Principal Machine Learning Engineer, AISWP (Hybrid)

Cisco•San Jose, CA

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

The application window is expected to close on: 10/18/2026. Meet the Team AI Platform Group Office of the CTO: We are the Forward Deployed Engineering team for Cisco’s AI-native portfolio. Our mission is to accelerate the adoption of Cloud Control, AI Canvas, AI Studio, and AI Defense through a high-velocity, customer-led "skunkworks" model. We operate as Product Market Fit (PMF) Pathfinders. We embed with customers, understanding how they operate and what they actually use rather than mearly hypothesize. We are experimentalists, prototype builders, and trailblazers who ship, measure, and prove value through direct, real-time code deployment. Your Impact Join our team as a Principal Forward Deployed Engineer to shape the future of our AI-powered platforms. You will: Embed for Innovation: Deploy directly into high-impact customer environments to observe complex workflows, identify friction points, and build rapid prototypes that validate product-market fit. Bridge Research to Production: 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. Data-Driven Roadmap Influence: Partner with Product Management to drive verified usage metrics, ensuring high-priority features are backed by actual engagement data. Architect Enterprise Solutions: Collaborate with core engineering to transition your prototypes into secure, multi-tenant, and scalable services that support Cisco’s global customer base. Technical Consultation: Act as an internal industry expert, influencing Cisco’s technical leaders and product strategy by translating complex customer challenges into elegant, scalable software solutions. Culture Architect: 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.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in STEM and 15+ years of relevant experience, or Master's degree in STEM and 12+ years of relevant experience and or PhD in STEM 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 your 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
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
Employees are also eligible to earn annual bonuses subject to Cisco’s policies.
Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary