Lead Software QA Engineer, AI Software/Platform Team

Cisco

Technical Lead testing Cisco’s Generative AI security software and platforms. Defining automation, release-quality gates, and reliability practices across distributed SaaS systems.

Posted 8/14/2026full-timeMilpitas • California • 🇺🇸 United StatesSenior💰 $214,100 - $309,800 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates expertise in leading quality strategies for Generative AI products, including designing scalable testing and automation frameworks for distributed systems and cloud platforms. Proficient in defining release-quality criteria and conducting root-cause analysis to enhance platform reliability.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Generative AI TestingPython DevelopmentAutomated Testing FrameworksTest Strategy DesignCloud Platform Validation

ATS Keywords

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Hard Skills

Test Strategy DesignAutomation FrameworksDistributed Systems TestingREST APIs ValidationGraphQL APIs ValidationCI/CD Pipeline TestingModel Degradation AnalysisRoot-Cause AnalysisQuality Gates DefinitionData-Driven Go/No-Go Criteria

Soft Skills

MentoringCollaborationLeadership

Tools & Technologies

PytestPlaywrightSeleniumKubernetesArgoCD

Industry Keywords

Generative AIAI/ML PlatformsMulti-Tenant SaaSData GovernanceCompliance Requirements

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

CloudDistributed SystemsGoGraphQLKubernetesMicroservicesPythonSelenium

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Lead the quality strategy for large-scale Generative AI products and platforms
Define validation approaches for AI services, distributed systems, and end-to-end customer experiences
Design scalable testing and automation across AI pipelines, APIs, user interfaces, federated microservices, and multi-tenant SaaS architectures
Establish release-readiness practices using quality gates, test traceability, representative environments, and data-driven Go/No-Go criteria
Analyze model degradation, system failures, and test instability
Drive root-cause analysis and improve AI platform reliability and resilience
Partner with Engineering, Product, UX, DevOps, Documentation, and Customer Engineering
Mentor QA engineers and advance quality-first engineering practices across teams

Requirements

What you’ll need

BS in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field with 12+ years of relevant experience; or a Master’s of Science Degree with 8+ years of related experience, or a PhD with 5+ years of related experience
Experience designing and implementing test strategies, automation frameworks, and test infrastructure for distributed software systems, cloud platforms, or SaaS products
Python development experience
Experience with automated testing frameworks such as Pytest, Playwright, Selenium, or equivalent
Experience validating frontend and backend systems, REST and/or GraphQL APIs, service integrations, CI/CD pipelines, and distributed microservice architectures
Experience defining release-quality criteria
Experience diagnosing complex system failures using test results, logs, metrics, and other engineering data
Preferred: experience testing Generative AI, AI/ML platforms, AI agents, LLM-powered applications, or other AI-based products
Preferred: experience designing AI-agent-assisted QA workflows using Cursor, Claude, Codex CLI, or equivalent
Preferred: experience testing multi-tenant cloud platforms and AI test environments involving datasets, model versions, feature flags, Kubernetes, and ArgoCD
Preferred: experience building scalable test frameworks and establishing quality practices across multiple engineering teams
Preferred: knowledge of security, privacy, data governance, or compliance requirements for enterprise SaaS and AI products

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
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 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 date and each January 1st thereafter
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 for non-sales roles may be available
Opportunities to grow, experiment and learn
Global network of experts and collaborators