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# Principal Machine Learning Engineer, AISWP (Hybrid)

- **Company:** Cisco Systems, Inc.
- **Location:** San Jose, CA, United States
- **Salary:** $296,300.0
- **Contract:** Permanent contract
- **Skills:** Artificial Intelligence, Software as a Service, Code Generation, Machine Learning, Role-Based Access Control, Data Analytics, Api Management, Cisco
- **Published:** October 9, 2026
- **Apply:** https://dejobs.org/x/x/223075153BBC4F92A35AFD76961454BD/job/

## About the Role

* Bachelor's degree in STEM and 15+ years of relevant experience, or Master's degree in STEM and 12+ years of relevant experience and or PhD in STEM 8+years of relevant experience or equivalent related work experience
 * Experience building and operating scalable, highly distributed multi-tenant systems with strict isolation and security boundaries.
 * Experience in building external-facing developer platforms or infrastructure-focused products.
 * Prior experience in end-to-end system design (including observability, failure handling, and ergonomics) and the implementation of complex authorization models such as RBAC, ABAC, or policy-based enforcement., * An AI-first mindset paired with the ability to exercise sound technical judgment and decompose vague, complex problems into well-scoped, actionable deliverables.
 * Experience building shared infrastructure, abstractions, and "paved roads" that enhance productivity across engineering teams.
 * Proficiency in spec-driven and schema-driven development, including the use of code generation, strongly typed API contracts, and implementation traceability.
 * Understanding of the unique architecture and operational constraints associated with both SaaS and on-premise deployment models.
 * Ability to mentor immediate team members while effectively driving technical decision-making across cross-functional and cross-organizational boundaries.

## Description

Join our team as a Principal Forward Deployed Engineer to shape the future of our AI-powered platforms. You will:

 * Embed for Innovation: Deploy directly into high-impact customer environments to observe complex workflows, identify friction points, and build rapid prototypes that validate product-market fit.
 * Bridge Research to Production: Lead research-to-code initiatives, applying deep domain expertise in networking and security to solve real-world problems while ensuring prototypes are ready for production hardening.
 * Data-Driven Roadmap Influence: Partner with Product Management to drive verified usage metrics, ensuring high-priority features are backed by actual engagement data.
 * Architect Enterprise Solutions: Collaborate with core engineering to transition your prototypes into secure, multi-tenant, and scalable services that support Cisco's global customer base.
 * Technical Consultation: Act as an internal industry expert, influencing Cisco's technical leaders and product strategy by translating complex customer challenges into elegant, scalable software solutions.
 * Culture Architect: Lead a "customer-first" engineering mindset within the AI Platform group, coaching teams on rapid iteration, minimizing silos, and maintaining high velocity while adhering to enterprise compliance standards.