Software Engineering Technical Leader

Your Impact

You will help build a large hybrid platform that Cisco's biggest customers run inside their own environment, bringing Cisco services close to their devices and data. Most of your work is on the on‑premises, edge side of this platform and its Kubernetes foundation — the layer that installs the platform, connects it to the cloud, keeps it in sync, and keeps it secure, even in air‑gapped environments with no external network access. Because the platform spans both sides, you may also work on the cloud services it connects to, so end‑to‑end problems can be solved wherever they live.

You will write secure, well‑tested software and follow industry‑leading engineering standards, guided by Cisco's 'Design Thinking Principles' and a focus on simplification. Working closely with design and product management, you will deliver solutions that matter to customers, document your work for both engineers and end users, and resolve complex problems in development and production to keep customers successful.

• Design and build the microservices and Linux components that install, configure, and run the platform on Kubernetes.
• Develop production services in Go and Python that manage the platform's lifecycle and connect it to the cloud — and, when the work calls for it, contribute to the cloud services on the other side of that connection.
• Automate the platform's build, install, and upgrade with Ansible across standard, hardened, and air‑gapped Linux and Kubernetes environments.
• Improve how the on‑premises platform and the cloud communicate — secure connectivity, message routing, and reliable data and file transfer.
• Partner with design and product management to deliver customer‑centric solutions.
• Create technical design documentation and contribute to end‑user documentation.
• Debug and resolve issues in development and production to support customers.
• Drive product innovation and improve how the team builds software.

At Cisco, we’re revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era – and beyond. We’ve been innovating fearlessly for 40 years to create solutions that power how humans and technology work together across the physical and digital worlds. These solutions provide customers with unparalleled security, visibility, and insights across the entire digital footprint. Fueled by the depth and breadth of our technology, we experiment and create meaningful solutions. Add to that our worldwide network of doers and experts, and you’ll see that the opportunities to grow and build are limitless. We work as a team, collaborating with empathy to make really big things happen on a global scale.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree + 8 years of related experience, or Master's degree + 6 years of related experience
• Deep, hands‑on experience designing, building, and operating microservices in production.
• Commercial experience developing production systems in Go.
• Working proficiency in Python for platform, tooling, or service code.
• Strong experience with Linux/Unix and expert‑level Kubernetes, including designing resilient, highly available architectures.
• Practical experience with Ansible and at least one other infrastructure‑as‑code technology (Terraform, Puppet, Chef, or Helm) in a Git‑based workflow.
• Solid understanding of how distributed systems communicate securely and reliably - connecting on‑premises software to cloud services and moving data between them.
• Ability to scope work accurately and provide reliable estimates.
• Ability to translate business needs into technical direction and recommend industry standards.
• Expertise in interpreting business issues and recommending industry standards.

Preferred Qualifications

• Any exposure to edge or on‑premises deployments is a bonus — including air‑gapped or restricted‑network setups — but it's something you can also learn on the team.
• Experience leading small‑to‑medium features from technical build through completion.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor peers and facilitate knowledge sharing (e.g., brownbags, design sessions).
• Experience leading postmortems, root cause analysis, and managing on‑call coverage.
• Strong communication skills to negotiate delivery trade‑offs with cross‑functional partners.
• Experience influencing architectural decisions with a focus on security, scalability, and reliability.
• Fluency with agentic AI development tools — comfortable using them day to day and knowing where they add the most value.
• Familiarity with FIPS‑mode cryptography, hardened Linux baselines, or other compliance‑driven engineering.
• Working knowledge of Java is a plus for maintaining existing services in the platform.