Automation AI Ops Engineer Hybrid
About The Position
Our team is part of the Cisco AI and Automation portfolio, responsible for the "Circuit" platform—the central AI engine that powers productivity and process automation for all of Cisco. We are a rapidly expanding, high-impact group dedicated to building the vehicle for AI-driven business transformation. We operate at the intersection of applied research and production, ensuring our technology is not only cutting-edge but also optimized for performance, reliability, and functional quality for our 80,000+ monthly users. As an Automation AI Ops Engineer, you will serve as a modern-day functional and performance evaluation leader, driving the transformation of our regression testing ecosystem. You will move beyond manual processes to implement AI-driven agents that generate, validate, and maintain regression suites for both new and legacy features. By leveraging advanced AI coding tools (such as Cursor, Copilot, or Claude Code), you will bridge the gap between AI-generated code and production-ready software. This is a high-visibility role where your ability to automate functional quality and reduce technical debt will directly ensure that the Circuit platform remains a reliable, scalable vehicle for process automation across Cisco.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree with 6+ years, Master’s degree with 4+ years, or PhD with 1+ year of related experience in Computer Science, AI/ML, or a related technical field.
- Proven experience in test automation and regression framework development, with a deep understanding of functional quality assurance.
- Hands-on experience using AI-assisted coding tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code) to build, validate, and deploy production-level software artifacts. Ability to read and judge the stability of the auto generated code, such that, it does not violate security standards.
- Solid conceptual and practical knowledge of software development lifecycles, including CI/CD pipelines and automated testing best practices.
- Strong critical thinking skills with the ability to evaluate technical trade-offs between manual and automated testing strategies.
Nice To Haves
- Experience in AI Ops, MLOps, or building/fine-tuning custom LLMs.
- Proven track record of leading technical projects and mentoring junior engineers.
- Strong communication and collaboration skills; ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders and work effectively within a team environment.
- Experience with "Design Thinking" principles, specifically applying system-level design to AI-driven user experiences.
- Hands-on experience with real-time AI workload management and token optimization strategies.
- Experience building and productizing agentic applications with focus on evaluation and business acceptance.
Responsibilities
- AI-Driven Regression: Architect and drive AI-based automation strategies to replace manual QA, ensuring comprehensive regression coverage for the entire Circuit platform.
- Modernizing Legacy Features: Utilize AI agents to modernize existing features, generating and maintaining accurate regression suites for legacy codebases.
- Agentic Workflow Development: Build and refine workflows where AI agents generate code that passes automated validation and is successfully checked into the main production branch.
- Quality Validation: Establish robust validation frameworks to ensure that AI-generated artifacts meet Cisco’s high standards for functional quality and performance.
- Cross-Functional Leadership: Act as a "Team Captain" for automation initiatives, influencing peers and collaborating with engineering teams to integrate automated testing into the core development lifecycle.
Benefits
- medical, dental and vision insurance
- a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution
- paid parental leave
- short and long-term disability coverage
- basic life insurance
- restricted stock units
- 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
- 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year, accrued at rate of 4.92 hours per pay period for full-time employees (non-exempt)
- flexible vacation time off program (exempt)
- 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
- annual bonuses (non-sales roles)
- performance-based incentive pay (sales roles)
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
