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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Senior Staff Software Engineer - **Company:** Cisco Systems, Inc. - **Location:** New York, NY, United States - **Experience:** Expert - **Salary:** $214,100.0 - $309,800.0 - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Artificial Intelligence, Audit Trail, Automation of Tests, Apache JMeter, Python (Programming Language), Software Engineering, Strategies of Testing, Performance Testing, Large Language Models, Prompt Engineering, Playwright, Performance Monitor - **Published:** September 2, 2026 - **Apply:** https://diversityjobs.com/main/sendform/8/8/28176/1/18166981?backUrl=%2Fcareer%2F18166981%2FSenior-Staff-Software-Engineer-California-San-Jose ## About the Role * Bachelor's degree with 12+ years of experience in software development, quality engineering, or test automation. * 5+ years of experience architecting large-scale test automation platforms or quality engineering ecosystems. * 5+ years software development experience in Python and playwright. * 5+ years experience designing scalable, maintainable, and high-performance test infrastructure. * 1+ years experience using AI-assisted tools or AI agents to build and scale test automation., * Strong technical leadership skills with the ability to turn ambiguous quality challenges into clear technical strategy. * Experience with AI/ML testing, LLM APIs, prompt engineering, agentic workflows, and LLM-as-judge evaluation. * Experience with Claude, Codex, or similar AI development and evaluation tools. * Experience with performance tools such as JMeter, or similar test environments. * Strong ability to collaborate across Engineering, Product, Security, Compliance, and Quality teams. * Passion for mentoring engineers and building a culture of automation, accountability, and customer-focused quality. ## Description As a Senior Staff Software Engineer, you will define and drive the technical strategy for AI-powered quality, agentic workflow validation, benchmarking, and automation frameworks. You will lead complex technical initiatives, mentor senior engineers, and help establish quality practices that scale across teams and products., * Define the architecture and roadmap for Product Quality foundations, test automation, and AI-agent evaluation frameworks. * Lead validation strategies for AI agents, complex SOC workflows, tenant isolation, audit logs, and system behavior. * Identify gaps in current testing methods and build AI-based automation solutions to improve quality, coverage, and efficiency. * Establish benchmarking, performance testing, and regression frameworks for scalable and reliable product validation. * Mentor engineers, review technical designs, and guide teams through complex quality and automation challenges. * Lead proof-of-concepts and define clear success criteria for new testing approaches and AI-assisted automation. * Partner with Engineering and Product leaders to embed quality earlier in the development lifecycle. * Drive standards for contract testing, compliance validation, performance testing, and behavioral regression. * Ensure testing processes deliver reliable, repeatable, and high-quality outcomes at enterprise scale. ## Related Videos - [How to Benchmark Your Apache Kafka](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/76-how-to-benchmark-your-apache-kafka) - [Resilient by Design: Building Robust Architectures in High-Stakes Financial Systems](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/2106-resilient-by-design-building-robust-architectures-in-high-stakes-financial-systems) - [Boost Productivity with AI: Figma & Playwright MCP Workflows - Aris Markogiannakis](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1768-boost-productivity-with-ai-figma-playwright-mcp-workflows-aris-markogiannakis) - [Let’s Talk Quality!](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100012-let-s-talk-quality) - [Are Classical Automation Frameworks Dead? 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