Sr. Director - AI Engineering Productivity and Developer Experience

The application window is expected to close on: 05/29/2026

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

Meet the Team As the Senior Director of AI Engineering within the Security Business Group (SBG), you will lead the strategic vision and execution of our AI-driven security portfolio. You will head a world-class organization of engineers and software architects dedicated to transforming how Cisco protects the enterprise. Our team is at the forefront of the industry, building AI-powered security products that power Cisco's security portfolio-from network security and threat detection to automated response and predictive analytics. We operate at the intersection of cutting-edge research and massive-scale production, ensuring that Cisco remains the leader in proactive, intelligent security. Your Impact In this role, you will define the roadmap for AI/ML integration across our entire security stack. Your primary mandate is to drive an "AI-first" culture across the engineering organization, focusing on delivering tangible business value through AI-augmented workflows and operational excellence. While delivering AI capabilities in our products is highly valued, your core objective is to leverage AI to solve complex human and technical challenges, significantly improving engineering velocity and innovation output across the organization.

• Strategic AI Vision:Define and execute the long-term AI engineering strategy for the Security Business Group. You will drive innovation by identifying and overcoming complex organizational and technical hurdles, ensuring that AI is used as a force multiplier to deliver measurable value to our engineering teams and business outcomes.

• Organizational Leadership:Lead, mentor, and scale a large, multi-disciplinary engineering organization. You will be the architect of our AI-first culture, fostering an environment that balances research-led experimentation with rigorous, production-grade engineering.

• Engineering Innovation & Velocity:Drive the transformation of our engineering lifecycle by integrating AI-assisted development tools. You will lead the charge in identifying and overcoming structural and technical hurdles, ensuring that AI is used as a force multiplier to increase developer productivity, code quality, and speed-to-market for our internal engineering teams.

• AI-Augmented Engineering Infrastructure:Oversee the design and deployment of internal AI platforms and development environments. You will ensure our engineers have the right tools-such as Codex and Claude CLI-to automate repetitive tasks, streamline complex coding workflows, and optimize the overall engineering development environment.

• Organizational AI Evangelism:Partner with engineering leadership and cross-functional stakeholders to champion an AI-first culture. You will act as an internal executive advocate, driving the adoption of AI-driven methodologies that solve our most pressing organizational inefficiencies and foster a culture of rapid, data-informed innovation.

Minimum Qualifications

• 15+ years of experience in software engineering, with recent or current work in a deep AI/ML engineering leadership role, with at least 6+ years in a senior leadership role managing large-scale engineering organizations.
• Demonstrable hands-on experience in creating products and optimizing workflows using AI-assisted development tools, specifically Codex and Claude CLI.
• Demonstrated success in taking AI/ML products from research/concept to large-scale production in a SaaS or security environment.
• Extensive experience with hybrid cloud, internet-scale infrastructure (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and modern MLOps frameworks, with a deep understanding of challenges in deploying AI at scale.
• Solid understanding of cyber and network security principles, threat landscapes, and the role of AI in modern security operations (e.g., SASE, SWG, XDR, SOAR, Firewall, Identity)

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated thought leadership in the AI/Security space, evidenced by patents, published research, or speaking engagements at major industry conferences.
• Proven ability to lead, inspire, and manage high-performing, geographically distributed teams.
• Experience working closely with executive leadership to drive business growth, improve product margins, and enhance customer retention through technical innovation.
• Deep experience in AI safety, governance, and the ethical deployment of AI models in highly regulated environments.
• MS or PhD in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, or a related field.

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 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.

Message to applicants applying to work in the U.S. and/or Canada: The starting salary range posted for this position is $337,100.00 to $426,700.00 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 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 ofunused sick timecarried forwardfrom one calendar yearto 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:

$337,100.00 - $490,700.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$299,900.00 - $436,700.00

* 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.