Principal Machine Learning Engineer, AISWP (Hybrid)

Cisco•San Jose, CA

3d•$296,300 - $374,800•Hybrid

About The Position

The AI Platform Group Office of the CTO is seeking a Principal Forward Deployed Engineer to join their Forward Deployed Engineering team for Cisco’s AI-native portfolio. Their mission is to accelerate the adoption of Cloud Control, AI Canvas, AI Studio, and AI Defense through a high-velocity, customer-led "skunkworks" model, operating as Product Market Fit (PMF) Pathfinders. This team embeds with customers to understand their operations and usage, acting as experimentalists, prototype builders, and trailblazers who ship, measure, and prove value through direct, real-time code deployment.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in STEM and 15+ years of relevant experience, or Master's degree in STEM and 12+ years of relevant experience, or PhD in STEM and 8+ years of relevant experience, or equivalent related work experience.
Experience building and operating scalable, highly distributed multi-tenant systems with strict isolation and security boundaries.
Experience in building external-facing developer platforms or infrastructure-focused products.
Prior experience in end-to-end system design (including observability, failure handling, and ergonomics) and the implementation of complex authorization models such as RBAC, ABAC, or policy-based enforcement.

Nice To Haves

An AI-first mindset paired with the ability to exercise sound technical judgment and decompose vague, complex problems into well-scoped, actionable deliverables.
Experience building shared infrastructure, abstractions, and "paved roads" that enhance productivity across engineering teams.
Proficiency in spec-driven and schema-driven development, including the use of code generation, strongly typed API contracts, and implementation traceability.
Understanding of the unique architecture and operational constraints associated with both SaaS and on-premise deployment models.
Ability to mentor immediate team members while effectively driving technical decision-making across cross-functional and cross-organizational boundaries.

Responsibilities

Deploy directly into high-impact customer environments to observe complex workflows, identify friction points, and build rapid prototypes that validate product-market fit.
Lead research-to-code initiatives, applying deep domain expertise in networking and security to solve real-world problems while ensuring prototypes are ready for production hardening.
Partner with Product Management to drive verified usage metrics, ensuring high-priority features are backed by actual engagement data.
Collaborate with core engineering to transition prototypes into secure, multi-tenant, and scalable services that support Cisco’s global customer base.
Act as an internal industry expert, influencing Cisco’s technical leaders and product strategy by translating complex customer challenges into elegant, scalable software solutions.
Lead a "customer-first" engineering mindset within the AI Platform group, coaching teams on rapid iteration, minimizing silos, and maintaining high velocity while adhering to enterprise compliance 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, 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
16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year, accrued at rate of 4.92 hours per pay period for full-time employees (non-exempt)
flexible vacation time off program (exempt)
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
annual bonuses (for non-sales roles)
performance-based incentive pay (for sales roles)