Software Engineer
Cisco Security Business Group (SBG) is looking for a Software Engineer in a customer-facing role that focuses on technical leadership, two-way advocacy, and expertise across our security portfolio. This role combines deep networking and security knowledge with the ability to represent engineering to customers and customers to engineering.
Cisco offers a comprehensive end-to-end security portfolio covering on-premises, cloud, on-device, and hybrid environments - including VPN, zero trust, web inspection in the cloud, firewall, CASB, and DLP. This flexibility allows customers to select solutions tailored to their needs and transition seamlessly as requirements evolve.
LocationJapan-based role. You work from Japan, supporting Japanese enterprise customers in their timezone, with coordination across our English-speaking engineering organization.
RoleDay-to-day two-way liaison for Japanese enterprise accounts. You represent engineering to the customer and the customer to engineering - with strong customer advocacy throughout. You triage issues, coordinate with our English-speaking engineering team, and translate updates Japanese <-> English with technical accuracy on both sides.
Two-way liaison- To the customer: relay engineering status, workarounds, and fix guidance in Japanese; help them understand what is happening and what to expect next.
- To engineering: capture customer symptoms, environment details, business impact, and urgency in English; ensure tickets reflect what production actually needs.
- Keep both sides in sync during open escalations - no surprises on either end.
- Advocate for the customer: ensure their impact, urgency, and operational needs are heard clearly by engineering.
Key responsibilities- Own L2/L3 troubleshooting on VPN, zero trust access, web inspection in the cloud, CASB, DLP, firewall policy, and AWS/Kubernetes connectivity.
- Collect and analyze logs, packet captures, and metrics; build clear escalation packages for engineering and customer-ready summaries from the same facts.
- Support packet capture and basic packet analysis to narrow IPsec tunnel, IPv4/IPv6, DNS, routing, TLS, and policy-related issues before senior escalation.
- Run scripted health checks (Bash/Python): tunnel/IPsec status, DNS paths, IP pool utilization.
- Capture customer configurations and run daily regression checks to confirm everything is working as intended - surfacing issues before they affect the customer environment.
- Assist upgrades and migrations: pre-checks, smoke tests, rollback planning, and bilingual customer communication.
- Use AI tools to speed up log review - always validate before sharing with customer or engineering.
- Document runbooks, known issues, and customer-specific architecture notes.
Minimum qualifications- Fluent Japanese and English for technical communication (written and spoken).
- Comfortable speaking for both sides: customer-facing updates and engineering-facing escalation write-ups from the same incident.
- Strong customer advocacy - you represent the customer's interests credibly while staying factually accurate with engineering.
- 5-7 years in network/security operations, customer support engineering, or professional services.
- Solid TCP/IP (IPv4/IPv6), DNS, routing, NAT, IPsec tunnels, and TLS fundamentals.
- Working knowledge of VPN, zero trust, web inspection in the cloud, CASB, DLP, and firewall policy.
- AWS basics: VPC, subnets, security groups, CloudWatch, hybrid connectivity.
- Kubernetes fundamentals: deployments, services, scaling, basic kubectl troubleshooting.
- Packet capture familiarity (Wireshark/tcpdump) and structured troubleshooting.
- Bash scripting; Python a plus.
Preferred qualifications- Hands-on experience with Cisco on-prem or cloud security/networking products.
- Prior TAC, PS, or customer engineering role for SASE or enterprise security vendors.
- Observability exposure (Grafana, Loki, Prometheus or similar).
Our mission: make security management easy, reliable, and effective for our customers.
Values: "Being kinder than necessary" | "Learning together" | "Engineering the business" | Celebrating diversity of perspectives
Growth pathHigh performers deepen ownership of strategic accounts, lead two-way RCAs, and mentor peers on balancing customer and engineering viewpoints.
SummaryA Software Engineer is a hands-on, customer-focused technical professional who represents both engineering and the customer in Japan. You triage issues, advocate for customer outcomes, and ensure accurate two-way communication across languages and teams
Why Cisco?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.
Skills Required
- Fluent Japanese and English for technical communication (written and spoken)
- Ability to represent engineering to customers and customers to engineering; strong customer advocacy
- 5-7 years in network/security operations, customer support engineering, or professional services
- Solid TCP/IP (IPv4/IPv6), DNS, routing, NAT, IPsec tunnels, and TLS fundamentals
- Working knowledge of VPN, zero trust, web inspection in the cloud, CASB, DLP, and firewall policy
- AWS basics: VPC, subnets, security groups, CloudWatch, hybrid connectivity
- Kubernetes fundamentals: deployments, services, scaling, basic kubectl troubleshooting
- Packet capture familiarity (Wireshark/tcpdump) and structured troubleshooting
- Bash scripting
- Python (a plus)
- Hands-on experience with Cisco on-prem or cloud security/networking products
- Prior TAC, PS, or customer engineering role for SASE or enterprise security vendors
- Observability exposure (Grafana, Loki, Prometheus or similar)
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 — Health coverage is described as robust with multiple plan options and access to onsite/virtual LifeConnections Health Centers on major campuses. Company materials also highlight mental-health resources and comprehensive preventive care, supporting strong core medical benefits.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Time away includes company‑wide recharge days, a paid birthday, a year‑end shutdown, and paid Critical Time Off for emergencies. Paid volunteer days further expand opportunities to step away and recharge.
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Parental & Family Support — Policies include a global minimum for paid parental leave for primary caregivers, caregiving concierge services, and on‑site children’s learning centers in select locations. In the U.S., family‑building support is consolidated under Carrot with a defined lifetime maximum, indicating structured assistance across fertility, preservation, adoption, and surrogacy.
Cisco Insights
What We Do
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) enables people to make powerful connections--whether in business, education, philanthropy, or creativity. Cisco hardware, software, and service offerings are used to create the Internet solutions that make networks possible--providing easy access to information anywhere, at any time. Cisco was founded in 1984 by a small group of computer scientists from Stanford University. Since the company's inception, Cisco engineers have been leaders in the development of Internet Protocol (IP)-based networking technologies. Today, with more than 71,000 employees worldwide, this tradition of innovation continues with industry-leading products and solutions in the company's core development areas of routing and switching, as well as in advanced technologies such as home networking, IP telephony, optical networking, security, storage area networking, and wireless technology. In addition to its products, Cisco provides a broad range of service offerings, including technical support and advanced services. Cisco sells its products and services, both directly through its own sales force as well as through its channel partners, to large enterprises, commercial businesses, service providers, and consumers.
