Principal Engineer, Data Services & Data Platform Cisco AI and Software Platform Group

Cisco•Milpitas, MI

2d•Remote

About The Position

Cisco’s AI and Software Platform Group is building the next generation of intelligent, cloud-native platforms that power Cisco products, services, and customer experiences. We are seeking a Principal Engineer to lead the architecture and development of foundational data services and data platform capabilities at enterprise scale. This role is ideal for a systems thinker and technical leader who is passionate about building reliable, secure, highly scalable data infrastructure. You will define platform strategy, solve complex distributed-systems challenges, and guide multiple engineering teams in delivering data products that support analytics, automation, and AI/ML workloads.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
15+ years of experience designing and delivering large-scale distributed systems or data platforms.
Experience in data services, cloud platforms, distributed storage, data processing, and service-oriented architectures.
Programming experience in one or more languages such as Java, Go, Python, or C++.

Nice To Haves

Extensive experience building and scaling multi-tenant SaaS or enterprise data platforms from early-stage design to global production.
Proficiency with a modern data stack, including Kubernetes, Kafka, Flink, Spark, object storage, lakehouse architectures, and distributed SQL engines.
Proven ability to support modern AI/ML workloads, including experience with feature stores, vector/unstructured data, model evaluation, and generative AI systems.
Deep understanding of the data lifecycle, with practical experience implementing robust frameworks for governance, data quality, lineage, cataloging, security, privacy, and regulatory compliance.
Demonstrated ability to work effectively across geographically distributed teams.
A strong record of industry influence, which may include contributions to open-source projects, technical publications, patents, or established industry standards.

Responsibilities

Define and drive the multi-year technical roadmap for data services.
Influence engineering strategy, provide architectural guidance to leadership, and represent the organization in technical reviews to ensure alignment across teams.
Design and build highly available, scalable, and resilient data systems.
Establish reusable primitives and robust architectural patterns for ingestion, processing, storage, and delivery, supporting everything from batch to real-time event-driven workflows.
Ensure the delivery of trusted, discoverable, and high-quality data.
Define standards for data products, schemas, lineage, and contracts to empower analytics, observability, and generative AI applications.
Partner with product, security, infrastructure, and AI/ML stakeholders to translate business requirements into durable solutions.
Drive technical excellence by resolving complex scaling challenges and mentoring senior engineering staff to raise team standards.

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
grants of 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 employees)
flexible vacation time off program (exempt employees)
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 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