Senior Staff Software Engineer - Cybersecurity

Cisco • San Jose, CA

21d

About The Position

Splunk, a Cisco company, is building a safer and more resilient digital world with an end-to-end full stack platform made for a hybrid, multi-cloud world. Leading enterprises use our unified security and observability platform to keep their digital systems secure and reliable. Our customers love our technology, but it's our caring employees that make Splunk stand out as an amazing career destination. No matter where in the world or what level of the organization, we approach our work with kindness. So bring your work experience, problem-solving skills and talent, of course, but also bring your joy, your passion and all the things that make you, you. Come help organizations be their best, while you reach new heights with a team that has your back.
Role Summary
Your role as a Software Engineering Technical Leader is crucial in revolutionizing cyber threat defense, particularly against phishing and malware distributed through malicious URLs, emails, files and QR codes. Your expertise will directly improve our customers' security posture! If you're passionate about advancing cybersecurity technology and making a significant impact in automated threat analysis, we invite you to apply. Your work will be key in shaping future cyber defense strategies and protecting organizations from data breaches and cyber-attacks!
Meet the Team
The Splunk Attack Analyzer (SAA) team streamlines security threat analysis, providing forensic evidence and metadata to customers via API and Portal. As a Software Engineering Technical Leader, you'll orchestrate the optimization of backend code and detection capabilities, focusing on automated URL, file analysis and web navigation. You'll architect innovative solutions to overcome challenges posed by the threat actors.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field; or equivalent practical experience. Advanced degrees are a plus.
• 12+ years of professional experience in software engineering, with a deep focus on cybersecurity, distributed systems, and modern web technologies.
• Recognized technical authority in Python and Go, with extensive experience in building and scaling production-grade systems using these languages and ecosystems.
• Expertise in security architecture, threat modeling, vulnerability assessment, and the design of secure-by-default systems and processes.
• Deep knowledge of software architecture and design patterns, with a track record of defining long-term architectural strategy and guiding complex, multi-team implementations.
• Extensive experience with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure), including securing cloud-native applications, infrastructure-as-code, and multi-region deployments.
• Proficient in modern development practices and tooling (e.g., Git, CI/CD, Docker, Kubernetes), with an ability to influence DevSecOps processes across teams.
• Exceptional debugging, profiling, and performance optimization skills across the entire tech stack.
• Experience leveraging data analytics, large-scale data processing, or machine learning to enhance security and threat detection capabilities.
• Proven ability to communicate complex technical ideas to diverse stakeholders, from engineers to executives, and to lead technical direction across teams.
• Demonstrated success in mentoring senior and junior engineers, fostering a culture of learning, and driving engineering excellence across an organization.
• Understanding of threat intelligence platforms and security products specific to threat detection and mitigation.
• Ability to analyze and remediate security risks using advanced tools with AI/ML capabilities for dynamic security data and personalized security workflows.
• Significant experience designing and leading the implementation of large-scale, resilient, distributed systems with high availability and strong security guarantees.
• Track record of driving cross-functional technical initiatives and influencing product and organizational strategy through thought leadership.

Nice To Haves

• Ability to think creatively to solve complex technical challenges in cybersecurity.
• Strong analytical skills with a focus on performance optimization and scalability.
• Excellent communication skills, able to explain sophisticated technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Proactive problem-solver with a strong sense of ownership and drive for results.

Responsibilities

• Serves as technical lead for a team or key domain, driving a 6+ month roadmap focused on features, operations, observability, and supportability to enhance customer experience
• Actively engaged in technical work, including code reviews and hands-on contributions
• Improves test health and code coverage through processes, tools, and mentorship
• Mentor developers on technical and soft skills, including roadmap development and advocacy
• Leads system design discussions, ensuring non-functional requirements (scale, security, usability, etc.) are addressed and documented
• Communicates effectively as a technical authority in broader architectural and tech forums
• Drives complex projects and operational improvements end-to-end, partnering with PMs on prioritization, execution, and continuous feedback
• Translates customer needs and operational insights into system simplifications that speed development and increase value
• Introduces innovative tools and methods to measurably improve troubleshooting efficiency

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