Hardware Security Technical Leader CSDL Hybrid

This role is hybrid in Raleigh, North Carolina. (RTP) 3 days onsite per week.

The Security & Trust Organization (S&TO) has corporate-level responsibility for customer data protection and compliance, corporate information protection, and government and product security. Security is a key concern of our customers and a top investment area for Cisco. Join us and help us become the #1 Trusted IT Company in the World!

Within S&TO, the Foundational Security Technologies (FST) team seeks to increase product security and trustworthiness across a broad range of Cisco products through development, integration and deployment of reusable software and hardware solutions. Within Foundational Security, the Hardware & Firmware Security Team (HFST) focuses on security solutions implemented at the hardware and firmware level.

Cisco’s Security and Trust Organization (STO) is seeking a Hardware Security Technical Leader to join the HW-CSDL (Hardware Cisco Secure Development Lifecycle) team.

In this role, the successful candidate will serve as a trusted technical leader and security partner to hardware engineering teams across Cisco, bridging the gap between security assessments and practical hardware implementation. This involves helping product teams interpret evaluation findings, evaluate risk, and architect robust designs that align with HW-CSDL standards and global security regulations.

The position requires an experienced hardware engineering technical leader with a deep background in hardware design, low-level architecture, and security principles. Key responsibilities include translating sophisticated technical standards into practical engineering requirements and partnering across teams to solve complicated hardware security problems. Success in this role requires the ability to communicate technical concepts clearly through engineering documentation and multi-functional collaboration, while autonomously managing multiple parallel technical initiatives in a dynamic environment!

• Security Consulting, Guidance & Mentorship: Partner directly with product hardware teams to analyze results from hardware security evaluations and provide actionable, clear, and pragmatic design guidance to achieve HW-CSDL compliance. Provide technical mentorship to members of the Security and Trust engineering team.
• System-to-Component Analysis: Deconstruct and review sophisticated hardware architectures from the system level down to boards, ASICs/FPGAs, power/management controllers, and discrete components to identify vulnerabilities and design-in resilience.
• Standards Interpretation & Application: Parse, interpret, and operationalize emerging industry and government standards (e.g., NIST SP 800-193, CNSA 2.0, EU Cyber Resilience Act, IEEE 2883) into technical guidance and design requirements.
• Technical Documentation: Author and provide overall direction for high-quality security requirements, reference architectures, implementation guides, and best-practice documentation for engineering audiences across the company.
• Multi-Workstream Execution: Lead and balance multiple parallel engagements, consulting efforts, and security initiatives across diverse product families with a high-level of autonomy.
• Advocacy & Education: Educate and influence hardware design communities outside STO to foster a security-first culture throughout the product development lifecycle.

• Degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering or related field with proven experience: 9+ years (BS), 6+ years (MS), or 3+ years (PhD)
• Prior experience leading security initiatives and mentoring engineers as a technical leader.
• Prior background in hardware development (e.g., reading and interpreting system-level schematics, block diagrams, component datasheets, PCB layouts, or register-level hardware documentation).
• Prior background in hardware security fundamentals, such as Hardware Root of Trust (RoT), Secure Boot, hardware and firmware resiliency, cryptographic primitives (symmetric/asymmetric encryption, hashing, digital signatures), or secure key storage.

• Experience with AI-assisted development and automation for hardware security applications (e.g., LLM-assisted compliance checks, automated review scripts, or security analysis tooling).
• Experience with scripting (e.g., Python, Bash) and RTL design/verification (e.g., Verilog, SystemVerilog) for hardware security solutions development.
• Background in hardware security frameworks and standards, such as NIST SP 800-193, NSA CNSA 2.0, TCG DICE / TPM, or global cybersecurity regulations (e.g., EU CRA).
• Experience with hardware threat modeling or hardware security analysis (e.g., fault injection, side-channel analysis, JTAG/debug security).
• Experience participating in hardware security industry forums, working groups, or standards bodies.

S&TO

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.