Senior Hardware Engineer

Cisco • Austin, TX

4d

About The Position

Join our high-impact Systems & Optics (SaO) team within Cisco’s Common Hardware Group (CHG), providing essential support across key verticals including SP Routing, Enterprise Routing, and Switching. Our team is a foundational partner across CHG—driving innovation, advancing design reliability, and enabling scalable hardware solutions that power Cisco’s most critical products.
Cisco Hardware Engineers develop and work with Next Generation Technology to build Cisco Hardware products keeping in mind the user experience and in accordance with IEEE standards, and industry best practices.
You will help shape next-generation package, board, and system technologies by driving advanced simulation, experimental validation, and cross-functional optimization. Working closely with Silicon Design, Supply Chain, and Electrical Design teams, your contributions will directly influence reliability, performance, and manufacturability across programs—while also supporting long-term technology roadmaps and industry leadership. Specific responsibilities include:

Requirements

• MS or PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Solid Mechanics, or Materials Science.
• 5+ years of experience in numerical analysis (e.g., FEA, CFD, coupled field analysis) and advanced packaging technology development.
• Strong background in mechanical design, reliability, and simulation of complex packaging structures, with a deep understanding of component- and board-level failure modes (e.g., warpage, CTE mismatch, delamination, fatigue).
• Proficiency in advanced simulation tools such as ANSYS Mechanical, Multiphysics, and Flotherm, with a track record of validating models through experimental methods.
• Demonstrated expertise in reliability testing, lifetime prediction methodologies, and characterization of real-world use conditions.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with Systems Integration, 2.5D/3D advanced packaging, heterogeneous integration, and emerging microelectronics technologies.
• Knowledge of JEDEC or IPC standards related to reliability and thermal/mechanical testing.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration skills with experience working closely with design, manufacturing, and research teams.

Responsibilities

• Develop and apply novel simulation and experimental methods to enable and optimize advanced hardware technologies. This includes scalable multiphysics models to predict system-level performance, reliability, and manufacturability (e.g., solder joint reliability, warpage, TIM behavior).
• Design and execute DOEs/test vehicles and computational analyses to establish design guidelines and optimize material, geometry, and architecture.
• Evaluate tradeoffs across performance, reliability, and manufacturability using modeling and analysis.
• Collaborate with academia and industry partners; contribute to standards bodies, conferences, IP development, and peer-reviewed publications.

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: Mid Level
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree