Software Engineering Technical Leader

Meet the team

The Security Platform Service Group Customer Journey Test Automation Team is central to ensuring seamless, high-quality experiences for our customers across every interaction. As we continue to elevate our security platforms to address evolving customer expectations-including end-to-end journey validation, integration across diverse security systems, and support for complex, distributed environments-we are seeking skilled engineers to drive innovation and reliability. That's where you come in.

The Senior Staff Software Engineer plays a pivotal role in championing test automation excellence and upholding the highest quality standards throughout our customer journeys. This position offers the opportunity to lead from the front-shaping our automation strategy, influencing architectural decisions, and setting the benchmark for quality at scale.

Join us to mentor top automation talent, influence the customer experience across global teams, and help deliver secure, high-performing solutions to customers worldwide. Make your mark and help shape the future of quality!

Key Responsibilities :

Define and execute QA strategy, automation roadmap, and measurable quality objectives for distributed systems.

Architect, design, and enhance automation frameworks for functional, integration, performance, and reliability testing.

Collaborate with Product, Engineering, DevOps, and Site Reliability teams to promote a quality-first mindset across the software development lifecycle.

Drive improvements in test infrastructure, CI / CD pipelines, and automation coverage to enable seamless, repeatable deployments.

Champion best practices in automation, test data management, observability, and continuous validation.

Identify process gaps, streamline workflows, and ensure scalable testing in cloud-native and hybrid environments.

Lead root cause analysis and implement preventive measures to improve product stability and reliability.

Mentor QA and development engineers while evaluating new tools and technologies to advance automation and operational efficiency.

Minimum Qualifications

8+ years of experience in software quality engineering, with at least 3+ years in a senior or staff-level QA or SDET role.

Proven expertise in designing and maintaining complex automation frameworks and CI / CD-integrated test ecosystems.

Strong proficiency with one or more scripting / programming languages (Python, Java, Shell, or JavaScript).

Deep understanding of software testing methodologies, automation patterns, and distributed systems testing.

Hands-on experience with cloud environments (AWS, GCP, Azure) and container orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes) and observability tools (e.g., Grafana, Prometheus, ELK) for test telemetry and analytics.

Experience integrating automated tests into CI / CD platforms like Jenkins, GitHub Actions, or GitLab CI / CD.

Strong analytical skills with the ability to diagnose complex issues and propose detailed improvements.

Preferred Qualifications :

Experience testing large-scale SaaS, networking, or security platforms.

Knowledge of performance, chaos, and reliability testing methodologies.

Exposure to AI-driven test automation, shift-left testing, or continuous quality engineering.

Prior experience in mentoring or leading QA teams and shaping organizational testing strategies.

Why Cisco?

At Cisco, we're revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era - and beyond. We've been innovating fearlessly for 40 years to create solutions that power how humans and technology work together across the physical and digital worlds. These solutions provide customers with unparalleled security, visibility, and insights across the entire digital footprint.

Fueled by the depth and breadth of our technology, we experiment and create meaningful solutions. Add to that our worldwide network of doers and experts, and you'll see that the opportunities to grow and build are limitless. We work as a team, collaborating with empathy to make really big things happen on a global scale. Because our solutions are everywhere, our impact is everywhere.

We are Cisco, and our power starts with you.

Message to applicants applying to work in the U.S. and / or Canada : The starting salary range posted for this position is $210,600.00 to $305,100.00 and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position in U.S. and / or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation

• , equity, or benefits.

Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location, market conditions, job-related skillset, experience, qualifications, education, certifications, and / or training. The full salary range for certain locations is listed below. For locations not listed below, the recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.

U.S. employees are offered benefits, subject to Cisco's plan eligibility rules, which include medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability coverage, and basic life insurance. Please see the Cisco careers site to discover more benefits and perks. Employees may be eligible to receive grants of Cisco restricted stock units, which vest following continued employment with Cisco for defined periods of time.

U.S. employees are eligible for paid time away as described below, subject to Cisco's policies :

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, and 4 paid days off for personal wellness determined by Cisco

Non-exempt employees

Exempt employees participate in Cisco's flexible vacation time off program, which has no defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use (subject to availability and some business limitations)

80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter, and up to 80 hours ofunused sick timecarried forwardfrom one calendar yearto the next

Additional paid time away may be requested to deal with critical or emergency issues for family members

Optional 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer

For non-sales roles, employees are also eligible to earn annual bonuses subject to Cisco's policies.

Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components, subject to the applicable Cisco plan. For quota-based incentive pay, Cisco typically pays as follows :

1.5% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 50% and 75%;

1% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 75% and 100%; and

Once performance exceeds 100% attainment, incentive rates are at or above 1% for each 1% of attainment with no cap on incentive compensation.

For non-quota-based sales performance elements such as strategic sales objectives, Cisco may pay 0% up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid.

The applicable full salary ranges for this position, by specific state, are listed below :

New York City Metro Area :

$210,600.00 - $350,800.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state :

$189,300.00 - $312,200.00