Software Engineering Technical Leader, Backend (Hybrid

Technical Lead

As a Technical Lead, you will serve as a recognized expert, driving architectural strategy and high-impact engineering initiatives for the Studio platform. You will lead cross-functional efforts to bridge the gap between AI research and production-grade software, ensuring our infrastructure meets the rigorous demands of global enterprise scale. Your work will directly influence the direction of our business by resolving unique, highly complex technical challenges and setting the standard for our AI-powered ecosystem.

Your Impact

Lead the architectural design and development of scalable backend platform technologies for Cisco's next-generation AI products.

Spearhead multi-functional engagements to architect, build, validate, and deploy AI/ML infrastructures and AI-powered networking and security solutions.

Drive the resolution of highly complex technical challenges, applying ingenuity to novel situations that impact the direction of the business.

Collaborate with product and research teams to transform groundbreaking AI strategies into robust, production-ready systems.

Act as a technical thought leader, influencing internal and external stakeholders by communicating complex engineering strategies to senior leadership.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in STEM + 12 years of related experience, or Master's degree in STEM + 8 years of related experience, or PhD in STEM + 5 years of related experience.
• 7+ years of hands-on experience building and scaling backend platforms in a production environment.
• 7+ years of professional programming experience using Python and/or Go.
• Experience deploying and managing services on major cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
• Experience with containerization technologies (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes) and microservices architectures.

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct experience integrating and building with Generative AI technologies and LLM frameworks.
• Deep understanding of modern AI tools, ML methodologies, and data pipelines.
• Proven track record of driving technology innovation by translating industry trends into scalable backend execution.
• Strong passion for designing highly reliable, maintainable, and distributed backend systems.
• Experience mentoring engineering teams and leading cross-functional platform initiatives.

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.

The starting salary range posted for this position is $ to $ and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation*, equity, or benefits.

Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location, market conditions, job-related skillset, experience, qualifications, education, certifications, and/or training. The full salary range for certain locations is listed below. For locations not listed below, the recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.

U.S. employees are offered benefits, subject to Cisco's plan eligibility rules, which include medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability coverage, and basic life insurance. Please see the Cisco careers site to discover more benefits and perks. Employees may be…