Sr. Network Platform Engineer

SONiC Platform Engineer

You will be working with best-in-class engineers and technical visionaries on a highly productive team that owns next generation production development.

We love our work and are passionate about our role in changing the future of networking.

Our team is responsible for delivering advanced simulation solutions and infrastructure for internal and external customers. Our scope covers compute infrastructure, NPU modeling, system simulation, and advanced AI tool development. We support IOS-XR, SONIC, and NXOS network operating systems. A large portion of our technology is made available to customers to streamline their adoption of Cisco hardware portfolio.

Your Impact:

As a SONiC Platform Engineer, you will be at the forefront of the industry's transition toward open-source networking. You will be responsible for porting and optimizing the SONiC operating system to run on models of Cisco's highest end routers & switches, based on the Silicon One ASIC family and Nexus platforms. This role bridges the gap between open-source community code and carrier-grade networking hardware.

• Platform Porting & Bring-up: Lead the effort to port SONiC onto new Cisco ASICs (Silicon One) and virtual platforms. This includes configuring ONIE (Open Network Install Environment), managing bootloaders, and ensuring the Debian-based OS initializes correctly on bare-metal hardware.
• SAI & Driver Integration: Integrate and fine-tune the Switch Abstraction Interface (SAI) and Syncd layers. You will ensure that the hardware-specific SDK calls are correctly mapped to SONiC's logical state.
• Hardware-Software Hardening: Own the "bring-up" of peripheral components, including thermal sensors, fans, PSUs, and optics through Platform APIs and BSP (Board Support Packages).
• Full-Stack Qualification: Design and execute end-to-end qualification cycles. You will be responsible for ensuring that the platform meets performance and stability benchmarks before it reaches the customer.
• Regression Automation: Develop and maintain massive regression test suites using Pytest, PTF (Packet Test Framework), and Ansible. You will automate the detection of regressions in the data plane (forwarding) and control plane (BGP/LACP) across every software build.
• Triage & Debugging: Perform deep-dive root-cause analysis of failures during bring-up, using tools like GDB, Tcpdump, and ASIC-level registers to identify if a bug resides in the OS, the SAI layer, or the hardware itself.
• Leverage AI/LLM: Optimize development workflow use cutting edge LLM based tools.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelors + 7 years of related experience OR Masters + 4 years of related experience OR PhD + 1 year of related experience.
• 4+ years of experience in Hardware Bring-up or NOS Platform Engineering.
• Experience qualifying networking platforms for high-scale data center deployments.
• Experience with Python for building automated test frameworks and interacting with REST/gRPC APIs
• Experience with Linux

Preferred Qualifications:

• NOS Internals: Strong understanding of SONiC architecture, specifically the interaction between Redis (ConfigDB/StateDB), SwSS, and Syncd.
• Hardware Interface: Experience with ASIC SDKs and the SAI (Switch Abstraction Interface) standard.
• Linux Systems: Expert knowledge of Linux kernel drivers, systems, and containerization (Docker) in a networking context.
• Testing Tools: Hands-on experience with traffic generators (Spirent, IXIA) and open-source test tools like Scapy and PTF.

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 $165,000.00 to $241,400.00 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 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:

$165,000.00 - $277,600.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$146,700.00 - $247,000.00

* 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.

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