This role pays more than
99%
of similar roles. Most pay
$195,112–$254,750
— the shaded band above.
At the midpoint, this role pays about
$388k
versus about
$225k
for comparable roles.
Based on 240 similar postings.
Employer
About Cisco
Cisco Systems is the world''s leading networking technology company, designing and manufacturing networking hardware, telecommunications equipment, and cybersecurity solutions for businesses and governments. Industry: Networking Technology & Cybersecurity
Cisco currently has
196 open roles
on FindRole.
Listed pay typically runs
$167,700–$245,200
across 196 roles with salary data.
As a Distinguished Machine Learning Engineer on the AI Software & Platform team, you will lead the architecture for Cisco Cloud Control and Canvas to build an AI-driven Agentic Ops powerhouse. You will bridge the gap between research and production by designing multi-year technical strategies for agentic systems, establishing company-wide standards for AI safety, observability, and compliance. Your daily work involves architecting complex systems using hybrid and graph-based retrieval for cross-product telemetry and automated remediation. You will utilize Go, Python, or Rust to develop high-scale infrastructure while implementing features like indirect prompt injection defense and human-in-the-loop gates. The role focuses on solving the challenge of creating unified, scalable, and secure autonomous networking systems. Key technical areas include LLM-based systems, Model Context Protocol integration, and advanced post-training methodologies like RLHF or DPO for infrastructure management.
What does a Machine Learning Engineer earn in California?
Median $246394 from 172 postings across 28 companies.
Define and implement multi-year technical strategies for agentic systems across Cisco's product portfolio.
Lead the architecture for Cisco Cloud Control and Canvas platforms to enable AI-driven operations.
Serve as the primary technical authority for negotiating architectural decisions with senior executives.
Architect complex systems using hybrid and graph-based retrieval for telemetry and automated remediation.
Establish company-wide standards for AI safety, observability, and compliance in production environments.
Drive the adoption of industry standards such as the Model Context Protocol (MCP).
Mentor Principal and Senior-level leaders to foster a high-performance engineering culture.
Represent Cisco’s technical excellence at industry forums, standards bodies, and global conferences.
What we're looking for
Bachelor's degree in computer science or related field with 17+ years experience, Master's with 14+ years, or PhD with 10+ years.
At least 5 years of experience at a Principal level or above influencing technical strategy across three distinct product organizations.
2+ years of experience in the design and production deployment of LLM-based systems for high-volume users or requests.
Proven experience architecting and shipping production-grade multi-agent systems using frameworks like LangGraph, Temporal, or similar state-machine stacks.
10+ years of experience writing production-grade code in Go, Python, or Rust within hyperscale environments.
Experience implementing at least three critical safety or observability features in a production environment.
Preferred expertise in AI governance frameworks, advanced post-training methodologies like RLHF/DPO, and inference serving optimizations.
Preferred experience in AIOps or network management involving correlated context across infrastructure layers.