Automation AI Ops Engineer Hybrid at Cisco

The application window is expected to close on: 05/31/2026

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

This role is hybrid. Onsite 3 days per week in Raleigh (Research Triangle Park), North Carolina or San Jose, California

Meet the Team

Our team is part of the Cisco AI and Automation portfolio, responsible for the "Circuit" platform—the central AI engine that powers productivity and process automation for all of Cisco. We are a rapidly expanding, high-impact group dedicated to building the vehicle for AI-driven business transformation. We operate at the intersection of applied research and production, ensuring our technology is not only cutting-edge but also optimized for performance, reliability, and functional quality for our 80,000+ monthly users.

Your Impact

As an Automation AI Ops Engineer, you will serve as a modern-day functional and performance evaluation leader, driving the transformation of our regression testing ecosystem. You will move beyond manual processes to implement AI-driven agents that generate, validate, and maintain regression suites for both new and legacy features. By leveraging advanced AI coding tools (such as Cursor, Copilot, or Claude Code), you will bridge the gap between AI-generated code and production-ready software. This is a high-visibility role where your ability to automate functional quality and reduce technical debt will directly ensure that the Circuit platform remains a reliable, scalable vehicle for process automation across Cisco.

Responsibilities

• AI-Driven Regression:

Architect and drive AI-based automation strategies to replace manual QA, ensuring comprehensive regression coverage for the entire Circuit platform.

• Modernizing Legacy Features:

Utilize AI agents to modernize existing features, generating and maintaining accurate regression suites for legacy codebases.

• Agentic Workflow Development:

Build and refine workflows where AI agents generate code that passes automated validation and is successfully checked into the main production branch.

• Quality Validation:

Establish robust validation frameworks to ensure that AI-generated artifacts meet Cisco’s high standards for functional quality and performance.

• Cross-Functional Leadership:

Act as a "Team Captain" for automation initiatives, influencing peers and collaborating with engineering teams to integrate automated testing into the core development lifecycle.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with 6+ years, Master’s degree with 4+ years, or PhD with 1+ year of related experience in Computer Science, AI/ML, or a related technical field.
• Proven experience in test automation and regression framework development, with a deep understanding of functional quality assurance.
• Hands-on experience using AI-assisted coding tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code) to build, validate, and deploy production-level software artifacts. Ability to read and judge the stability of the auto generated code, such that, it does not violate security standards.
• Solid conceptual and practical knowledge of software development lifecycles, including CI/CD pipelines and automated testing best practices.
• Strong critical thinking skills with the ability to evaluate technical trade-offs between manual and automated testing strategies.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in AI Ops, MLOps, or building/fine-tuning custom LLMs.
• Proven track record of leading technical projects and mentoring junior engineers.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills; ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders and work effectively within a team environment.
• Experience with "Design Thinking" principles, specifically applying system-level design to AI-driven user experiences.
• Hands-on experience with real-time AI workload management and token optimization strategies.
• Experience building and productizing agentic applications with focus on evaluation and business acceptance.

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 our power starts with you.

Message to applicants applying to work in the U.S. and/or Canada:

The starting salary range posted for this position is $199,700.00 to $254,600.00 and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation, equity, or benefits.

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:

$199,700.00 - $292,800.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$174,500.00 - $260,500.00

• 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.