Sr Software Engineer

Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.

This is a hybrid position requiring 2-3 days a week in our office located in Milpitas, CA

Meet the Team

The Platform Forwarding team at Cisco develops innovative software solutions across the routing, switching, and wireless platform portfolio, transforming networking through groundbreaking technologies. Our team is deeply invested in reshaping IT consumption for our customers, specifically through the Cisco 8000 Series, one of our most successful routing products that leverages the advanced Silicon One architecture. Introduced to revolutionize the Internet for the 5G era, the 8000 Series focuses on performance, efficiency, and sustainability, aiding service providers and web-scale companies in reducing the costs of building and operating mass-scale networks for the 5G, AI, and IoT era. This unified, programmable architecture is designed to serve various network environments, from web-scale data centers to 5G network edges and enterprise access points. Specifically, our team emphasizes Layer 3 forwarding on the Cisco IOS XR operating system, enhancing network environments for the world's largest service providers and hyperscalers.

Your Impact

Are you pushing the envelope? As a Software Engineer working on platform forwarding at Cisco, you will be crafting, implementing, and empowering the next-generation software stack for Cisco's route, switch, and wireless portfolio. You will be part of a dynamic agile development team utilizing state-of-the-art software and tools to develop innovative solutions with a focus on simplicity. Your role will involve working on the design of next-generation networks for the SP Routing portfolio of XR-based products, with a workload split of 30% sustaining engineering and 70% new development. Other responsibilities include...

• Gather functional specifications, design and develop forwarding applications, and test the code.
• Develop network automation, algorithmic thinking, and analytics applications derived from customer use cases.
• Design, develop, automate, and implement new hardware or features across complex network architectures using C/C++ language.
• Define and qualify end-to-end solution architectures, engage in debugging complex network problems, and define solutions.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to ensure seamless integration and delivery of new features and improvements.
• Expertise in internal tooling, CI/CD, API design, and fostering collaboration across teams to improve engineering efficiency

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelors in STEM with 7+ years of relevant experience or Masters in STEM with 5+ years of relevant experience
• Programming experience with C or C++
• Automation experience with Python
• Experience with CI/CD and API design

Preferred Qualifications

Previous experience in networking, including experience with networking protocols such as (IPv4, IPv6, MPLS, RIP, etc.)

Experience using GO programming language to write unit tests

Familiarity with Linux environments

Experience with Agile development methodologies

Experience in network virtualization development

Experienced with modern software tools and techniques for development/debugging and validated software design and development skills

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. Because our solutions are everywhere, our impact is everywhere.

We are Cisco, and our power starts with you.

Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location, market conditions, job-related skillset, experience, qualifications, education, certifications, and/or training. The full salary range for certain locations is listed below. For locations not listed below, the recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.

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. Please see the Cisco careers site to discover more benefits and perks. 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 ofunused sick timecarried forwardfrom one calendar yearto 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.

Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components, subject to the applicable Cisco plan. For quota-based incentive pay, Cisco typically pays as follows:

• .75% of incentive target for each 1% of revenue attainment up to 50% of quota;

• 1.5% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 50% and 75%;

• 1% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 75% and 100%; and

• Once performance exceeds 100% attainment, incentive rates are at or above 1% for each 1% of attainment with no cap on incentive compensation.

For non-quota-based sales performance elements such as strategic sales objectives, Cisco may pay 0% up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid.

The applicable full salary ranges for this position, by specific state, are listed below:

New York City Metro Area:

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

* For quota-based sales roles on Cisco's sales plan, the ranges provided in this posting include base pay and sales target incentive compensation combined.

** Employees in Illinois, whether exempt or non-exempt, will participate in a unique time off program to meet local requirements.