Lead Machine Learning Engineer, AI Defense

Cisco

Confirmed live 2 days ago High trust

Hybrid

Quick summary

Work type: Hybrid
Location: Milpitas, CASan Jose, CA
Salary: $216,300–$280,800 / yr
Employment: Full-time
Posted: 3 days ago
Freshness: Confirmed live 2 days ago
Closes: Nov 23, 2026
Nearby: 99+ roles within 25 mi

Market check

Salary context

Above market

How this pay compares to similar roles

Similar $225k

This role $249k

$167k $293k

below market most similar roles pay here above market

This role pays more than 71% of similar roles. Most pay $194,375–$254,750 — the blue band above. At the midpoint, this role pays about $249k 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 288 open roles on FindRole.

Listed pay typically runs $167,700–$245,200 across 225 roles with salary data.

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At a glance

TL;DR · Lead Machine Learning Engineer, AI Defense

Role Posting Log in to save

As a Lead Machine Learning Engineer within the AI Defense team, you will serve as a technical authority responsible for owning systems that detect, validate, and stop threats to AI. You will drive the architecture and implementation of scalable, high-performance platform services designed to protect AI applications and agents in real time. Your daily work involves solving complex problems regarding low-latency LLM inference at scale, secure deployments in customer environments, and model-hosting strategies that balance latency, cost, and scale. You will utilize skills in cloud-native backend development, modern cloud infrastructure, and distributed systems. The role specifically addresses the technical challenge of securing the next generation of enterprise AI platforms, autonomous agents, and foundation models against emerging security threats.

Skills

LLM Inference Generative AI Distributed Systems Cloud-Native AI/ML Infrastructure SaaS Backend Development Security Products AI Security Agile

What you'll do

Define and drive the architecture of scalable, high-performance platform services to protect AI applications in real time.
Lead the design and implementation of systems that detect, validate, and stop threats to AI.
Shape LLM inference and model-hosting strategies to balance latency, cost, and scale for enterprise workloads.
Solve complex technical problems regarding low-latency LLM inference and secure deployments in customer environments.
Partner with Product, Threat Research, and Ops teams to deploy production-grade features with operational excellence.
Act as a technical thought leader by communicating complex strategies and trade-offs to senior leadership.
Mentor the engineering team to raise technical standards and solve ambiguous problems.

What we're looking for

Bachelor's in Computer Science and 10+ years, Master's and 8+ years, or PhD and 3+ years of software engineering experience.
Experience architecting and delivering large-scale distributed systems.
Experience with cloud-native backend development and modern cloud infrastructure.
Prior experience with technical leadership across teams while remaining hands-on.
Experience with LLM inference, generative AI systems, or AI/ML infrastructure (preferred).
Background in security products or AI security (preferred).
Experience delivering SaaS and hybrid enterprise deployments (preferred).

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