Distinguished Engineer – Chief Architect

Cisco

Distinguished Engineer leading complex technical challenges and defining architecture for Cisco’s enterprise AI platform. Collaborating across teams to ensure production-ready AI solutions.

Posted 6/27/2026full-timeSan Jose • California, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington • 🇺🇸 United StatesLead💰 $337,100 - $426,700 per yearWebsite

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

AWSAzureCloudDistributed SystemsGoogle Cloud Platform

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Define the long-term architecture for Cisco’s enterprise AI platform
Lead the design and resolution of the organization’s most complex technical challenges
Set architectural principles and reference patterns that reduce fragmentation
Create and drive a clear path that converts advanced technical invention into production-grade platform capabilities
Partner closely with Platform Engineering to ensure new ideas are designed for production
Collaborate with Product Management to align technical innovation with CIRCUIT’s long-term roadmap
Act as the primary architectural bridge across various engineering and business units
Lead rapid exploration of emerging areas such as agent collaboration, autonomous planning, proactive workflows, and new interaction models
Stay closely connected to advances in AI research, open-source ecosystems, model providers, cloud platforms, and enterprise AI frameworks
Represent Cisco as a recognized technical authority in enterprise AI

Requirements

What you’ll need

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience
17+ years of experience in software engineering, technical architecture, distributed systems, AI/ML, or platform engineering; advanced degree may substitute for some experience
Demonstrated experience as a principal engineer, architect, or senior technical leader in large-scale enterprise environments
Proven ability to define technical strategy and drive architectural direction across multiple organizations and business domains
Strong background of leading complex, multi-functional technical initiatives from concept through production
Experience with AI/ML systems, distributed systems, cloud-native infrastructure, or large-scale data platforms
Demonstrated history of architectural influence through standards, patents, publications, technical papers, or comparable contributions
Deep expertise in generative AI, LLM integration, multi-agent systems, RAG, evaluation frameworks, and enterprise AI architecture (preferred)
Experience taking research concepts or early prototypes through productization into secure, scalable, production-ready offerings (preferred)
Strong familiarity with model orchestration, memory systems, tool invocation, agent reliability, and enterprise trust controls (preferred)
Experience in multi-cloud and hybrid environments, including GCP, AWS, Azure, and on-prem infrastructure (preferred)

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
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
4 paid days off for personal wellness
16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year for non-exempt employees
flexible vacation time off program for exempt employees with no defined limit
80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter
up to 80 hours of unused sick time carried forward from one calendar year to the next
Optional 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer
Annual bonuses for non-sales roles

ATS Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

software engineeringtechnical architecturedistributed systemsAI/MLplatform engineeringgenerative AILLM integrationmulti-agent systemsRAGevaluation frameworks

Soft Skills

leadershipcollaborationstrategic thinkingproblem-solvingcommunication