Technical Leader - CX Engineering Productivity

Cisco•San Jose, CA

2d•$214,100 - $309,800•Hybrid

About The Position

The Engineering Productivity Technical Leader provides technical leadership and serves as a liaison across Cisco CX Engineering. The role shapes strategy for the developer platform, CI/CD, build and test infrastructure, developer tooling, and AI-assisted development, aligning initiatives with business goals. It connects Platform, Application, Product, Security, and Operations teams to identify and remove engineering friction and promotes productivity measurement, golden paths, and continuous improvement across traditional and AI/ML workflows. The position designs self-service internal developer platforms and paved roads; improves local and cloud development environments and feedback loops; modernizes CI/CD and build systems; and establishes metrics and observability across the software delivery lifecycle. It integrates AI assistants and agentic workflows into development, and ensures the reliability and performance of the productivity platform and tools. The leader also builds relationships with vendors, open-source communities, and internal stakeholders; gathers and prioritizes engineering and security requirements; leads feedback loops, technical reviews, and knowledge sharing; mentors others; and tracks emerging developments in platform engineering, build systems, and AI-assisted development. This is a hybrid role for candidates local to RTP, North Carolina, or San Jose, California. The application window is expected to close on 10/26/2026.

Requirements

10 or more years of experience in engineering productivity, developer platforms, DevOps, build/release, or infrastructure engineering, with demonstrated progression in technical leadership.
BS or MS in Engineering, STEM, or a related field.
Demonstrated track record designing and implementing developer platforms, tooling, or CI/CD and build systems serving multiple teams.

Nice To Haves

Experience building internal developer platforms, platform-as-a-service offerings, or developer portals such as Backstage.
Experience with productivity measurement and delivery practices, including DORA metrics, SLOs, quality gates, and CI/CD.
Ability to influence across organizations, build consensus, and drive adoption of technical strategies and tooling.
Expertise with CI/CD and GitOps platforms such as Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, ArgoCD, or Flux, and modern build systems such as Bazel, monorepo tooling, and remote/build caching.
Depth in test infrastructure, including fast and reliable test suites, flaky-test management, and test observability.
Proficiency with IaC tools such as Terraform or CloudFormation and cloud-native platforms such as Kubernetes, AWS, Azure, or GCP.
Proficiency in Python, Go, or Java, with strong scripting and automation skills.
Experience instrumenting the SDLC with observability tooling such as Splunk, OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, or Grafana for build, test, and delivery health.
Hands-on experience integrating AI-assisted and agentic development tools, including code assistants, AI-driven review, or test generation, into engineering workflows.
Familiarity with DevEx research methods, including developer surveys and the SPACE framework, to quantify and improve developer experience.
Strong communication skills and ability to influence technical decisions across organizational levels.

Responsibilities

Shape technical strategy for the developer platform, CI/CD, build and test infrastructure, tooling, and AI-assisted development, aligning initiatives with business objectives.
Connect Platform, Application, Product, Security, and Operations teams to find and remove engineering friction across organizational boundaries.
Promote DORA and SPACE measurement, golden paths, and continuous improvement of developer experience across traditional and AI/ML workflows.
Design self-service platforms, golden paths, and paved roads for provisioning, building, and deploying software.
Deliver fast local and cloud development environments, dev containers, and rapid feedback loops.
Modernize CI/CD and build systems, including build caching, incremental builds, merge queues, and quality gates.
Establish metrics and observability for the software delivery lifecycle, including DORA metrics, cycle time, build and test health, and developer-experience signals.
Integrate AI code assistants, AI-assisted review, test generation, and agentic development workflows into everyday engineering tools.
Maintain the resilience and performance of the productivity platform, CI/CD, and developer tooling.
Build relationships with vendors, open-source communities, and industry peers to identify and bring useful innovations to Cisco.
Work with internal teams to understand technical and business needs; gather and prioritize engineering and security requirements; run feedback loops; and lead technical reviews and knowledge-sharing initiatives.
Provide technical leadership and coaching in platform engineering, developer experience, and automation.
Track emerging trends and rapidly implement and iterate on solutions that improve engineering productivity.

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
Cisco restricted stock unit grants may be available, subject to eligibility and continued employment
10 paid holidays per full calendar year
Floating holiday for non-exempt employees
Paid birthday day off
Paid year-end holiday shutdown
Four paid personal wellness days
Paid vacation or flexible vacation time off, depending on employee classification
80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1, with up to 80 unused hours carried forward
Additional paid time away may be requested for critical or emergency family issues
Optional 10 paid volunteer days per full calendar year
Annual bonuses for eligible non-sales employees