Hardware Security Engineer CSDL Hybrid

The application window is expected to close on: 11/29/2026

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

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.

Join the HW-CSDL (Hardware Cisco Secure Development Lifecycle) team. Serve as a trusted technical advisor and security partner to hardware engineering teams across Cisco. You will bridge the gap between security assessments and practical hardware implementation-helping product teams interpret evaluation findings, evaluate risk, and architect robust designs that align with HW-CSDL standards and global security regulations.

• Security Consulting & Guidance: 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.
• 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 high-quality security guidelines, reference architectures, implementation guides, and best-practice documentation for engineering audiences across the company.
• Multi-Workstream Execution: Participate in, lead, and balance multiple parallel engagements, consulting efforts, and security initiatives across diverse product families.
• Advocacy &
  
  Education:
  
  Educate and influence hardware design communities outside STO to foster a security-first culture throughout the product development lifecycle.

Experienced hardware engineer with a background in hardware design, low-level architecture, and security principles. Enjoys translating sophisticated technical standards into practical engineering requirements and partnering across teams to tackle complicated hardware security problems. Communicates technical concepts clearly through engineering documentation and multi-functional collaboration, and thrives when managing multiple parallel technical initiatives in a dynamic environment.

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related technical field with 7+ years of relevant hardware design/engineering experience (or Master’s degree with 4+ years of experience).
• Prior background in hardware development (e.g., reading and interpreting system-level schematics, block diagrams, component datasheets, PCB design or review 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, System Verilog) for hardware security solutions development.
• Background in hardware security frameworks and…