below marketmost similar roles pay hereabove market
This role pays more than
95%
of similar roles. Most pay
$169,550–$220,800
— the blue band above.
At the midpoint, this role pays about
$307k
versus about
$195k
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
307 open roles
on FindRole.
Listed pay typically runs
$167,700–$245,000
across 224 roles with salary data.
JOB TITLE: Principal Software Engineer
The Principal Software Engineer joins the Cisco Secure Access team to enhance cloud-delivered security service edge solutions grounded in zero trust. You will design, develop, and deliver scalable, production-quality applications while building new product capabilities and improving existing architecture. Daily responsibilities include overseeing code quality, mentoring junior developers, documenting technical specifications, and troubleshooting complex system-level stability issues. You will utilize Python, Go, or Java within AWS cloud environments, leveraging micro-services, APIs, and distributed systems. The role requires expertise in Kafka, Kubernetes, and NoSQL, alongside experience with agentic systems and LLM applications. You will solve critical security problems involving ZTNA, SWG, DNS, and CASB, ensuring secure access to resources while managing data pipelines and implementing modern frontend frameworks like TypeScript to maintain high web performance.
What does a Software Engineer earn in California?
Median $214500 from 1193 postings across 76 companies.
Design, develop, and deliver scalable, supportable, and maintainable production-quality applications.
Build new product capabilities and improve existing processes and architecture.
Partner with internal and external teams to define business and technical requirements.
Document technical specifications and communicate technical solutions to architecture groups and leadership.
Oversee architecture, design, code quality, and production deployments.
Participate in design and code reviews while mentoring junior developers.
Evaluate new technology stacks and third-party tools through proof of concepts and benchmarks.
Troubleshoot sophisticated system-level stability and scalability issues.
What we're looking for
Hold a Bachelor's degree in Engineering or Computer Science with 17+ years of experience, or a Master's degree with 10+ years of experience.
Possess 7+ years of experience in a technical leadership role and architecture.
Have 10+ years of experience in development in AWS cloud or similar environments.
Demonstrate proficiency in Python, Go, or Java.
Have experience in distributed systems, cloud-native architecture, APIs, micro-services, data platforms, multi-tenant services, and production operations.
Have experience building agentic systems and leveraging AI to improve productivity across the software development lifecycle (preferred).
Have experience with SSE/SASE, zero-trust architecture, identity-aware access, or DNS security (preferred).
Have experience with LLM applications, RAG, agent orchestration, and data pipelines using Kafka or Kubernetes (preferred).
Video Coding
AV1
AV2
AVC
HEVC
VVC
Deep Learning
Computer Vision
C++
Python
gStreamer
Docker
REST APIs
XML
JSON
Git
GitHub
ABR Algorithms
Video Processing