Senior Director of Engineering – Policy and Data Platform

Cisco

Engineering leader owning Cisco’s security policy and data platform strategy. Building multi-team organizations and reliable systems protecting customer environments.

Posted 9/10/2026full-timeMilpitas • California, Massachusetts • 🇺🇸 United StatesSenior💰 $293,900 - $406,800 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates expertise in engineering leadership, particularly in building and scaling data platforms and policy systems. Proven ability to translate customer security needs into effective technical solutions while managing large engineering teams and budgets.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Engineering LeadershipData Platform ArchitectureSecurity Policy SystemsLarge-Scale Distributed SystemsCross-Functional Collaboration

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Software EngineeringData Platform DevelopmentSecurity Policy EnforcementAccess Control SystemsFirewall ManagementWorkload Protection PoliciesResource PlanningBudget ManagementDistributed Systems DesignTechnical Tradeoff Analysis

Soft Skills

Team DevelopmentTrust BuildingAlignment Across TeamsCommunication with ExecutivesCross-Functional Collaboration

Certifications & Qualifications

Bachelor's Degree in Computer ScienceBachelor's Degree in Engineering

Industry Keywords

Policy and Data PlatformCustomer Security NeedsOperational PracticesPlatform ReliabilityMatrixed Organizations

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

CloudDistributed Systems

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Own the strategy, architecture, and roadmap for the Policy and Data Platform
Build and scale a multi-team engineering organization
Develop managers and senior engineers
Translate customer security policy needs into durable technical systems
Partner with product and security teams to align platform capabilities with customer needs
Set engineering standards and operational practices that improve platform reliability
Build security policy systems that protect customers' environments
Enable teams across Cisco to integrate with the platform
Strengthen signals used to recommend new policies and expand enforcement points

Requirements

What you’ll need

Bachelor's degree or higher in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent experience
15+ years of software engineering experience
5+ years of experience in an engineering leadership role managing managers or senior engineers
Experience architecting and scaling data platforms or policy systems in production
Experience managing engineering budgets and resource planning for an organization of 30+ engineers
Experience delivering large-scale distributed systems from design through production launch
Experience building systems that secure customer environments, such as access control, firewall, or workload protection policies
Familiarity with security policy enforcement across cloud, network, or hybrid environments
Ability to translate technical tradeoffs into business terms for executives
Experience building and scaling engineering teams through periods of rapid growth
Ability to build trust and alignment across cross-functional, matrixed organizations

Benefits

Comp & perks

Medical, dental and vision insurance
401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution
Paid parental leave
Short- and long-term disability coverage
Basic life insurance
Cisco restricted stock unit grants may be available, subject to vesting
10 paid holidays per full calendar year
1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees
Paid birthday day off
Paid year-end holiday shutdown
4 paid personal wellness days
16 days of paid vacation per full calendar year for non-exempt employees
Flexible vacation time off program with no defined limit for eligible exempt employees
80 hours of sick time off provided on hire and annually
Up to 80 hours of unused sick time carried forward
Additional paid time away for critical or emergency family issues
Optional 10 paid volunteer days per full calendar year
Annual bonuses may be available for non-sales roles
Opportunities to grow and build globally at Cisco