Technical Lead (C/Python and Networking Protocols)

  • Location:
    San Jose, California, US
  • Area of Interest
    Security
  • Compensation Range
    173100 USD - 241700 USD
  • Job Type
    Professional
  • Technology Interest
    Software Development
  • Job Id
    1432477

The application window is expected to close on 12/20/2024. 

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

(This is a hybrid role working onsite 3 days a week in the San Jose office)

Meet the Team

Cisco Secure Access is a cloud-delivered security platform designed to provide businesses with comprehensive protection against evolving cybersecurity threats while ensuring secure and efficient access to the internet and cloud applications. Cisco Secure Access is a key part of Cisco's broader security portfolio and is built to offer scalable, flexible, and fast solutions for securing remote users, branch offices, and mobile devices in a hybrid or multi-cloud environment. Cisco Secure Access provides a robust, cloud-based security framework, leveraging sophisticated technologies such as DNS-layer security, secure web gateway (SWG), cloud-delivered firewall, and cloud-native threat intelligence to protect organizations from malicious activity while optimizing internet access for end users.

Your Impact

You will combine deep technical expertise with strong leadership and a passion for building secure, scalable solutions. This individual will help shape the direction of our cloud security products, guide the development of innovative features, and ensure that our solutions remain at the cutting edge of security technology.

You will play a pivotal role in leading the technical design, development, and delivery of our security solutions. This is a highly visible leadership position where you’ll drive the technical direction, mentor engineers, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to tackle sophisticated challenges.

You'll leverage your expertise in cloud security, networking, and engineering leadership to deliver high-quality, secure, and scalable products. You will also take ownership of key features, guide the team through architectural decisions, and lead the development lifecycle from design to deployment.

Responsibilities will include:

  • Foster a culture of learning and growth by mentoring engineers, providing constructive feedback, and encouraging innovation. Help your team members grow their technical expertise.
  • Own major features and components from conception to delivery, ensuring that technical solutions meet business objectives, security requirements, and user needs. 
  • Demonstrate your understanding of networking principles and protocols (e.g., TCP/IP, DNS, HTTP/S) to ensure that our cloud security solutions protect against network-related vulnerabilities and provide secure access across cloud environments.
  • Participate in the on-call rotation to ensure the security, stability, and availability of production system and be ready to diagnose, tackle, and resolve production issues with urgency and efficiency, especially related to security or networking incidents.
  • Work with product managers, UX/UI designers, and other engineers to define feature requirements, deliver high-quality solutions and ensure alignment with product objectives. Be an advocate for security and scalability in all aspects of the product.
  • Identify new technologies and techniques that improve the security, performance, or scalability of our platform. Actively resolve potential issues before they impact customers or the platform.
  • Set the technical vision, expectations, and standards for the team. Hold the team accountable to those standards while fostering an environment that encourages teamwork, innovation, and continuous improvement.

Minimum Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science or a related field with 10 + years of experience in software engineering with an emphasis on cloud security, security, infrastructure, or networking
  • 7 + years of experience in cloud security technologies and frameworks, including secure access controls, identity and access management (IAM), encryption, and secure API
  • Experience with networking protocols and concepts (e.g., TCP/IP, DNS, HTTP/S, VPN, firewalls, routing) and how they apply to cloud security and experience leading teams to driving technical decisions
  • 5 + years of experience with at least one language (e.g., Python, Go, Java, C++, or similar) with deep experience in cloud-native development (microservices, containers etc.)
  • 7 + years of experience designing and building large-scale, distributed systems with a focus on performance, scalability, and security in cloud environments (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud)

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Cloud certifications (e.g., AWS Certified Solutions Architect, Azure Solutions Architect Expert, etc.) and security certifications (e.g., CISSP, CISM)
  • Experience with DevOps practices, containerization (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes), and CI/CD tools for automated deployment pipeline
  • Experience in leading incident response efforts and forensic analysis in a cloud security context
  • Experience with automation tools like Terraform, Ansible, or CloudFormation for infrastructure-as-code and CI/CD pipelines
  • Comfortable in a fast-paced, sophisticated environment where priorities may shift quickly

Why Cisco Secure

We're global, we're adaptable, we're diverse, and our security portfolio is as extensive as it is groundbreaking. Have you heard of Threat, Detection & Response, Zero Trust by Duo, Common Services Engineering, or Cloud & Network Security? Those are only a few of our product teams! The only thing we're missing is YOU.

Join an enterprise security leader with a start-up culture, committed to driving innovation and giving you the opportunity to make an impact. We #InnovateToWin and we know we're better together, that's why we're dedicated to inclusivity, collaboration, and diversity in everything we do.

We're proud to be the Best Small and Mid-Size Enterprises Security Solution Cisco Secure continues to grow and evolve year after year with 100% of Fortune 100 Companies using our products, and we're excited to see the new heights we'll reach with your passion for security, your customer focus, and your desire to change things up! There are so many amazing reasons to join Cisco. Learn more here!


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

When available, the salary range posted for this position reflects the projected hiring range for new hire, full-time salaries in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including equity or benefits. For non-sales roles the hiring ranges reflect base salary only; employees are also eligible to receive annual bonuses. Hiring ranges for sales positions include base and incentive compensation target. Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location and additional factors, including but not limited to skillset, experience, and relevant education, certifications, or training. Applicants may not be eligible for the full salary range based on their U.S. or Canada hiring location. The recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.

U.S. employees have access to quality medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, short and long-term disability coverage, basic life insurance and numerous wellbeing offerings.

Employees receive up to twelve paid holidays per calendar year, which includes one floating holiday (for non-exempt employees), plus a day off for their birthday. Non-Exempt new hires accrue up to 16 days of vacation time off each year, at a rate of 4.92 hours per pay period. Exempt new hires participate in Cisco’s flexible Vacation Time Off policy, which does not place a defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use, but is subject to availability and some business limitations. All new hires are eligible for Sick Time Off subject to Cisco’s Sick Time Off Policy and will have eighty (80) hours of sick time off provided on their hire date and on January 1st of each year thereafter.  Up to 80 hours of unused sick time will be carried forward from one calendar year to the next such that the maximum number of sick time hours an employee may have available is 160 hours. Employees in Illinois have a unique time off program designed specifically with local requirements in mind. All employees also have access to paid time away to deal with critical or emergency issues. We offer additional paid time to volunteer and give back to the community.

Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components. 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 up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid.

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