AI Data Scientist Technical Leader (Hybrid)

This is a hybrid role based thrice a week in Cisco's San Jose, CA office.

Meet The Team

We are seeking a highly skilled AI Data Scientist / Data Analyst to join our Silicon One Hardware Engineering team. In this role, you will leverage sophisticated analytics, machine learning, and AI agent technologies to drive yield analysis, debug, and predictive modeling for our semiconductor manufacturing processes. Your work will directly impact product quality, test cost, manufacturing efficiency, and time-to-market for Cisco’s industry-leading silicon solutions.

Your Impact

• Develop, deploy, and maintain AI/ML models for yield analysis, yield debug, and early-stage failure prediction in semiconductor manufacturing.
• Build and optimize AI agents to automate data-driven root cause analysis and yield improvement initiatives.
• Analyze large-scale manufacturing, test, and parametric datasets to identify trends, anomalies, and actionable insights.
• Collaborate with hardware, test, and process engineering teams to translate business and technical requirements into robust data science solutions.
• Design and implement predictive models to forecast yield and quality metrics at various stages of the manufacturing flow.
• Communicate findings and recommendations to multi-functional teams through clear visualizations, reports, and presentations.
• Stay current with the latest advancements in AI/ML, data analytics, and semiconductor manufacturing best practices.
• Excellent problem-solving, communication, and teamwork skills.

Minimum Qualifications

• MS or PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Data Science, Statistics, or a related field.
• 8+ years of experience in data science, machine learning, or data analytics, preferably in semiconductor or hardware engineering environments.
• Strong proficiency in Python and data science libraries (e.g., pandas, scikit-learn, XGBoost, TensorFlow, PyTorch).
• Experience building, validating, and deploying AI/ML models for classification, regression, anomaly detection, and time-series forecasting.
• Hands-on experience with AI agent frameworks and automation of data analysis workflows.
• Solid understanding of semiconductor manufacturing, test data, and yield analysis concepts.
• Experience with data visualization tools (e.g., matplotlib, seaborn, Tableau, Power BI).

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with cloud-based data platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure) and big data technologies.
• Familiarity with Optuna or other hyperparameter optimization frameworks.
• Knowledge of hardware debug, root cause analysis, and reliability engineering.

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 of unused sick time carried forward from one calendar year to 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.