Principal Engineer - Cisco IQ Validation

The application window is expected to close on: 09/21/2026 Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received . At Cisco, we are redefining the customer experience through the power of Cisco IQ Services and Applications. Our team is dedicated to building the mission-critical services and applications that validate customer networks during complex change, upgrade, and maintenance cycles. By ensuring the integrity and performance of enterprise infrastructure during these transitions, we enable our customers to operate with confidence. As a member of our global, AI-driven team, you will operate at the frontier of software innovation, leveraging advanced engineering practices to solve complex technical challenges in a culture of curiosity, collaboration, and rapid iteration.

In this role, you will serve as the primary technical authority, architecting the future of our network validation ecosystem. You will define the strategic vision for the Cisco IQ Validation framework, championing an Agentic AI-first approach to automate network testing, validation, and lifecycle management. By establishing standards for LLM-driven workflows, MCP integrations, and complex prompt orchestration, you will drive the evolution of intelligent backend systems that guarantee network stability during critical operational cycles.

Define and Architect: Lead the high-level strategy for scalable backend services that automate the validation of complex network environments, including SD-WAN and data center infrastructure.   Provide Technical Leadership: Set the vision across the organization, mentoring engineering leaders to ensure architectural consistency and long-term technical excellence in network validation.   Influence and Align: Partner with stakeholders across the business to define multi-year technical roadmaps, ensuring that architectural standards align with global innovation and reliability goals.   Establish Standards: Define best practices for complex prompt engineering and model interactions, ensuring the reliability, security, and high-fidelity of AI-driven network validation outputs at scale.   Drive Innovation: Advance our infrastructure and deployment methodologies, fostering a culture of high velocity, system resilience, and industry-leading reliability for mission-critical network services.

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science , Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.   12+ years of experience in backend software architecture and core software development using Python, Rust, or similar high-performance languages.   Deep domain knowledge in networking, with specific expertise in SD-WAN, data center infrastructure, or related enterprise network technologies.   Proven track record of architecting and deploying large-scale, AI-spec driven applications and complex agentic workflows.   Extensive experience leading large-scale technical initiatives and influencing cross-functional engineering organizations throughout the full software development lifecycle.

Advanced experience in fine-tuning Large Language Models (LLMs) and deploying domain-specific AI architectures into production environments.   Expert-level proficiency in designing and managing cloud-agnostic, distributed architectures across AWS, GCP, and private cloud environments.   Recognized industry thought leader with a history of open-source contributions or research showcasing complex, production-grade software architecture.   Demonstrated mastery of infrastructure-as-code and architectural automation, specifically Terraform and Ansible.   Exceptional communication and executive presence, with the proven ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders and translate high-level technical vision into actionable, long-term business outcomes.   Why Cisco?  At