Director, Software Engineering

Cisco•Milpitas, CA

About The Position

You will be joining a world-class, forward-looking organization responsible for the next generation of Cisco’s core networking solutions. Our team architects, develops, and validates products that power the internet, serving the world’s largest web scalers, Cloud providers, and Service Providers. We operate in a dynamic, agile environment, collaborating across global sites to deliver high-performance, highly available systems. You will work alongside some of the industry’s finest talent, translating complex customer requirements into disruptive, market-leading innovations. As a Director of Software Engineering, you will guide our engineering organization from the front, fostering a culture of innovation and operational excellence. You will lead the transformation of our development lifecycle to incorporate end-to-end AI-based workflows, ensuring we remain at the cutting edge of the industry.

Requirements

15+ years of industry experience in networking systems and infrastructure or similar, with a proven track record of managing successful product lines.
Master’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a technical equivalent industry work experience.
8+ years of experience in people management, including leading geographically distributed teams and managing senior leaders.
Expert-level knowledge of software engineering principles, system architecture, and networking technologies or similar (e.g., TCP/IP, QoS, Routing, Packet Forwarding).
Demonstrated ability to drive complex projects from concept to deployment in a high-availability, real-time embedded environment.

Nice To Haves

Understanding with Silicon One ASICs, Cisco 8000 series routers, and IOS-XR operating systems.
Proven experience in implementing AI/ML tools to accelerate software development, bug triaging, and unit testing.
Experience in talent reviews, organizational restructuring, and scaling teams to meet aggressive business targets.
Demonstrated success in working with cross-functional teams (ASIC, Hardware, Platform, and QA) to ensure seamless product delivery.
Experience representing the engineering organization in technical discussions with top-tier cloud and service provider customers.

Responsibilities

Define the product roadmap in collaboration with Product Marketing and executive leadership.
Partner with Hyperscalers and Service Providers to deeply understand their network requirements, ensuring Cisco 8000 and Silicon One-based solutions exceed expectations.
Build a robust pipeline of talent, mentor senior leaders, and drive the professional development of a diverse, geographically distributed community of engineers.
Craft a compelling technology story for Cisco, leveraging your deep expertise in networking protocols, packet forwarding, and system-level architecture to deliver unprecedented value.
Implement and refine agile development processes to minimize overhead and accelerate feature velocity. You will leverage your experience in streamlining cross-functional workflows to reduce time-to-market for complex networking features.
Lead the cultural and technical shift toward AI-assisted development. You will champion the adoption of internal AI tools for automated bug triaging, code refactoring, and unit-test generation to improve code quality and developer productivity.
Act as a force multiplier by building, mentoring, and retaining top-tier engineering talent. You will be responsible for the professional growth of your direct reports, conducting effective talent reviews, and creating clear promotion paths.
Leverage deep technical expertise in Silicon One ASICs and the Cisco 8000 series to drive the architecture of high-availability routing systems, unlocking new market segments and driving multi-billion-dollar revenue growth.
Foster a collaborative environment between Software, ASIC, Hardware, and Platform teams. You will ensure that quality assurance and testing are integrated early in the development lifecycle, utilizing virtual platforms to complete validation before physical prototypes are available.

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
Employees may be eligible to receive grants of Cisco restricted stock units, which vest following continued employment with Cisco for defined periods of time.
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