Principal Engineer

Cisco • San Jose, CA

29d • Hybrid

About The Position

You will join Cisco’s Platform & Identity Engineering Group, a foundational group responsible for building and scaling the core platform services that power Cisco’s products and experiences. The team focuses on delivering secure, scalable platform capabilities that enable consistent management of security products across Cisco’s portfolio.
This organization partners closely with engineering, security, and product teams across multiple technology and business groups to provide the underlying systems that support Cisco’s innovation. The work spans cloud, security, and platform infrastructure, with an emphasis on reliability, interoperability, and long-term scalability.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field with 12+ years of experience designing and developing large-scale software, platform, or distributed systems
• Experience building and scaling highly available, secure, and distributed systems in cloud or hybrid environments
• Experience writing high-quality, production-grade code using modern programming languages (e.g., Go, Rust, or C++)
• 5 + years of experience with security, privacy, and data protection principles as applied to platform and identity systems

Nice To Haves

• Advanced degree (Master’s or Ph.D.) in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field
• Recognized technical leadership as a domain expert or cross-domain integrator influencing architecture across multiple product lines or business units
• Experience driving platform strategy in large-scale enterprise or cloud environments
• Experience integrating systems with broader platform services such as observability, data platforms, or AI/ML-driven systems
• Track record of influencing technical direction and aligning stakeholders across a large, matrixed organization
• Experience defining technical architecture and driving end-to-end system design across multiple teams or organizations
• Contributions to industry standards, open-source projects, patents, or publications
• Ability to translate emerging technology trends into long-term strategic direction and business impact

Responsibilities

• Innovate, develop, and drive unique software and technology solutions with global impact across Cisco’s broader product portfolio and multiple technology and business groups
• Act as an internal, external, and industry expert, applying deep technical expertise to provide guidance and consultation on complex challenges
• Serve as a domain expert or cross-domain integrator, leveraging breadth of knowledge to connect emerging technology trends and assess their impact on Cisco products
• Guide and set standards for the technical direction of Cisco’s software and technology solutions, influencing industry trends, business leaders, and Cisco’s technical community
• Ensure the development, execution, and enablement of technology strategies that deliver long-term business impact
• Stay ahead of evolving technology and industry trends, shaping innovation and enabling Cisco to maintain a strong competitive advantage
• Partner across engineering, product, and business teams to translate strategic vision into scalable, high-impact solutions
• Mentor and influence senior technical leaders, driving architectural consistency and engineering excellence across the organization

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.
• U.S. employees are eligible for paid time away as described below, subject to Cisco’s policies: 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.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees