Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.
Isovalent, now part of Cisco, is the company founded by the creators of Cilium and eBPF. Cisco Isovalent builds open-source software and enterprise solutions solving networking, security, and observability needs for modern cloud native infrastructure. The flagship technologies, Cilium and Tetragon, are the choice of numerous, industry-leading, global organizations.
We believe in fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace where every team member feels valued, respected, and empowered. We believe that every employee contributes to our success, and we are committed to fostering an environment where everyone can thrive. We encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply and join us in our mission to deliver exceptional products and services.
Tetragon is a flexible, Kubernetes-aware observability and security tool that delivers real-time insights and enforcement. Leveraging the power of eBPF, Tetragon provides low-overhead, in-kernel visibility and intelligence across diverse environments.
As a Principal Engineer, you will be at the forefront of advancing Tetragon’s capabilities. You will guide architectural direction while staying deeply engaged in building the systems that power our platform. Your impact will span designing high-performance data pipelines, optimizing database and distributed system performance, and ensuring massive streams of system events can be ingested, aggregated, and distilled into meaningful intelligence.
You will collaborate closely with teams across Cisco, including Hypershield and Splunk, to create the integration points that transform raw data into actionable insights for enterprise security. In this role, you’ll solve some of the most complex system-level challenges in observability and infrastructure, helping Tetragon evolve to meet the needs of modern cloud-native environments.
What you’ll do:
Develop high-quality Go (and eBPF) code for the Tetragon project.
Extend Tetragon capabilities to mitigate security vulnerabilities. Examples include:
Enhance Tetragon to better understand and control the execution flow of native (e.g., written in C/C++) or runtime-based (Java, Python, Go, etc.) applications
Enhance Tetragon capabilities to filter malicious network packets that can trigger vulnerabilities in applications / systems
Enhance Tetragon, and potentially the kernel and the eBPF sub-system, to mitigate against kernel-level vulnerabilities.
Design and optimize systems to deploy and manage Tetragon across large fleets, in K8s or other environments (VMs).
Architect infrastructure that converts raw event data into intelligence streams with minimal performance overhead.
Partner across teams to align requirements, define integration points, and deliver production-ready solutions.
Contribute to open-source projects and represent Cisco Isovalent in community discussions.
Participate in architecture reviews, code reviews, and documentation.
Bachelors + 15 years of related experience, or Masters + 12 years of related experience, or PhD + 8 years of related experience or equivalent experience
10+ years of experience in systems programming (C, C++, Go, Rust, or similar; Tetragon is primarily written in Go).
Proven experience leading technical direction or architecture for runtime security systems, observability, or similar.
Experience in OS-level development, distributed systems, or database systems.
Experience in debugging and performance optimization with a track record of delivering scalable systems.
Experience building eBPF-based systems for observability or security use cases.
Solid background in Linux systems and kernel-level concepts.
Familiarity with Kubernetes and cloud-native environments.
Familiarity with CVE workflows, vulnerability data pipelines, or security event modeling.
Familiarity with how vulnerable software is exploited at all levels
Strong experience in networking protocol analysis or experience in developing networking switches (e.g., L2/L3 protocols like ARP, DHCP, SNMP)
Contributions to open-source projects in networking, observability, or distributed systems.
Experience working across diverse, distributed teams
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.
Message to applicants applying to work in the U.S. and/or Canada:The starting salary range posted for this position is $231,400.00 to $331,800.00 and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation*, equity, or benefits.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:
$231,400.00 - $381,600.00Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:
$222,900.00 - $343,600.00* 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.
Skills Required
- Bachelors + 15 years, Masters + 12 years, PhD + 8 years, or equivalent experience
- 10+ years systems programming experience (C, C++, Go, Rust, or similar)
- Proven experience leading technical direction or architecture for runtime security systems or observability
- Experience in OS-level development, distributed systems, or database systems
- Experience in debugging and performance optimization with a track record of delivering scalable systems
- Develop high-quality Go (and eBPF) code for the Tetragon project
- Experience building eBPF-based systems for observability or security use cases
- Solid background in Linux systems and kernel-level concepts
- Familiarity with Kubernetes and cloud-native environments
- Familiarity with CVE workflows, vulnerability data pipelines, or security event modeling
- Familiarity with how vulnerable software is exploited at all levels
- Strong experience in networking protocol analysis or developing networking switches (L2/L3 protocols like ARP, DHCP, SNMP)
- Contributions to open-source projects in networking, observability, or distributed systems
- Experience working across diverse, distributed teams
Cisco Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Cisco and has not been reviewed or approved by Cisco.
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Healthcare Strength — Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, mental health support via an EAP, and access to on-site or virtual health centers indicate robust healthcare offerings. Wellness programs, fitness resources, and specialized services further reinforce coverage depth.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Generous PTO, a global minimum for paid parental leave, and unique programs like company-wide recharge days and paid volunteer time expand time-away options. Additional offerings such as Critical Time Off and adoption assistance add flexibility for life events.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Restricted stock units and a discounted employee stock purchase plan are meaningful elements of total compensation. The prominence of equity can materially augment overall pay packages alongside salary and bonuses.
Cisco Insights
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