graph, relational, or NoSQL database, including schema evolution, transaction handling, backup or recovery, or performance tuning.
• 7 years of experience designing production distributed systems involving consistency, replication, partitioning, routing, or failure recovery.
• 7 years of experience delivering and operating containerized services through CI/CD on Kubernetes in a public‑cloud or on‑premises environment.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience designing and developing scalable, highly available distributed storage and key‑value services.
• Experience building and enhancing cloud‑native services using C++, Go, and Python.
• Experience developing software for Kubernetes‑based deployments and containerized environments.
• Experience contributing to service architecture, technical design, and implementation decisions.

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 $186,900.00 to $267,700.00 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:

$186,900.00 - $307,800.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$166,300.00 - $274,100.00

* 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.