Senior AI Researcher, AISWP; Hybrid

The application window is expected to close on: 10/29/2026 This is a hybrid role based out of Cisco's Seattle or San Jose office.

The Cisco AI Research team is a dynamic group of scientists and engineers dedicated to building the future of proprietary intelligence. Our core mission is to develop purpose-built large language models tailored specifically for Cisco’s networking, security, and observability domains. We operate at the intersection of basic and applied research, ensuring that Cisco maintains its technological edge without reliance on external AI providers.

Our team is composed of doers and experts who thrive in a collaborative environment, blending deep technical rigor with a shared passion for solving complex, real-world problems at a global scale.

As an Senior AI Researcher, you will produce research advances in the field of Generative AI that improve the capabilities of models or agents for networking automation, human-computer interaction, model safety, or other strategic gen-AI powered networking areas. You will research building domain-specific foundational representations relevant to networking, etc. that provide differentiative value across diverse sets of applications. You will be a thought leader in the global research community via publishing papers, giving technical talks, organizing workshops etc.

Help build purpose-built large language models to secure and optimize Cisco’s proprietary networking, security, data center, and observability infrastructure. Drive pre-training initiatives to build foundational models that provide unique, competitive value across our product portfolio. Conduct innovative research in generative AI to improve model capabilities for networking automation and human-computer interaction. Collaborate with cross-functional teams of engineers and strategists to integrate research breakthroughs into tangible business solutions.

Establish Cisco as a global thought leader by publishing research in top-tier AI venues and contributing to the broader scientific community.

• Bachelor's in computer science + 7 years of related experience, or Masters + 4 years of related experience, or PhD + 1 year of related experience,
• Experience with LLM pre-training and post training experience within an industry or academic research lab,
• Minimum of 3 publications within top AI Venues such as ACL, EMNLP, ICLR, ICML, NAACL, NeurIPS,
• Experience working with Machine Learning Models (MLMs) and familiarity with associated frameworks, such as Tensor Flow, PyTorch, Hugging Face, or equivalent platforms,
• Prior experience driving research projects within an industry or university research lab (full-time, internship etc.),

• Interest in combining representation learning and problem-specific properties,
• Experience in building, fine-tuning foundation models including LLMs and multi-modal models or domain specific models,
• Ability to maintain cutting-edge knowledge in generative AI, Large Language Models (LLMs), and multi-modal models and apply these technologies innovatively to emerging business problems, use cases, and scenarios,
• Outstanding communication, interpersonal, relationship building skills conducive to collaboration,

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…