Software Engineering Technical Leader

Responsibilities

• Serve as a recognized technical expert within Cisco, leading architecture and technical direction for coherent optics, datapath software, and next-generation networking platforms
• Drive software architecture for coherent pluggable optics, co-packaged optics, silicon photonics, PHY subsystems, and distributed NOS integration
• Lead CMIS/SFF-compliant framework design, optical management architectures, telemetry, diagnostics, and observability for next-generation optical systems
• Collaborate across ASIC/NPU, optics, photonics, DSP, PHY, system architecture, product management, and platform software teams to deliver customer-focused solutions
• Lead major technical initiatives and large platform features from technical design through completion, influencing product direction, roadmap, and engineering priorities
• Proactively identify, debug, and resolve complex issues across optics, PHY, DSP, silicon, datapath software, and production systems
• Make system-level design trade-offs across software, silicon, optics, scale, performance, reliability, security, and operational complexity
• Drive product success through metrics, proactive tooling, issue identification, sustainable response processes, and continuous improvement for production systems
• Lead, mentor, and influence senior engineers and technical leads while improving knowledge sharing, technical documentation, and engineering best practices

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree with 12+ years, Master's degree with 8+ years or PhD with 5+ years of experience with a degree in CS, EE, Electronics or a related technical field
• Strong expertise in C/C++ and Linux systems software
• Experience of coherent or grey optics, PHY / SerDes, FEC, ASIC / NPU, and DSP-based systems
• Proven ability to lead architecture, design, debugging, and delivery of complex cross-functional software and systems programs
• In-depth knowledge and working experience with Optical standards such as CMIS/SFF are highly preferred
• Experience with high-speed Ethernet technologies, including 400G, 800G, and 1.6T systems
• Experience with coherent optics, including ZR/ZR+, OpenZR+, or DWDM systems
• Experience with co-packaged optics and silicon photonics technologies
• Familiarity with coherent DSP architecture and optical line systems
• Experience with Cisco Silicon One or equivalent NPU architecture
• Experience with IOS-XR, SONiC, FBOSS, or similar distributed NOS platforms and scalable systems software
• Experience using AI-assisted development and agentic infrastructure for software design, implementation, debugging, and engineering productivity
• Experience with AI networking infrastructure and hyperscale fabrics
• Why Cisco?
• We are Cisco,

Additional Information

The application window is expected to close on: 06/29/2026 Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received . ***We are looking for candidates local to Milpitas as this is a hybrid role requiring at least 3 days in the office each week*** Meet the Team We are seeking an experienced Senior Software Technical Leader to drive architecture and software development for next-generation networking platforms spanning Silicon One NPUs, AI fabrics, coherent optical systems, silicon photonics, co-packaged optics, PHY subsystems, and distributed NOS integration. This role develops software consistent with Cisco Design Thinking Principles, with a focus on simplification, user experience, secure coding practices, user privacy, and software development best practices. The ideal candidate combines deep expertise in datapath systems, embedded software, coherent optics architecture, CMIS/SFF standards, scalable systems software, and distributed networking platforms. The candidate will partner closely with ASIC, optics, photonics, DSP, system architecture, product management, and software teams to create the right solutions for customers. This role includes creating technical design documentation, contributing to user documentation, debugging complex software and system issues in development and production, and bringing new ideas for product innovation and software development process improvement.

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