# Principal Hardware Engineer at Cisco

Cisco is hiring a Principal Hardware Engineer in San Jose, United States. It pays $234k-$330k a year and Level rates it Little AI ●○○○; you can [apply on Cisco](https://jobsbylevel.com/go/e9d6e832-f13a-4aa2-9885-7e7f2a00762c?utm_medium=ai-agent).

AI Level 1, AI centrality 35 out of 100. San Jose, California, US.

## Details

- Company: [Cisco](https://jobsbylevel.com/companies/cisco)
- AI level: AI Level 1 (score 35 out of 100)
- Location: San Jose, California, US
- Salary: $234k-$330k
- Posted: October 28, 2026
- Apply: https://jobsbylevel.com/go/e9d6e832-f13a-4aa2-9885-7e7f2a00762c?utm_medium=ai-agent
- Free CV review for this job: https://jobsbylevel.com/cv-review?job=principal-hardware-engineer-at-cisco-72e836

## Description

The application window is expected to close on: 11/27/2026 This role requires the employee to work onsite at the San Jose, CA office location. Up to 10% of local and/or international travel may be required Meet the Team Networking Hardware Engineering (NHE) 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. Your Impact Define and drive the end-to-end quality strategy for next generation hyperscale switching, routing, wireless access points, AI servers, and optical platforms, from architecture and development through qualification, high-volume production, and customer deployment. Lead resolution of complex product quality issues and customer cases, bringing together engineering, manufacturing, operations, and customer teams to identify root causes, contain impact, and deliver timely, lasting corrective actions. Serve as a senior technical partner concern point for critical customer issues, including deployment, interoperability, reliability, performance, and system integration challenges across Cisco and third-party products. Establish thorough quality and reliability practices across silicon, high-speed SerDes, optics, PCB, power, thermal, mechanical, firmware, diagnostics, and network operating systems. Drive system-level failure analysis and risk reviews. Translate field data, customer feedback, and manufacturing findings into preventive actions that improve product robustness and customer experience. Lead quality readiness for emerging Ethernet platforms, including pluggable, linear-drive, and near-packaged/co-packaged optical solutions. Partner directly with hyperscale customers to understand operational requirements, resolve quality concerns, and build confidence in product readiness, reliability, and serviceability. Define and strengthen qualification, validation, diagnostics, and production-monitoring plans to detect issues early and reduce recurrence in deployed systems. Influence multi-functional teams and senior leaders on quality priorities, product risk, and corrective-action plans. Mentor engineers and represent Cisco in strategic customer and industry engagements. Minimum Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering or computer engineering or computer science, with 15+ years of experience; master’s degree with 12+ years in electrical engineering or computer engineering or computer science; or PhD in electrical engineering or computer engineering or computer science with 10+ years of related experience such as networking, switching, optics, or data-center infrastructure. Experience leading quality, reliability, systems engineering, or customer issue resolution for complex, high-volume networking, switching, optical, or hyperscale data-center products. Experience driving complex technical investigations from customer symptom and data collection through root-cause identification, corrective action, and verification of effectiveness. Experience with Ethernet switching and optical communication technologies, including switch ASICs, high-speed SerDes, signal integrity, optical modules, DSPs, link budgets, and system validation. Experience leading multi-functional response to critical customer cases, field partner concerns, product defects, or interoperability issues. Preferred Qualifications Strong judgment in assessing product risk and prioritizing actions, with the ability to influence engineering teams, customers, and executive

The description is cut here. Read the full offer: https://jobsbylevel.com/jobs/principal-hardware-engineer-at-cisco-72e836

Source: https://jobsbylevel.com/jobs/principal-hardware-engineer-at-cisco-72e836

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