Software Development Engineer - Routing Platforms

Responsibilities

• Hardware-Software Integration: Collaborate closely with hardware engineering teams to bring up new platforms, develop low-level drivers, and integrate Network Interface Modules (NIMs).
• Firmware Development: Design, implement, and maintain ROMMON and bootloader software to ensure secure and reliable system initialization.
• Forwarding Plane Optimization: Develop and tune high-performance forwarding plane software to meet the rigorous demands of modern secure routing environments.
• Performance Debugging: Perform deep-dive analysis into performance bottlenecks at the kernel and hardware-abstraction layers, including the control plane.
• Modern Development Practices: Utilize modern development workflows, including AI-assisted coding tools (such as GitHub Copilot, Claude, or Codex) and integrated development environments like VSCode, to accelerate the development lifecycle.

Requirements

• 8-12 years of industry experience with end-to-end software development in networking, including platforms, system software, kernel/user-space drivers, bootloaders, and BIOS.
• Strong proficiency in C/C++ with a focus on systems programming and Linux environments.
• Proven experience in developing device drivers and working with RTOS/Linux kernels.
• Solid understanding of routing architectures and Layer 2/Layer 3 networking protocols (e.g., Ethernet, VLANs, STP).
• Experience with bootloaders (ROMMON), hardware bring-up, and board support packages (BSP).
• Knowledge of high-speed interfaces (PHY, MAC, MACSEC) and DPDK.
• Debugging experience with hardware interfaces (i2c, PCIe) and hardware/software debuggers (e.g., GDB, Arium, BDI).
• Knowledge of x86 or ARM assembly code, instruction sets, and ABIs.
• Experience with AI/ML techniques and tools for development (e.g., code assistants, static analysis tools, test automation platforms).
• Strong collaborative skills and the ability to debug complex issues spanning hardware, firmware, and software layers.
• Why Cisco?
• We are Cisco, and our power starts with you.

Additional Information

Meet the Team Our Routing SD-WAN Group is at the forefront of innovation, delivering intelligent, secure, and scalable WAN edge solutions that empower enterprises to connect and protect their networks from the edge to the cloud. Within this group, the Routing Platform Software team builds industry-leading headend SD-WAN and edge routing platforms. We are a high-energy group working on next-generation routing and services at a global scale, connecting thousands of devices and millions of users.

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Company Intel

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