Senior Software Engineer (Hybrid)- SDWAN

Cisco

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Cisco is a global leader in networking and IT, dedicated to transforming how people connect, communicate, and collaborate. They foster a collaborative, empathetic company culture that provides employees with autonomy to develop intuitive, secure, and simple technology. The Routing SD-WAN Group focuses on delivering intelligent, secure, and scalable WAN edge solutions, empowering enterprises to connect and protect their networks from the edge to the cloud. The Routing Platform Software team within this group builds industry-leading headend SD-WAN and edge routing platforms, reinventing the WAN with controller-based, intent-driven networking for secure connectivity across cloud, on-prem, and SaaS applications. This role involves joining a high-energy group working on next-generation routing and services at a global scale. The position seeks a software engineer to develop various networking (routing / forwarding) functionalities for Cisco's SD-WAN and routing solution, with key areas including segmentation, segment routing, multicast, IPv6, quality-of-service, and general networking concepts. The work spans controllers and edge network appliances, involving collaboration with product management, technical marketing, and cross-functional teams. The engineer will define new architectures or enhance existing ones to provide customer solutions, solve complex system-level problems, and influence network behavior at scale. Modern AI tools will be leveraged to enhance software development practices for greater efficiency, quality, and innovation.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience, 5-10 years of industry experience with end-to-end software development in networking stack, including control plane, data plane, and controller architecture.
Strong proficiency in C/C++ with a focus on systems programming and Linux environments.
Expertise or experience in multicast, IPv6, quality-of-service, segmentation, segment routing, in addition to general networking concepts.
Solid understanding of routing architectures and Layer 2 networking protocols.
Ability to debug complex system level issues spanning various software domain and boundary.
Experience with LAN/WAN communication interfaces and Layer 2/Layer 3 technologies.
Experience with AI/ML techniques and tools for development (e.g., codex, copilot, code assistants, static analysis tools, test automation platforms).

Nice To Haves

Past experience working in a controller driven architecture is a plus.
Knowledge of Routing protocols, data plane and packet processors, and experience in industry deployed networking stacks.
Network software development for HW and cloud instances.
Ability to develop and debug solutions that span multiple network instances: controllers, edges, hubs, spokes…
Knowledge of routing protocols such as OSPF, BGP, and knowledge in controller driven architecture.
Experience with network level debugging using wire-shark, packet trace/capture.
Knowledge of BFD (Bi-directional Forwarding Detection).

Responsibilities

Network software development: full stack software development for our industry leading networking stack.
Work with cross functional teams to plan, design, implement and integrate the solution keeping in mind the scaling and tight performance requirements.
Be part of the full stack team (controller and dataplane) and be enabled to work across domains.
Work with partner teams such as security, analytics, and NMS to deliver the end-to-end solution for SDWAN and Enterprise routing.
Use modern AI tools and technologies to achieve highest level of efficiency in product development and solution delivery.
Work with key stakeholders to explore areas of innovation and improvement to drive product evolution.

Benefits

Medical insurance
Dental insurance
Vision insurance
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
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 non-exempt employees
Flexible vacation time off program (no defined limit) for exempt employees
80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter
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 plans)