Senior Software Engineer, (Hybrid)

Cisco

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Routing SD-WAN Group at Cisco is at the forefront of innovation, delivering intelligent, secure, and scalable WAN edge solutions. 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. This role involves joining a high-energy group working on next-generation routing and services at global scale, connecting thousands of devices and millions of users. The Senior Software Engineer will develop various networking functionalities (routing/forwarding) for industry-leading SD-WAN and routing solutions, focusing on areas like segmentation, segment routing, multicast, IPv6, and quality-of-service. The work spans controllers and edge network appliances, requiring collaboration with product management, technical marketing, and cross-functional teams. The engineer will have the opportunity to define new architectures or enhance existing ones, solve complex system-level problems, influence network behavior at scale, and leverage modern AI tools 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 Multicast, 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 will 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, 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
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)