Software Architect, Duo

The application window is expected to close on: 10/15/2026

Preferred candidates will be based in Ann Arbor, MI or Austin, TX. Remote candidates will be considered.

Meet the Team

Duo builds a modern, high-scale IAM solution. This Software Architect role is for someone who has designed and shipped production SaaS systems and can hold the architecture of those systems as they grow — including the security and compliance constraints that come with serving enterprise and government customers.

This is an opportunity for an architect who can work across Product, Security, SRE, and Duo Engineering to translate platform and regulatory requirements into executable technical work, and to build systems that connect Duo to broader Security Business Group (SBG) processes. Duo’s platform has material exposure to FIPS, FedRAMP, the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC), Cisco Security and Trust Organization (STO) requirements, customer attestations, and audit evidence.

Those obligations are architectural inputs: they shape how we design services, operate production, and ship software.

Your Impact

This role is grounded in hands-on experience building modern SaaS applications. You will own architecture decisions that keep the platform scalable, operable, and secure — with compliance designed into delivery workflows rather than handled as ad hoc audit support. In this role, you will:

• Understand the existing software and production architecture of the service, identify gaps, and drive architectural improvements that keep the platform reliable, scalable, and ready for evolving security and compliance requirements.

• Partner with Duo Engineering and product management to evolve the Duo IAM product. Cisco Confidential

• Design and evolve service, data, and delivery architecture so security and compliance controls are built into how we ship — not bolted on after the fact.

• Leverage AI for analysis and to build tools that help engineering teams implement architectural and compliance requirements with less friction.

• Partner with Duo Engineering to produce application-level evidence for auditors, grounded in how the system is designed and operated.

• Work closely with product managers responsible for platform, security, and certification-related features.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree + 12 years of related experience, or Masters + 8 years of related experience, or PhD + 5 years of related experience to include experience in software development life cycles and project management practices.

• Experience in microservice-based architecture and building modern SaaS applications on AWS/GCP/Azure

• Experience with existing software implementations, to include designing and building new AI-enabled tools.

• Experience in regulatory compliance architecture (FedRAMP, CRA, PQC, and related frameworks)

• Experience translating compliance and security requirements into engineering roadmaps and deliverables.

Preferred Qualifications

• Ability to exercise cross-functional influence across Security, Product, SRE, and engineering without direct authority and identify/coordinate cross-team dependencies.

• Experience building IAM products.

• Experience working in FIPS / FedRAMP environments.

• Experience with Post Quantum Cryptography transition planning and execution.

Why Cisco?

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…