Security Research Engineering Technical Leader

Cisco•Austin, TX

1d•Remote

About The Position

Cisco is seeking a Security Research Engineering Technical Leader to serve as the security authority for its product portfolio. This remote role may be performed anywhere in the contiguous United States. The position maintains a current, data-backed view of portfolio security posture and translates threat trends, architectural changes, and security debt into actionable priorities for product and engineering leadership. The role advises and influences Product Management, Engineering, IT/Enterprise Operations, and Business Information Security Officer partners to align security priorities with business objectives. The Technical Leader sets the secure architecture bar across the portfolio by reviewing and approving designs, adapting security-by-design and security-by-default principles to each context, and making architecture trade-off decisions. The role leads portfolio-wide threat modeling, tailoring the approach to each system and ensuring models are evidence-based and connected to design decisions. It also integrates AI securely into in-scope platforms, applies Software Security AI frameworks, advocates AI capabilities that improve security outcomes, coordinates Security SMEs such as cryptography and identity specialists, and presents prioritized unmitigated risks at release or delivery. The position defines and leads security engineering metrics—including risk reduction, mean time to remediate, security debt, and developer adoption—and uses these measures to support stronger portfolio decisions. Cisco describes its security team as responsible for software security across application, cloud, identity, data, and supply-chain technologies, and as a strategic partner to product and engineering organizations.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree and 8 years of related experience, or a master’s degree and 6 years, or a Ph.D. and 3 years, or equivalent related work experience.
Proven experience leading threat modeling and secure design or architecture reviews for complex software systems, including AI- and LLM-enabled features.
Demonstrated experience interpreting SAST, DAST, and SCA results and translating findings into risk-based, evidence-backed remediation guidance.
Extensive experience integrating security controls into modern CI/CD pipelines and cloud-native environments, including Kubernetes and containers.
Validated ability to influence engineering and product leadership and drive security outcomes across teams without direct authority.

Nice To Haves

Depth in one or more specialized areas: identity and access management, cryptography, data security, application security, or software supply-chain security, including SBOM generation, artifact signing, and SLSA-aligned practices.
Experience partnering with internal information technology, operations, or platform engineering teams on applications and workflow or automation platforms.
Experience defining and using security metrics to influence roadmap and investment decisions.
Advanced knowledge of emerging security threats, vulnerability research, and industry-standard security frameworks.
Relevant industry certifications such as CISSP, CSSLP, CCSP, or GIAC.

Responsibilities

Maintain a current, data-backed view of security posture and portfolio risk.
Translate threat trends, architectural shifts, and security debt into priorities for product and engineering leadership.
Advise and influence Product Management, Engineering, IT/Enterprise Operations, and Business Information Security Officer partners to align security priorities with business objectives.
Review and approve secure designs across the portfolio, apply security-by-design and security-by-default principles, and make architecture trade-off decisions.
Lead portfolio-wide threat modeling, adjusting depth and technique to each system and connecting evidence-based models to design decisions.
Integrate AI securely into in-scope platforms, apply Software Security AI frameworks, and advocate AI capabilities that strengthen security outcomes.
Think like an attacker, coordinate Security SMEs in areas such as cryptography and identity, and present prioritized unmitigated security risks at release or delivery.
Define and lead portfolio security engineering metrics, including risk reduction, mean time to remediate, security debt, and developer adoption, and use the data to improve decisions.

Benefits

Medical insurance
Dental insurance
Vision insurance
401(k) plan with Cisco matching contribution
Paid parental leave
Short- and long-term disability coverage
Basic life insurance
Paid holidays
Floating holiday for non-exempt employees
Paid birthday day off
Paid year-end holiday shutdown
Personal wellness days
Paid vacation or flexible vacation time off, depending on employee classification
Paid sick time
Additional paid time away may be requested for critical or emergency family issues
Optional paid volunteer days
Annual bonuses for eligible non-sales roles
Potential Cisco restricted stock unit grants