AI Operations Engineering Technical Leader at Cisco

The application window is expected to close on: 06/01/2026

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

Meet the Team

The Cisco AI Software & Platform Group incubates and delivers Generative AI based solutions to reinvent Cisco's existing Products and how customers interact with them. Our Group is also introducing new offerings that help customers roll out Generative AI at scale while doing so responsibly. Ultimately, we are doing so through internal platforms that unlock the benefits of this technology for Cisco teams and partners across our Security, Enterprise Networking, Collaboration, and Splunk portfolios.

Your Impact

Cisco is looking for a highly experienced and innovative ML Operations Engineer to join

our global DevOps team. In this critical role, you will drive the production readiness, deployment, and maintenance of scalable machine learning systems. You will work closely with a cross-functional team of data scientists, software development engineers, information security professionals, and DevOps engineers on creating secure and resilient ML pipelines.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, build, and manage robust ML pipelines for training, validation, and deployment

• Build and maintain scalable infrastructure using Kubeflow for ML experiments and inference in multiple public clouds

• Implement CI/CD in GitHub for ML systems ensuring reproducibility and traceability

• Experience driving the implementation LLM evaluation and observability solutions

• Advocate automation in every layer of the infrastructure stack using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) principles and tools such as Terraform, Helm, and Git Ops frameworks

• Monitor models in production for performance degradation, drift, and fairness

• Participate in on-call rotation for ML Operations

• Work closely with data scientists, engineers, and product managers to understand requirements and integrate models into applications

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Comp Science, Engineering (or related field /industry) + 8 years of DevOps experience, Masters + 6 years of related experience, or PhD + 3 years of related experience.

• Understanding of CI/CD pipelines and automation tools.

• Knowledge of cloud platforms, minimally AWS with Azure and GCP as a bonus

• Proficiency in Python and familiarity with ML libraries (e.g., Scikit-learn, Py Torch, Tensor Flow, etc.)

• Strong understanding of ML lifecycle management and model versioning

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience deploying large language models (LLMs) or generative AI systems

• Familiarity with feature stores, vector databases, or data observability platforms

• Excellent communication, collaboration, and mentoring skills.

• Deep expertise in CI/CD tooling and practices, including hands-on experience with systems like Jenkins, GitLab, ArgoCD, or similar.

• Strong proficiency in Kubernetes, Docker, and cloud-native patterns in AWS, Azure, or GCP.

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 $212,300.00 to $275,800.00 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:

$212,300.00 - $317,100.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$193,800.00 - $282,100.00

• 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.