The application window is expected to close on: 07/24/2026

Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.

Preferred candidates will be based in Ann Arbor, MI or Austin, TX.

Meet the Team

In an era where identity is the new perimeter, the traditional boundaries of cybersecurity are being redefined. At Cisco Security, our Identity AI team is at the forefront of this transformation, building "identity-first" solutions that go beyond simple authentication. We are looking for a visionary Software Leader to help us bridge the critical gap between verifying who a user is and validating the intent behind their actions.

By joining our team, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of Cisco Identity Intelligence and Duo, architecting intelligent, adaptive systems that protect the digital fabric of the world’s most critical infrastructures. If you are passionate about building scalable, AI-driven security platforms and want to solve the industry’s most complex access challenges, this is your opportunity to lead innovation at the intersection of security and intelligence.

Your Impact

In this role, you will have the opportunity to serve as the architectural backbone of our data-driven security mission.   Key responsibilities include: 

• Architectural Leadership & Strategy: Own the end-to-end architecture and cross-product integration strategy for our Kafka-based data infrastructure. Serve as the primary technical authority for data ecosystems spanning Cisco Identity Intelligence, Duo, and our emerging agentic product lines, ensuring seamless interoperability across technical and organizational landscapes.

• Data Ecosystem Innovation: Drive the design and implementation of high-scale, event-driven data flows. Define the standards for schema management, data quality, and observability, ensuring that our analytics and agentic products have the reliable, high-fidelity data needed to make real-time, identity-first security decisions.

• Operational Excellence & Reliability: Influence production readiness and operational maturity. Use your deep expertise in large-scale Kafka deployments to build resilient, self-healing systems to ensure that our infrastructure is not only scalable but also highly observable, maintaining the rigorous uptime and performance standards required by our global customer base.

• Multi-functional Influence: Act as a central technical bridge between disparate engineering teams. You will influence decision makers across the organization to align on data standards and integration patterns, fostering a culture of collaboration that accelerates our ability to deliver next-generation security capabilities.
   

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and 12+ years of industry experience, or Masters and 8+ years of industry experience, or PhD and 6+ years of industry experience 

• 4+ years of experience with Kafka, data infrastructure, and/or streaming architecture to include building and operating production systems 

• Experience in AI-driven development experience to include writing code, building systems, and developing strategies for using AI  to assist in work

• Experience building cloud services to include AWS, GCP or Azure

Preferred Qualifications  

• Experience in Identity and Security domains

• SRE/operations experience to run this infrastructure reliably in production to include a SRE mindset for observability, incident response, capacity planning, and reliability

• Ability to navigate ambiguity and identify technical solutions and paths forward

• Ability to influence without authority

• Ability to continuously iterate and make decisions with a bias of action

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 ou