Principal Software Engineer

Principal Software Engineer

The Mobility Engineering Control Plane team focuses on the development and management of Cisco's Mobility Services Control Plane (MSCP), a cloud-native, next-generation control plane designed to unify and simplify network management across multiple mobile network generations including 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G. This team supports the seamless attach and handover across these networks, enabling service providers to deploy 5G services alongside legacy networks while maintaining operational efficiency and consistent subscriber experience.

Your Impact

Customer-facing Product Architect, you will serve as the technical and strategic lead for Cisco's multi-million-dollar Service Provider programs. You will be responsible for the end-to-end delivery of 5G Standalone (SA) network solutions for Tier-1 North American Service Providers. This role requires a unique blend of architectural expertise, cross-functional leadership, and executive-level customer management to drive innovation, ensure operational excellence, and expand Cisco's footprint in the SP Mobility market.

As a Principal Engineer, you will perform:

• Strategic Leadership & Business Growth: Drive the vision, strategy, and execution of packet core solutions, ensuring alignment with Cisco initiatives and evolving industry trends. Position Cisco products and technologies to meet customer objectives, strengthen long-term partnerships and expand market presence. Support pre-sales efforts by conducting Proofs of Concept (POCs) and technical demonstrations to identify and capture new business opportunities. Partner with Services Delivery and Sales teams to define new offerings, scope project work, and develop accurate Level of Effort (LOE) estimates.
• 5G Architecture & Delivery Excellence: Lead the design and deployment of 5G SA network architectures, specifically focusing on Cloud-Native Network Functions (CNF). Define new feature requirements for packet core mobility solutions, managing the interlock between Customer Experience (CX) delivery teams and internal Engineering groups. Drive global delivery teams to implement innovative automation frameworks, significantly increasing deployment efficiency. Oversee the build, launch, and operation of Tier-1 service provider networks by managing a diverse team of delivery architects, technical leaders, software engineers, and network consultants.
• Program & Release Management: Define and prioritize software releases and feature roadmaps in coordination with Product Management and Engineering to ensure timely support for critical customer programs. Establish robust program workflows and governance models to improve delivery efficiency and enhance the overall customer experience. Work with Project Managers to define timelines, allocate resources, and monitor key delivery achievements. Identify, assign, and review critical tasks for global teams to ensure execution excellence and strict alignment to project schedules.
• Customer Engagement & Operational Support: Serve as the primary executive escalation point, managing conflicts, mitigating risks, and driving multi-functional resolution for business-critical issues. Lead Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) and executive-level program reviews with VPs and SVPs to report on progress, strategic initiatives, and business value. Facilitate customer workshops to drive product enablement, technology adoption, and long-term satisfaction. Collaborate with Engineering and R&R (Reliability & Resilience) teams to innovate operational processes, reduce OPEX, and perform root cause analysis on revenue-impacting issues.
• Team Leadership & Mentorship: Lead globally distributed, cross-functional teams across multiple regions, ensuring high-quality, consistent delivery. Mentor and train new talent, fostering professional development to strengthen the broader Engineering organization. Drive multi-functional initiatives to ensure alignment and consistent customer satisfaction across all North American Service Provider programs.

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelors + 15 years of related experience, or Masters + 12 years of related experience or PhD + 8 years of related experience. 3 + years of experience in design and deployment of 5G network 3+ years of experience leading engineering initiatives from concept through delivery.

Preferred Qualifications

Demonstrated experience managing and improving business-critical service operations, including revenue impacting Issues. Experience mentoring or guiding senior engineers and technical leaders. Excellent collaboration and communication skills, with a track record of partnering effectively across 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 $222,900.00 to $295,200.00 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 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:

$231,400.00 - $381,600.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$222,900.00 - $343,600.00

* For quota-based sales roles on Cisco's sales plan, the