Software Security Lead (Remote)

Cisco; Ann Arbor (MI); Remote; USD 139,000 - 204,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco is seeking a Senior Software Security Lead to own security across the IT and Enterprise Operations portfolio. You will act as the security authority when threats intersect with architecture and delivery, translating risk into prioritized actions for engineering, product management, and operations.

You will shape defense-in-depth, ensure secure designs, and drive security outcomes with data-backed decisions.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in software/application security or security engineering, including senior/lead roles.
• Experience leading threat modeling and secure design/architecture reviews for complex software systems, including AI- and LLM-enabled features.
• Ability to translate SAST/DAST/SCA results into risk-based remediation guidance across cloud-native apps/CI/CD pipelines.
• Proven ability to influence engineering and product leadership and drive security outcomes without direct authority.

Responsibilities

• Own portfolio security, translate threat trends into priorities for IT, PM, and engineering leadership.
• Lead security architecture reviews and risk-based decisions across the portfolio; enforce security by design/default.
• Coordinate threat modeling, security metrics, and AI security integration to reduce risk and debt.

Skills

Threat modeling

Secure design

SAST/DAST/SCA

Influence leadership

AI/LLM security

Architecture reviews

Risk-based decisions

Education

Bachelor’s degree in CS/Engineering or equivalent

Job description

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

This is a remote role and work may be performed anywhere in the contiguous United States.

Meet the Team

We're the team behind the security of Cisco's IT and Enterprise Operations platforms, tools, and applications. Our portfolio spans enterprise applications, workflow and automation platforms, and the developer and operations tooling that keeps Cisco running.

We're AI-forward. We're building a framework that puts AI to work at every step, a framework that drives a risk-based Security Development Lifecycle and clears away the manual bottlenecks that slow security down, so security scales right alongside the business.

We own software security across the full range of enterprise technology in scope, spanning application, cloud, identity, data, and supply chain.

We act as a strategic partner to Product Management, Engineering, and IT and Enterprise Operations leadership. Together, we keep software security risk understood, managed, and aligned with Cisco's broader business risk posture.

Your Impact

As a senior Software Security Lead, you're the security authority for the IT and Enterprise Operations portfolio. This is the person who engineering and platform teams turn to when security, architecture, and delivery pressures collide. What does it take to earn that trust? A sharp, risk-based instinct and the independence to act on it. This role is responsible for the full arc of portfolio risk. That means maintaining a current, data-backed view of security posture. It means translating threat trends, architectural shifts, and security debt into priorities that IT, Enterprise Operations, product, and engineering leadership can act on. It also means advising and influencing across Product Management, Engineering, IT/Enterprise Operations, and Business Information Security Officer partners, aligning security priorities with business objectives and the operational realities of our enterprise's internal technology. This lead sets the architecture bar, reviewing and approving secure designs across the portfolio. That means adapting "security by design" and "security by default" to each context and making the architecture trade-off calls within scope. Threat modeling follows the same philosophy: lead it portfolio-wide, adjust depth and technique to the system at hand, and make sure every model is defensible, evidence-based, and tied directly to design decisions. AI adds a new frontier, and this role meets it head-on! That means integrating AI securely into in-scope platforms and applying Software Security AI frameworks. This also means advocating for AI capabilities that strengthen the team's security outcomes. It means threat-modeling and thinking like an attacker. Technical judgment ties it together. Coordinating Security SMEs, in areas like cryptography and identity. At release or delivery, this lead presents the prioritized list of unmitigated security risks, giving partners clear insight into residual posture. Finally, impact gets measured, not assumed. Defining and leading all aspects of the security engineering metrics that drive the portfolio, including risk reduction, mean time to remediate, security debt, and developer adoption, turns data into sharper decisions.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience), plus 7+ years of experience in software/application security, secure software development, or security engineering, including a senior or lead role.
• Proven experience leading threat modeling and secure design/architecture reviews for complex software systems, including AI- and LLM-enabled features.
• Demonstrated experience interpreting SAST, DAST, and SCA results and translating findings into risk-based, evidence-backed remediation guidance, including for cloud-native applications and modern CI/CD pipelines (e.g., containers, Kubernetes).
• Validated ability to influence engineering and product leadership and drive security outcomes across teams without direct authority.

Preferred Qualifications

• Depth in one or more specialized areas: identity and access management, cryptography, data security, enterprise application security, or software supply chain security (including SBOM generation, artifact signing, and SLSA-aligned practices).
• Experience partnering with internal information technology, operations, or platform engineering teams on enterprise applications and workflow/automation platforms.
• Experience defining and using security metrics to influence roadmap and investment decisions.
• Relevant certifications such as CISSP, CSSLP, CCSP, or GIAC.

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.