Technical Lead, Network Engineering
About The Position
Cisco is hiring a Technical Lead, Network Engineering to build and support networking products using Cisco IOS-XR and open-source technologies. The role spans systems and silicon across hyperscale data centers, cloud infrastructure, and highly distributed systems, with a focus on reliability, scalability, and customer outcomes. It connects customer engagement, production support, and engineering collaboration. The role strengthens the team's ability to build, deploy, and troubleshoot large-scale datacenter and cloud networking environments, while improving operational excellence through automation and intelligent tooling. The Technical Lead serves as a technical focal point for customer solutions, partners with engineering teams on complex cross-layer issues, and supports high-priority customers through data-backed root-cause analysis. The position also uses telemetry, alerting, workflow automation, Python-based operational tools, and—where appropriate—AI/ML or LLM-based approaches for log analysis, triage, and summarization.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree and 8 years of related experience, or master's degree and 6 years of related experience, or Ph.D. and 3 years of related experience, or equivalent related work experience.
- Experience with routing and switching technologies in production environments or advanced lab settings.
- Experience working with structured data and operational telemetry, including time-series concepts, anomaly detection, or similar analytical approaches.
- Experience with Python or another programming language, including building automation, parsing workflows, and troubleshooting tools beyond basic scripting.
- Experience with AI-assisted tools or workflows in engineering environments, including safe and effective use of GenAI or LLM-based APIs for operational support.
Nice To Haves
- Familiarity with OpenConfig paths for network configuration, state retrieval, and telemetry.
- Experience with YANG data models and understanding of the hierarchy and structure of OpenConfig paths.
- Ability to implement and troubleshoot configuration and telemetry workflows using protocols such as gNMI.
- Strong Linux experience supporting lab, tooling, or production-adjacent environments.
- Background in system architecture, deployment engineering, or field engineering within Tier-1 enterprise or hyperscale environments.
- Familiarity with open-source and network operating systems such as SONiC, IOS-XR, or FBOSS.
- Experience with network testing and validation tools such as Ixia, Spirent, or similar platforms.
- Solid understanding of networking fundamentals including L2/L3, VXLAN, and security services such as MACsec.
- Proven ability to troubleshoot and perform root-cause analysis in large-scale, multi-vendor environments.
- Experience supporting high-priority or escalated customer issues, with the ability to lead technically during critical situations.
Responsibilities
- Serve as a technical focal point for customer solutions, translating real-world constraints into scalable, supportable designs and operational models.
- Partner with engineering teams to troubleshoot and resolve complex issues across datacenter and cloud networking stacks, establishing repeatable diagnostics and clear escalation paths.
- Support high-priority customers on deep, cross-layer issues and drive problems to root cause using data-backed analysis and clear technical narratives.
- Apply hyperscale operational best practices, including telemetry, alerting, and workflow automation, to improve mean time to detect and resolve issues.
- Develop and maintain Python-based tools to parse, correlate, and visualize operational data.
- Leverage AI/ML or LLM-based approaches where appropriate for log analysis, triage, and summarization.
Benefits
- Medical insurance
- Dental insurance
- Vision insurance
- 401(k) plan with Cisco matching contribution
- Paid parental leave
- Short- and long-term disability coverage
- Basic life insurance
- Paid holidays
- Floating holiday for non-exempt employees
- Paid birthday day off
- Paid year-end holiday shutdown
- Personal wellness days
- Paid vacation or flexible vacation time off, depending on employee classification
- Sick time off
- Additional paid time away may be requested for critical or emergency family issues
- Optional paid volunteer days
- Annual bonuses for non-sales roles, subject to Cisco policies
- Potential Cisco restricted stock unit grants, subject to eligibility and plan terms
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
