Networking Tech Lead- L2​/L3 Forwarding Engineer

The application window is expected to close on: 10/17/2026

The Datacenter Switching team at Cisco is at the core of AI Networking. We are responsible for designing and developing the next generation of high-performance networking solutions for massive-scale cloud and AI environments. Our work focuses on the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series (Nexus 9K) switches, which serve as the foundational building blocks for modern data center architectures. Nexus 9K switches are critical in modern data centers for providing the high-density, low-latency, and power-efficient performance required for leaf-and-spine fabric.

Wee focus on building and optimizing Cisco’s architecture to meet the demands of modern data center workloads and automated cloud environments. The team drives innovation in GPU-Connectivity with architectures to support high-compute clusters. Our scope includes the development of diverse fabric technologies, such as Pure L3, VXLAN, and SRv6 fabrics. Engineers on this team solve complex challenges in programmability, scalability, and telemetry at the core of the global internet infrastructure.

You are responsible for developing software consistent with Cisco ‘Design Thinking Principles’ with a focus on simplification and UX (User Experience) at its core, using secure coding practices, ensuring user privacy, and following software development best practices. Partners with other teams, including design and product management to create the right solution for the customers. Creates technical design documentation to be used by the team as well as contributing to user documentation to be used by end users.

Debugs and addresses software issues during development and in production systems to support customers. Brings new ideas for product innovation and helps improve software development processes.

• Recognized as an expert within Cisco.
• Proactively identifies and participates in the resolution of complex problems that impact the direction of the business.
• Develops and delivers innovative strategies that benefit customers and/or clients.
• Leads major business projects which impact a region or entire function.
• Contributes to the development of annual organizational objectives/priorities.
• Builds and maintains long‑term relationships with key customers to ensure products and services reflect the needs and direction of the business.
• Translates and influences the regional or functional strategic vision into a technical vision with clear engineering priorities, ensuring understanding and alignment across teams.
• May lead projects that span the business segment, function or region.
• May drive large features from technical design through completion.
• Leads the development and implementation of software development lifecycle and agile engineering strategies across applicable teams in anticipation of the changing software development environment.
• Influences technical direction and deliverables across the function.
• Recognizes and makes trade‑offs with respect to the whole system and defines new product categories.
• Leads design choices within the context of all Cisco offerings.
• Drives product success through creating metrics and influencing product adoption and direction.
• Writes and sets the standard for functional clean code.
• Develops and drives utilization and support for processes for issue identification and sustainable response, proactive tooling, and continuous improvement for production systems.
• Industry or thought leader on scale, performance, or design patterns.
• May represent or present team outputs at external events.
• Communicates product or program priorities, deadlines, and shifts in requirements in the context of engineering priorities and user needs.
• Negotiates and…