Hardware Engineer Hybrid

Cisco•Rtp, NC

8d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Hardware Engineer will work on Cisco’s Hardware & Firmware Security Team (HFST), part of the Security & Trust Organization’s Foundational Security Technologies team. HFST develops hardware- and firmware-level security solutions to strengthen security and trustworthiness across Cisco products. The role involves architecting, designing, implementing, testing, and supporting security features and solutions across Cisco’s portfolio, applying hardware engineering expertise and embedded systems knowledge to complex security challenges. The engineer will lead development and verification activities, advise product teams deploying security technologies, evaluate system architectures and hardware components for security capabilities and vulnerabilities, and provide technical guidance and education. The role involves managing multiple concurrent activities independently, continuing to develop security expertise, investigating emerging threats and technologies, and evaluating potential security solutions. The position is hybrid in Raleigh, North Carolina, with three days per week in the office. Work on U.S. Government classified environments requires the successful applicant to be a U.S. Person; some work may be restricted to U.S. citizens working on U.S. soil.

Requirements

B.S. in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field with at least 5 years of relevant experience, or an M.S. with at least 3 years of relevant experience.
Prior experience in HDL (FPGA/ASIC) design or verification, such as Verilog, VHDL, or SystemVerilog.
Prior experience with board-level bring-up and debugging using hardware debug tools and laboratory equipment, such as oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, JTAG/SWD, and evaluation boards.
Must be a U.S. Person to perform work on U.S. Government classified environments; some work may require U.S. citizenship and work on U.S. soil.
Ability to work independently, prioritize, and manage concurrent tasks.

Nice To Haves

Experience with x86 and ARM CPU architectures, boot flow, and bootstrap or firmware execution.
Scripting experience for automation using Python or Linux shell scripts.
Background in security-related design principles, threat modeling, and secure hardware architecture.
Experience with Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) standards, algorithms, and encryption techniques, including implementation in embedded products.
Prior experience with embedded CPU systems and hardware debugging and testing in a laboratory environment.

Responsibilities

Design, develop, document, and test hardware or combined hardware- and firmware-based security technologies on CPU evaluation platforms and Cisco products.
Assist internal product teams deploying hardware and software security technologies.
Educate product teams on hardware security.
Develop documentation, proof of concepts, reference code, and scripts to facilitate adoption and verification of security technologies.
Participate in hardware architecture, design, specifications, and HDL code reviews.
Lead development and verification activities within the team.
Serve as an applications engineering specialist and trusted advisor to product teams deploying security technologies.
Assess system architectures and hardware components for security capabilities and vulnerabilities.
Investigate emerging security threats and technologies, and evaluate security solutions.

Benefits

Medical insurance
Dental insurance
Vision insurance
401(k) plan with Cisco matching contribution
Paid parental leave
Short- and long-term disability coverage
Basic life insurance
Paid holidays and a floating holiday for non-exempt employees
Paid birthday day off
Paid year-end holiday shutdown
Paid personal wellness days
Paid vacation or flexible vacation time off, depending on employee classification
Sick time off
Additional paid time away may be requested for critical or emergency family issues
Optional paid volunteer days
Annual bonuses for eligible non-sales employees
Eligible employees may receive Cisco restricted stock unit grants