Technical Leader, Software Engineer (AI Canvas)

Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.

We’re building the next generation of AI-powered experiences at Cisco—and we’d love your help!

As a Technical Leader on our AI Software and Platform team, you will play a key role in shaping how our products use AI at scale. You will work with us to design and evolve the backend platform that powers AI Canvas, AI Assistant, and AI capabilities across Cisco Cloud Control, Thousand Eyes, Hypershield, Duo, Meraki, Splunk, and Security Cloud Control.

Together, we are creating systems that make complex technology easier to use through AI. You will help us build reliable, scalable distributed systems and guide how we bring LLM-powered features from idea to production.

In this role, you will lead architecture and design while working closely with teams across engineering, product, and SRE.

You will help us design backend services for our unified platform, including orchestration, skill execution, and intelligent routing. You will also help us scale systems that support millions of users and ensure they remain reliable and performant.

We will rely on you to guide how we build asynchronous processing pipelines using tools like Temporal and modern streaming systems. You will help us integrate with LLM platforms such as Azure OpenAI and AWS Bedrock in a way that balances performance, reliability, and cost.

You will partner with teams to improve observability, strengthen system reliability, and solve complex production challenges. You will also mentor engineers, lead design discussions, and help us continuously improve how we build software.

We are looking for someone who enjoys solving complex problems and building systems that scale.

You have 10+ years of experience in backend software engineering, including technical leadership. You are comfortable working in Python and understand asynchronous programming and concurrency.

You have built and operated large-scale distributed systems and have direct experience scaling systems to multi-million monthly active users (MAU). This requirement is essential for success in this role.

You have experience building AI or LLM-powered applications, such as orchestration layers or retrieval-augmented systems. You are also familiar with workflow orchestration tools like Temporal or Airflow.

You understand how to operate systems in production, including observability practices such as metrics, tracing, and logging. You have worked with cloud-native technologies like Kubernetes and are familiar with modern CI/CD practices.

You communicate clearly, collaborate effectively, and are comfortable leading technical discussions across teams.

We are evolving how we build software with AI, and you will help us lead that shift.

You have experience using AI-assisted development tools such as Cursor, Codex, or Claude Code. You are comfortable working in structured, spec-driven development environments and understand how to move from idea to implementation through clear stages.

You have experience with modern development workflows that include planning, execution, and review. You are familiar with parallel development approaches and understand how to maintain quality when working with AI-generated code.

If you bring experience in these areas, that’s great—but it’s not required!

Experience with agentic AI systems or frameworks is helpful. Familiarity with LLM APIs such as Azure OpenAI or AWS Bedrock, real-time systems, authentication models, or feature flagging tools will also help you ramp quickly.

We know that great work happens when people feel supported and included.

We offer competitive pay, strong health benefits, and flexible work options. You will have opportunities to grow your career, learn new technologies, and work on meaningful problems that reach millions of users.

We are committed to building an inclusive environment where you can do your best work.

In your first six months, you will work with us to shape key parts of the backend architecture and deliver features that reach customers.

You will build strong partnerships across teams, improve system scalability and reliability, and help us solve complex technical challenges.

You will also support the team through mentorship and thoughtful technical leadership, helping us continue to raise the bar together.

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. 

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 eligible to receive grants of Cisco restricted stock units, which vest following continued employment with Cisco for defined periods of time.

U.S. employees are eligible for paid time away as described below, subject to Cisco’s policies:

• 10 paid holidays per full calendar year, plus 1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees

• 1 paid day off for employee’s birthday, paid year-end holiday shutdown, and 4 paid days off for personal wellness determined by Cisco

• Non-exempt employees** receive 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year, accrued at rate of 4.92 hours per pay period for full-time employees

• Exempt employees participate in Cisco’s flexible vacation time off program, which has no defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use (subject to availability and some business limitations)

• 80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter, and up to 80 hours of unused sick time carried forward from one calendar year to the next

• Additional paid time away may be requested to deal with critical or emergency issues for family members

• Optional 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer

For non-sales roles, employees are also eligible to earn annual bonuses subject to Cisco’s policies.

Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components, subject to the applicable Cisco plan. For quota-based incentive pay, Cisco typically pays as follows:

• .75% of incentive target for each 1% of revenue attainment up to 50% of quota;

• 1.5% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 50% and 75%;

• 1% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 75% and 100%; and

• Once performance exceeds 100% attainment, incentive rates are at or above 1% for each 1% of attainment with no cap on incentive compensation.

For non-quota-based sales performance elements such as strategic sales objectives, Cisco may pay 0% up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid.

The applicable full salary ranges for this position, by specific state, are listed below:

New York City Metro Area:

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

* For quota-based sales roles on Cisco’s sales plan, the ranges provided in this posting include base pay and sales target incentive compensation combined.

** Employees in Illinois, whether exempt or non-exempt, will participate in a unique time off program to meet local requirements.