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Software Development Test Engineer

Cisco Systems, Inc.
$165,000.00 to $241,400.00
life insurance, vision insurance, parental leave, paid holidays, sick time, 401(k)
United States, California, Milpitas
Nov 22, 2025

***We are looking for candidates local to San Jose as this is a hybrid role requiring at least 3 days per week in the office***

Meet the team

The Cisco Distributed System Engineering (DSE) group is at the forefront of developing products that power the largest networks in the world. The networking industry is going through a massive transformation to build the next generation infrastructure to meet the needs of AI/ML workloads and continuously increasing internet users and application. We are uniquely positioned to capture that market transition. This team builds products by harnessing the potential of open-source technologies while pushing the boundaries on Systems and Silicon Architecture.

You will be working among engineers who are passionate about tackling complex technology, building large scale distributed systems and comfortable working with open-source communities and technologies. You will be part of a fast-paced work environment and responsible for end-to-end product development and production support.

Your Impact

You are curious and a problem solver. You love to learn and grow and work in an environment that is constantly evolving. You are a self-starter that thrives on learning information quickly and uses resources to research and resolve issues. You are comfortable working with multi-disciplinary, multicultural, and geographically dispersed teams. You are a technologist at heart and with:

  • Experience with Network Operating Systems and in System and Software Qualification

  • Diligent with an automation first attitude and experience with scripting languages and test frames works

  • Passionate about open-source development and contribution

As a Tech Lead for AI/ML Test Engineering, you'll lead an agile team engaged in the design, development and execution of tests to qualify network performance for AI.ML capability. In this role you'll have opportunity to:

  • Develop and enhance test framework and benchmarking tools

  • Develop test automation, execute and analyze test results

  • Build out test beds for system/solution validation

  • Define and gather data for network performance benchmarking

  • Solving customer issues

Minimum Qualifications:

  • MS/BS degree and in CS/EE/CE or technical equivalent

  • 5 or more years of experience building network and test automation

  • 3 or more years of experience configuring, debugging networking systems and solutions

  • 3 or more years of experience using scripting languages including Python

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Experience working with test frameworks, traffic generators (commercial & open source)

  • Exposure network operating systems, preferably SONiC

  • Knowledge of control & data plane technologies including L2, L3, VXLAN, segment Routing and/or MPLS

  • Experience with Quality of Service (QoS) policies to ensure optimal network performance

  • Exposure to RDMA, HPC networks

  • Knowledge of RoCE and Infini band protocols

  • GIT, Jira, Jenkins and CI/CD pipeline tools

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 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:

$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.

** Employees in Illinois, whether exempt or non-exempt, will participate in a unique time off program to meet local requirements.

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