Machine Learning Engineering Technical Leader (hybrid) - 2009800

Cisco•San Jose, CA

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

Designs, develops, and refines algorithms, including neural network architectures tailored for natural language processing and/or machine perception tasks, to create functional predictive models for diverse applications. Utilizes a diverse array of training-time and inference-time techniques, including convolutional and transformer-based models, student-teacher models, distillation, and generative-adversarial networks (GANs), as well as the design of cost models and discriminators, to optimize model performance in terms of accuracy, efficiency, scalability, and reliability for real-world deployment.

Requirements

Bachelors degree + 12 years of related experience, or Masters degree + 8 years of related experience, or PhD + 5 years of related experience
Developed, trained, and deployed machine learning models for real-world applications
Trained and optimized machine learning models to improve quality yield and reduce test time across the Silicon One product portfolio
Designed and implemented end-to-end ML pipelines (data ingestion, feature engineering, model training, evaluation, deployment, monitoring)
Analyzed large, complex datasets to extract actionable insights and inform decision-making
Collaborated with cross-functional teams including product, engineering, and business stakeholders
Built scalable data processing systems using distributed frameworks
Optimize model performance, latency, and resource utilization in production environments
Implemented A/B testing and experimentation frameworks to validate model impact
Maintained and improved data quality, feature stores, and model monitoring systems
Documented methodologies, models, and system architectures

Nice To Haves

Experience with deep learning, NLP, or computer vision
Familiarity with MLOps tools (e.g., MLflow, Kubeflow, Airflow)
Experience with big data technologies (e.g., Spark, Hadoop)
Knowledge of containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes)
Experience with real-time inference systems
Strong understanding of software engineering best practices (CI/CD, version control, testing)

Responsibilities

Leverages a range of Cisco data and external data to identify opportunities and define a variety of hypotheses
Articulates the solution, defines its feasibility, understands its marketing requirements and communicates to program managers
Keeps abreast of industry changes and latest developments to aide in model and architecture selection and development
Guides teams in building and evolving model design practices for high-priority/ business critical ML models across multiple products/teams
Leads exploration of state of the art, emerging model architectures and algorithms that contribute to building Cisco's products
Leads automation of various steps in machine language workflow including model selection, training and inference
Designs novel and complex custom models
Architects' data splitting pipelines for specialized scenarios, creates optimization techniques for highly specialized model training efficiency and performance
Sets the technical vision and strategy for the Function or Portfolio's ML initiatives, including long-term model lifecycle management and continuous improvement
Leads research on and champions best practices for model integration and deployment using CI/CD principles

Benefits

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.
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
For non-sales roles, employees are also eligible to earn annual bonuses subject to Cisco’s policies.