Cisco’s AI Platform Group (Office of the CTO) supports Cisco’s AI-native portfolio through a forward-deployed engineering model. In this role, you will embed with customers as a Product Market Fit (PMF) Pathfinder, shipping rapid prototypes and measuring real usage to accelerate adoption of Cloud Control, AI Canvas, AI Studio, and AI Defense. If you value high-velocity experimentation, direct customer learning, and translating insights into secure production systems, this principal role aligns with that “skunkworks” approach.

Location: San Jose, CA (hybrid)
Compensation: USD 263,700 - 431,000 per year
Application window expected to close on: 10/18/2026

Responsibilities

Deploy into high-impact customer environments to observe complex workflows, identify friction points, and create rapid prototypes that validate product-market fit.
Lead research-to-code efforts, applying deep domain expertise in networking and security to solve real-world problems while preparing prototypes for production hardening.
Work with Product Management to drive verified usage metrics so high-priority features are supported by actual engagement data.
Collaborate with core engineering to transition prototypes into secure, multi-tenant, scalable services for Cisco’s global customer base.
Serve as an internal industry expert, influencing technical leaders and product strategy by turning complex customer challenges into elegant, scalable software.
Promote a customer-first engineering mindset within the AI Platform group by coaching teams on rapid iteration, minimizing silos, and sustaining velocity while meeting enterprise compliance standards.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in STEM and 15+ years of relevant experience, or Master’s degree in STEM and 12+ years of relevant experience, or PhD in STEM and 8+ years of relevant experience (or equivalent related work experience).
Experience building and operating scalable, highly distributed multi-tenant systems with strict isolation and security boundaries.
Experience building external-facing developer platforms or infrastructure-focused products.
End-to-end system design experience, including observability, failure handling, and ergonomics, plus implementation experience with complex authorization models such as RBAC, ABAC, or policy-based enforcement.

Meet the Team

Forward Deployed Engineering team for Cisco’s AI-native portfolio.
Mission: accelerate adoption of Cloud Control, AI Canvas, AI Studio, and AI Defense through a high-velocity, customer-led “skunkwork” model.
Operate as PMF Pathfinders by embedding with customers to learn how they operate and what they actually use.
Prototype builders who ship, measure, and prove value through direct, real-time code deployment.

Benefits

Medical, dental and vision insurance
401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution
Paid parental leave
Short and long-term disability coverage
Basic life insurance
Paid holidays: 10 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: 16 days of paid vacation per full calendar year (accrued at 4.92 hours per pay period for full-time employees)
Exempt employees: participate in a flexible vacation time off program with no defined limit (subject to availability and some business limitations)
80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter, with up to 80 hours of unused sick time carried forward
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
Annual bonuses for non-sales roles, subject to Cisco’s policies
Grants of Cisco restricted stock units, which vest following continued employment with Cisco for defined periods of time (may be eligible)

Why Cisco

Revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era and beyond
Innovating for 40 years to create solutions that power how humans and technology work together across physical and digital worlds
Solutions provide customers with security, visibility, and insights across the entire digital footprint
Experiment and create meaningful solutions with a worldwide network of doers and experts

U.S. and/or Canada Applicant Pay Notes

The starting salary range posted for this position is $296,300.00 to $374,800.00 (projected salary range for new hires in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation, equity, or benefits).
Individual pay is determined by hiring location, market conditions, job-related skillset, experience, qualifications, education, certifications, and/or training.
U.S. employees are offered benefits subject to Cisco’s plan eligibility rules.
Employees may be eligible to receive grants of Cisco restricted stock units that vest following continued employment.
Employees on sales plans may earn performance-based incentive pay on top of base salary, subject to the applicable Cisco plan.

Applicable Full Salary Ranges by State

New York City Metro Area: $296,300.00 - $431,000.00
Non-Metro New York state & Washington state: $263,700.00 - $383,500.00

Preferred Qualifications

An AI-first mindset with strong technical judgment and the ability to decompose vague, complex problems into well-scoped, actionable deliverables.
Experience building shared infrastructure, abstractions, and “paved road” improvements that enhance productivity across engineering teams.
Proficiency in spec-driven and schema-driven development, including code generation, strongly typed API contracts, and implementation traceability.
Understanding of architecture and operational constraints for both SaaS and on-premise deployment models.
Ability to mentor immediate team members while driving technical decision-making across cross-functional and cross-organizational boundaries.

Principal Machine Learning Engineer

Job Description