Distinguished Software Engineer, AI Software & Platform (Hybrid)
About The Position
Cisco’s AI Software & Platform (AISWP) team is the engine driving our transformation into an AI-native company. We are a central organization of researchers, ML engineers, and distributed systems experts dedicated to building the models, platforms, and products that integrate AI into every facet of the Cisco portfolio. Our platform—including Cisco Cloud Control, Canvas, and Studio—is already live, providing a unified agentic surface for our global customer base. We aren't just adopting AI; we are defining how enterprise networking and security infrastructure evolve to handle the unique challenges of agentic workflows at a worldwide scale. As a Distinguished Software Engineer, you will serve as a primary technical architect and strategic advisor, shaping the future of Cisco’s AI-first engineering roadmap. Your work will transcend individual projects, requiring you to navigate high-ambiguity environments to establish the long-term technical vision for Cisco’s agentic systems. You will bridge the gap between emerging research and practical, reliable production implementation, ensuring that Cisco remains at the forefront of the industry's most critical market transitions.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field with 17+ years of total software engineering experience; Master's with 14+ years; or PhD with 10+ years.
- 10+ years of specialized experience in designing and scaling distributed systems, hyperscale cloud platforms, or high-throughput data architectures.
- 5+ years in a Principal-level role (or equivalent) demonstrating sustained technical influence across multiple engineering organizations.
- 3+ years of hands-on experience building and operating LLM-based production systems, including managing model lifecycle, evaluation infrastructure (e.g., LangSmith, Arize Phoenix, LangFuse, Braintrust, or equivalent), and security commitments.
- Experience designing and delivering at least one production-grade multi-agent system or agent-orchestration framework (e.g., LangGraph, Temporal, or custom high-scale agent SDKs).
- Expertise in AIOps domains, specifically event correlation, root cause analysis, and closed-loop remediation at scale.
Nice To Haves
- Expertise in AIOps domains, specifically event correlation, root cause analysis, and closed-loop remediation at scale.
- Deep knowledge of inference optimization techniques, including speculative decoding, KV/prefix caching, and model distillation/routing strategies.
- Recognized thought leadership in the external technical community (e.g., patents, published research in top-tier journals/conferences, or significant open-source contributions).
- Comprehensive understanding of global AI governance frameworks (e.g., NIST AI RMF, EU AI Act, ISO 42001) and experience operationalizing compliance in enterprise software.
- Demonstrated ability to negotiate technical strategy and influence outcomes with executive-level stakeholders (VP/SVP level) and external industry partners.
Responsibilities
- Define and champion the enterprise-wide technical strategy for agentic systems, including multi-agent orchestration, planning/reflection loops, and durable execution patterns that operate with hyperscale reliability.
- Negotiate critical build-versus-buy trade-offs at the executive level, influencing corporate-wide investment decisions regarding model frameworks, infrastructure roadmaps, and capability ceilings.
- Drive the adoption of industry-standard interfaces, such as the Model Context Protocol (MCP), across Cisco’s broad product portfolio to create a seamless, interoperable ecosystem for AI agents that can communicate across tools and across vendors
- Establish and enforce rigorous engineering standards and reference architectures for AI, mentoring Principal and Senior staff to elevate the technical bar across the entire AI organization.
- Personally lead the technical resolution of the most complex, high-risk "black box" challenges, prototyping and proving out breakthrough methodologies before company-wide commitment.
- Own the security posture of agentic systems, including defenses against prompt injection, scoped tool-permissioning, and sandboxing for autonomous actions that carry write access to production systems.
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
- Cisco restricted stock units
- 10 paid holidays per full calendar year
- 1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees
- 1 paid day off for employee’s birthday
- paid year-end holiday shutdown
- 4 paid days off for personal wellness
- 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year (non-exempt)
- flexible vacation time off program (exempt)
- 80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter
- up to 80 hours of unused sick time carried forward
- 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
Senior
