Software Engineer - Infrastructure & Tooling

The application window is expected to close on: 06/01/2026

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

Role is hybrid and located in San Jose, CA, must be able to come into the Cisco office 3-4 days a weekMeet the Team

The Data Center Business Unit at Cisco focuses on advancing nextgeneration networking technologies that power modern data centers. The team builds and supports innovative Ethernet Switching solutions that enable AI workloads, cloud platforms, and enterprise infrastructures to operate at scale. Engineers on this team collaborate closely across development, testing, and product teams to support the full software lifecycle-from concept and requirements to validation and delivery. The group is made up of highly collaborative engineers who enjoy solving complex networking challenges in a fastpaced environment. What makes this team exciting is the opportunity to contribute to the evolution of Cisco Nexus switches and the infrastructure that powers largescale cloud and AI environments.

Your Impact

Design and build automation infrastructure that supports largescale network testing environments. Develop Pythonbased test frameworks, including tools built on Cisco pyATS, to validate networking features through regression, feature, and system testing. Create AIassisted utilities and promptdriven tools that help engineers generate, execute, and analyze test cases more efficiently. Analyze logs, traffic captures, and system output to identify and reproduce defects, and collaborate with developers to verify fixes. Build CI/CD pipelines, dashboards, and internal utilities to improve testing efficiency, visibility, and software quality across releases.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field + 4 years of related experience
• Experience with networking fundamentals including TCP/IP, routing, switching, or VLANs, subnetting, DNS, and DHCP
• Experience with Python for scripting, automation, and test framework development
• Experience working in Linux environments using commandline tools and shell scripting
• Experience documenting and executing test cases and identifying software defects through structured testing processes

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with test automation frameworks such as Cisco pyATS or other Pythonbased automation tools
• Familiarity with network traffic generation and testing platforms such as IXIA, Spirent, or TRex
• Experience working with CI/CD tools such as Jenkins, GitLab CI, or GitHub Actions
• Understanding of AI agents, LLMs, or prompt engineering to improve automation workflows
• Collaboration and communication skills when working with crossfunctional engineering teams

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 $152,500.00 to $219,200.00 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:

$152,500.00 - $252,000.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$135,800.00 - $224,400.00

* 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.