Staff Software Engineer – AI/Security Platform

Cisco

Staff Software Engineer building Cisco’s AI-powered cybersecurity and Agentic SOC platform. Designing distributed systems, threat detection workflows, and explainable security automation.

Posted 9/3/2026full-timeSan Francisco • California • 🇺🇸 United StatesLead💰 $186,900 - $267,700 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates expertise in designing and implementing distributed systems, data platforms, and AI-enhanced threat detection workflows. Proficient in Python development and CI/CD practices, with a strong understanding of security operations and automation in SecOps environments.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Distributed Systems DesignPython DevelopmentCI/CD PipelinesData PlatformsSecurity Operations Concepts

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Distributed SystemsData PlatformsPythonAPIsAutomation WorkflowsSecurity TelemetryTraining WorkloadsModel EvaluationEvent Storage SystemsThreat Detection

Soft Skills

CollaborationCommunicationProblem-SolvingUsability FocusTrust Considerations

Tools & Technologies

GitHubGitLabJiraFAISSPineconeTDIRSIEMAutomated Testing FrameworksAgent SystemsCloud Audit Trails

Industry Keywords

Security OperationsThreat AnalyticsTriageInvestigationResponseAnomaly DetectionCybersecurityAI ModelsEvent CorrelationSecurity SMEs

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

CloudCyber SecurityDistributed SystemsPythonSplunk

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Design and build systems combining security-relevant data, detection signals, context, and foundation models to spot and predict threats
Prototype and test AI features for decoding events and system environments and predicting anomalies and threats
Work with security SMEs and security researchers to validate real-world utility
Develop an AI DevOps pipeline for rapid experimentation with data, knowledge bases, models, and context memory
Define clear, measurable success criteria for evaluating iterations
Architect and build a distributed platform correlating trillions of events and signals
Synthesize events and signals into explainable findings and alerts for triage resolution agents
Build a key capability of the Agentic SOC
Collaborate with product and platform teams to co-design AI-enhanced threat detection and prediction workflows
Contribute to the core architecture powering AI-native security operations
Help shape how Splunk and Cisco scale trusted automation across the enterprise

Requirements

What you’ll need

Bachelor's Degree with 8+ years of related experience or Master's with 6+ years of related experience
Experience designing and implementing distributed systems, with emphasis on storage systems and storage access layers
Experience implementing data platforms and/or data lakes and warehouses
Proficiency in Python development, including scalable backend services, APIs, and automation workflows
Proficiency with CI/CD pipelines, GitHub/GitLab, Jira, and automated testing frameworks
Experience designing agent systems that perform coding tasks
Experience partnering with product managers, security SMEs, and engineers
Experience working with endpoint logs, network traffic, authentication events, or cloud audit trails
Preferred: experience building and maintaining pipelines for ingesting, parsing, and normalizing large-scale security telemetry
Familiarity with TDIR/SIEM architectures, correlation searches, and threat hunting support systems
Understanding of security operations concepts including attack surface management, threat analytics, detection, triage, investigation, and response
Experience automating SecOps workflows and building scalable, resilient detection infrastructure
Exposure to event storage systems or generating custom cybersecurity embeddings
Hands-on experience developing RAG pipelines and working with databases such as FAISS or Pinecone
Experience crafting, testing, and optimizing training workloads for large language or special-purpose models such as GNNs, GCNs, and GATs
Experience integrating AI models into real-world workflows, including usability, performance, and trust considerations
Ability to design experiments evaluating model output for accuracy, usability, performance, and cost
Background or interest in intuitive AI-assisted analyst workflows focused on usability, trust, and decision support

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, vesting following continued employment
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 per full calendar year for non-exempt employees
Flexible vacation time off program with no defined limit for eligible exempt employees, subject to availability and business limitations
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 annually
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, subject to Cisco’s policies
Performance-based incentive pay for employees on sales plans
Benefits and perks available through the Cisco careers site
Opportunity to grow and build with a worldwide network of experts