Meet the Team
The CX Engineering team builds and operates the next generation of AI empowered Cisco's Customer Experience (CX) automation, orchestration and observability platform. We develop cloud-native, Kubernetes-based infrastructure that powers network automation, service provisioning, and closed-loop automation across Cisco's enterprise customer base. Our platform spans hybrid cloud deployments (on-premises and SaaS-connected), multi-hypervisor infrastructure (vSphere, Hyper-V, KVM), and integrates with Cisco's portfolio of network management solutions.
You'll join a team of architects, engineers, and automation specialists working on complex distributed systems that combine microservices architecture, infrastructure-as-code, and sophisticated CI/CD pipelines. We value technical excellence, automation-first thinking, and the ability to architect solutions that scale across diverse enterprise environments.
Your Impact
As a Software Architect, you will design and build critical components of Cisco's CX platform automation and observability infrastructure. You'll architect solutions spanning containerized microservices, multi-cloud orchestration, and hybrid deployment models while mentoring development teams on best practices.
Key Responsibilities:
- Architect and design cloud-native microservices platforms using Kubernetes, API gateways (APISIX), and service mesh patterns for large-scale enterprise deployments
- Build infrastructure-as-code solutions using Terraform and Ansible to orchestrate multi-hypervisor environments (vSphere, Hyper-V, KVM) across hybrid cloud architectures
- Proficiency in prompt engineering, AI-assisted coding tools and integrating LLMs/SLMs and APIs into applications.
- Design and implement CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions with sophisticated workflow orchestration, artifact management, and multi-stage deployment automation
- Develop Python-based automation frameworks for test orchestration, deployment management, and infrastructure lifecycle automation with comprehensive error handling and observability
- Lead architectural decisions on observability stacks (Prometheus, Grafana, OpenSearch, Fluent Bit), secrets management (HashiCorp Vault), and security compliance (FIPS, certificate management)
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in computer science, IT, or Software Systems with 12-15 years of relevant software architecture and development experience with Object Oriented Programming and software design expertise
- 5+ years of hands-on experience designing and deploying production Kubernetes clusters with proven expertise in Helm, operators, ingress controllers, and persistent storage management
- 4+ years of Python development experience building automation frameworks, REST API/FAST API clients, or orchestration tools with production-quality error handling, retry logic, and observability integration
- 3+ years of Infrastructure-as-Code experience using Terraform or Ansible with multi-cloud or hybrid deployment patterns, including resource provisioning, state management, and module development
- Proficiency across the AI-engineering stack: prompt engineering, AI-assisted coding (GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, OpenCode, Cursor), and LLM/SLM/API integration (OpenAI, Anthropic, RAG patterns). Complemented by strengths in AI-driven testing, code review, and observability, and a principled approach to responsible AI — security, bias, data privacy, and model governance.
- Demonstrated experience architecting and designing microservices platforms with API gateways, message queues (Kafka/Redis), and distributed data persistence (PostgreSQL, object storage) with shown scalability and reliability patterns
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with multi-hypervisor infrastructure management (VMware vSphere/vCenter, Hyper-V, KVM) including VM lifecycle automation, resource pool management, and cross-platform orchestration
- Experience with observability stacks (Prometheus, Grafana, Splunk, OpenSearch, Fluent Bit) including metrics collection, dashboard design, and alerting strategies
- Expertise in GitHub Actions CI/CD pipeline design with composite actions, workflow reusability, matrix jobs, and artifact management across distributed build environments
- Knowledge of secrets management and security compliance including HashiCorp Vault integration, certificate management (cert-manager), FIPS compliance, and audit logging
- Strong architectural interpersonal skills with ability to document complex systems, mentor engineering teams, and drive multi-functional technical decisions in fast-paced environments
- Build solutions following Cisco guidelines, best practices and well-defined processes to ensure high quality work you're doing.
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
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, IT, or Software Systems
- 12-15 years of software architecture and development experience
- 5+ years designing and deploying production Kubernetes clusters (Helm, operators, ingress, storage)
- 4+ years Python development building automation frameworks and REST/FAST API clients
- 3+ years Infrastructure-as-Code experience using Terraform or Ansible in multi-cloud/hybrid patterns
- Proficiency in AI-engineering: prompt engineering, AI-assisted coding, LLM/SLM/API integration and RAG patterns
- Experience architecting microservices platforms with API gateways, message queues (Kafka/Redis), and distributed persistence (PostgreSQL, object storage)
- Design and implement CI/CD pipelines with GitHub Actions including workflow orchestration and multi-stage deployments
- Lead observability and secrets management decisions (Prometheus, Grafana, OpenSearch, Fluent Bit, HashiCorp Vault) and security compliance (FIPS, cert management)
- Experience with multi-hypervisor infrastructure management (vSphere/vCenter, Hyper-V, KVM)
- Experience with Splunk and advanced observability dashboards, alerting strategies
- Strong architectural communication, documentation, and mentorship skills to drive cross-functional technical decisions
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
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.
