Safety Engineering Technical Leader (Hybrid)

This position follows a hybrid work model and requires that you live within commuting distance of our San Jose, CA office and commute to the office 4-5 days per week.

Meet the Team

The Networking Hardware Engineering (NHE) group creates innovative hardware platforms central to the AI era, powering Cisco’s core Switching, Routing, and Wireless products for organizations globally. NHE serves as the execution engine for Cisco's most strategic hardware initiatives. We partner across silicon, engineering, product management, operations, supply chain, manufacturing, and executive leadership to transform technology strategy into successful product delivery. Our mission is to provide program leadership, governance, transparency, and execution difficulty across highly complex system development programs, shaping the future of hyperscale infrastructure.

The Compliance Team is an agile and diverse group working across all of the Core Hardware Engineering Product Lines. This self-motivated, detail oriented engineer will be highly organized and capable of handling concurrent projects through varying stages of development and compliance testing. When issues arise, you will interface closely with Engineering, Manufacturing and Product Support groups to work towards an efficient outcome.

Join our dedicated team, where energy and innovation are the norms. We have each other’s backs, do the right thing even when it’s hard, and stop at nothing to delight our customers. If you are passionate about safety compliance and eager to work with a team that values innovation and quality, we encourage you to apply for this great opportunity.

Your Impact

Help us develop the next generation of industry-leading networking platforms as we innovate and shape the Internet of Everything. You will be working with a dynamic, talented team dedicated to the high-quality delivery of these products, where teamwork, integrity, customer focus, and innovation are our core hallmarks.

As a Safety Engineering Technical Leader, you will be at the forefront of ensuring our systems meet the highest possible safety standards. In this role, you will lead the safety strategy for our latest hardware, blending compliance with cutting-edge design to protect both our customers and our innovations. Your expertise will be vital in navigating complex regulatory environments while maintaining the high performance our clients expect.

We are looking for a collaborative partner who is passionate about safety and eager to drive progress within our engineering organization. Join us to help define the future of networking with a team that values your technical leadership and commitment to excellence.

In this role, you will act as the technical authority for product safety, driving architecture and strategy while providing oversight for JDM/ODM deliverables.

• Act as the primary technical authority for product safety, driving safety strategy and ensuring design integrity across all platforms.
• Lead comprehensive safety design reviews, including PCB layouts, stack-ups, and schematics, while conducting rigorous testing against 60950-1 and 62368-1 standards.
• Own the end-to-end safety compliance program, managing budgets, schedules, and cross-functional reporting to ensure seamless project delivery.
• Proactively identify compliance and operational risks, leading internal investigations and driving issues to resolution with hardware development teams.
• Facilitate regulatory filings with agencies like UL/CSA and lead internal audits, ensuring meticulous documentation of all compliance activities.
• Innovate our safety engineering workflows by piloting and deploying AI-assisted tools to optimize cycle time, quality, and overall team performance.
• Monitor industry trends and regulatory shifts, providing strategic guidance to keep our products at the forefront of the market.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelors in Electrical Engineering + 8 years of related experience, or Masters in Electrical Engineering + 6 years of related experience, or PhD + 3 years of related experience.
• Experience with application of IEC/UL 62368-1 (energy source classification, safeguards, and the electrical, fire, thermal, and mechanical hazard clauses) to complex hardware, including high-power and high-voltage DC systems.
• Experience with NRTL/CB Scheme process and the major market approvals (North America, EU/UKCA, Asia-Pacific), and experience working directly with test labs and certification bodies.
• Experience with reviewing schematics, PCB layouts, PCB stackups and mechanical designs (creepage and clearance, insulation, thermal and fault conditions) and drive corrective actions with design teams before release.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience setting technical direction across multiple programs, mentoring engineers, and resolving cross-functional safety issues through influence rather than authority.
• Program management experience, with experience managing numerous projects simultaneously.
• Experience building or adopting AI tools for tasks such as standards gap analysis, report drafting, design-review checklists, testing automation with verification practices that keep outputs traceable.
• Experience with OCP specifications (Open Rack v3 power and rack-level requirements) and high-density AI/ML compute platforms. This includes and is not limited to 400/800VDC, Liquid Cooled Systems, Fault Managed Power.
• Active involvement in standards bodies or industry groups (IEC/UL committees, OCP, or similar) and the ability to anticipate how upcoming revisions affect product roadmaps.
  

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.

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** receive 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year, accrued at rate of 4.92 hours per pay period for full-time 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 of unused sick time carried forward from one calendar year to 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:

• .75% of incentive target for each 1% of revenue attainment up to 50% of quota;

• 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:

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

* For quota-based sales roles on Cisco’s sales plan, the ranges provided in this posting include base pay and sales target incentive compensation combined.

** Employees in Illinois, whether exempt or non-exempt, will participate in a unique time off program to meet local requirements.