Principal Engineer – Golang, Distributed Systems

Cisco

Principal Engineer providing technical leadership for backend services in workload security at Cisco. Working on solutions to improve scalability, performance, and security in distributed systems.

Posted 7/10/2026full-timeSan Francisco • California • 🇺🇸 United StatesLead💰 $231,400 - $331,800 per yearWebsite

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

AWSAzureCloudGoGoogle Cloud PlatformJavaKubernetesReact

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

work with and provide technical leadership to a team of highly motivated engineers
improving Scale, Performance, Reliability, Robustness, and Security
act as a SME, advising on technical vision, roadmaps
make architectural contributions in backend services
collect and process telemetry at scale from data sources in customer environments
react to changes in environment and render policies in highly scalable manner to large number of enforcement points
implement API endpoints that need to respond with minimal latencies

Requirements

What you’ll need

At least 10+ years' experience building software systems in one or more programming languages such as Go, C++, or Java.
At least 5+ years in a technical leadership role in a software engineering environment
Masters + 10 years related experience, or Bachelors + 12 years of related experience, or PhD + 5 years related experience or equivalent related work experience; degree to be in Computer Science, Engineering, or related technical field.
Agile experience
Proficiency in Computer Science foundational areas, including algorithms, systems, databases, performance engineering and security architecture
Schema/Data modeling design experience
Experience with large-scale event processing architectures
Experience in systems programming and performance engineering
Experience working with security architecture and database design
Kubernetes experience
Experience programming using cloud APIs for AWS, Azure, or GCP.

Benefits

Comp & perks

medical, dental and vision insurance
a 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
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
flexible vacation time off program
80 hours of sick time off
optional 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer
annual bonuses

ATS Keywords

✓ Tailor your resume

Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Hard Skills & Tools

Software DevelopmentPerformance EngineeringSecurity ArchitectureData ModelingSystems ProgrammingAlgorithmsDatabasesEvent Processing ArchitecturesAPI DevelopmentAgile Methodologies

Soft Skills

Technical VisionTeam LeadershipAdvisory Skills

Certifications

Masters in Computer Science or EngineeringBachelors in Computer Science or EngineeringPhD in Computer Science or Engineering