Software Engineering Technical Leader - Cisco IQ

Cisco; Durham (NC); On-site; USD 178,000 - 257,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental & vision insurance

401(k) with company match

Paid parental leave

Disability coverage

Life insurance

Restricted stock units

Job summary

Cisco is seeking a senior backend and systems architect to shape the future of intelligent enterprise applications. You will design and implement next-generation services, embedding autonomous capabilities into critical workflows and ensuring tight integration across UI, business logic, and backend systems.

You will influence API design and platform choices, leveraging OpenAPI/GraphQL/gRPC and LangGraph to deliver scalable, contract-first solutions for enterprise customers.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
• 12+ years in backend software architecture and core development (Python/Node/Go/Java).
• Experience shipping complex enterprise or SaaS apps.

Responsibilities

• Design and lead hands-on implementation of next-generation enterprise applications.
• Serve as architectural anchor for embedding autonomous agent capabilities into workflows.
• Define contract-first architectures that connect business logic, UI, and back-end systems to reasoning models.

Skills

Back-end architecture

Programming languages

LLM applications

API design

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering

Tools

LangGraph

OpenAPI

GraphQL

gRPC

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 10/29/2026

Meet the Team

At Cisco, we are redefining how our customers experience technology through the power of Cisco IQ Services and Applications. Our mission is to transform CX delivery by building intelligent, scalable platforms that anticipate needs rather than just reacting to them. As a member of our global, diverse, and AI-spec driven team, you will operate at the absolute frontier of innovation. We are deeply committed to leveraging the latest advancements in AI to build robust solutions that solve complex technical challenges for our enterprise customers, fostering a culture of curiosity, collaboration, and rapid iteration.

Your Impact

In this role, you will act as a key technical leader, shaping the overarching vision and future of our digital services. You will design and lead the hands-on implementation of next-generation, intelligent enterprise applications. In this role, you will be the architectural anchor for embedding autonomous and semi-autonomous agentic capabilities directly into business-critical application workflows.

Rather than building foundational infrastructure or generic platforms, you will focus squarely on the application layer—designing contract-first, spec-driven architectures that connect application business logic, user interfaces, and backend systems to reasoning models via Model Context Protocol (MCP) and modern API ecosystems.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Bachelors +12 years of experience in back-end software architecture and core software development using Python, Node, Go, or Java.
• Experience building and shipping complex enterprise or SaaS applications
• Production experience with LLM-backed applications: agent orchestration LangGraph, a state-machine runtime you wrote yourself, structured tool calling, and the failure handling that has to situnderneath both.
• Experience with a contract-first API design and schema modeling (OpenAPI, TypeSpec, GraphQL, gRPC).

Preferred Qualifications

• Domain expertise in networking protocols, large-scale infrastructure management, and system-level design.
• Proficiency in designing and managing cloud-agnostic, distributed architectures across AWS, GCP, and private cloud environments.
• Exceptional communication and executive presence, with the proven ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders and translate high-level technical vision into actionable, long-term business outcomes.

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 $177,600.00 to $257,400.00 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 $214,100.00 - $356,300.00

Non-Metro New York State & Washington State $192,400.00 - $317,200.00

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.