Software Engineer - AI/ML

Cisco•Research Triangle Park, NC

2d•$150,300 - $270,300•Remote

About The Position

Join a cutting-edge team focused on designing, building, and securing modern AI systems that power autonomous agents and LLM-powered applications. This team operates at the intersection of applied machine learning, software engineering, and security, delivering trustworthy, observable, and resilient AI solutions that address software security across Cisco and the industry. You will be part of a collaborative environment that values innovation, security, and operational excellence. As an AI/ML Engineer, you will design and implement agentic AI systems using frameworks such as LangGraph, DeepAgents, Claude, OpenCode, or custom orchestration layers. You will build, evaluate, and deploy LLM-powered applications including agentic RAG pipelines, multi-agent workflows, and tool-using assistants. Your role includes integrating AI agents with internal and external systems via APIs and MCP servers, embedding security throughout the AI development lifecycle, and developing evaluation harnesses and red-team test suites to monitor model behavior and robustness. You will fine-tune open-weight models and collaborate with embedded engineering teams to deploy models effectively. Your work will ensure AI systems are not only capable but also secure and reliable.

Requirements

Hands-on experience building agentic AI systems involving tool use, planning loops, multi-step reasoning, agent memory, and state management.
3+ years of experience in Software Engineering in an enterprise environment with technologies like Python, JavaScript, Typescript, or Go
Working experience of LLM orchestration frameworks and creating agentic harnesses and agent skills.
Familiarity with model training, evaluation, and troubleshooting to improve accuracy and reliability.
Ability to develop reusable code aimed at automation and collaborate with engineering teams for deployment.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s or master’s degree in a relevant field.
Background in cybersecurity, application security, or offensive security.
Familiarity with MCP (Model Context Protocol), A2A protocols, or other emerging agent interoperability standards.
Experience with fine-tuning techniques such as LoRA, QLoRA, DPO, RLHF, and model evaluation frameworks like lm-evaluation-harness or HELM.
Experience with secure multi-tenant AI infrastructure, guardrail systems, or AI gateways.
Strong understanding of security best practices embedded throughout the AI development lifecycle.

Responsibilities

Design and implement agentic AI systems using frameworks such as LangGraph, DeepAgents, Claude, OpenCode, or custom orchestration layers.
Build, evaluate, and deploy LLM-powered applications including agentic RAG pipelines, multi-agent workflows, and tool-using assistants.
Integrate AI agents with internal and external systems via APIs and MCP servers.
Embed security throughout the AI development lifecycle.
Develop evaluation harnesses and red-team test suites to monitor model behavior and robustness.
Fine-tune open-weight models.
Collaborate with embedded engineering teams to deploy models effectively.

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
Optional 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer