This role pays more than
95%
of similar roles. Most pay
$174,600–$225,000
— the shaded band above.
At the midpoint, this role pays about
$307k
versus about
$200k
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 Principal Software Engineer within the Cisco Secure Access team, you will join a cloud-delivered security edge solution focused on zero trust architecture to protect organizations from cyber threats. You will design, develop, and deliver scalable production-quality applications while improving existing processes and infrastructure. Your daily responsibilities include overseeing architecture, code quality, and deployments, mentoring junior developers, and troubleshooting complex system-level stability issues. The role requires expertise in distributed systems, cloud-native architecture, microservices, and data platforms. You will work with technologies including Python, Go, Java, Kafka, Kubernetes, NoSQL, and TypeScript. Additionally, you will build agentic systems using LLM applications, retrieval-augmented generation, and prompt management. This position addresses critical security challenges such as identity-aware access, DNS security, and data protection within a multi-tenant service environment to ensure secure user experiences across diverse devices.
What does a Software Engineer earn in California?
Median $214000 from 775 postings across 63 companies.
Design, develop, and deliver scalable, supportable, and maintainable production-quality applications for cloud security services.
Build new product capabilities while improving existing system architectures and development processes.
Translate business and technical requirements into detailed technical specifications for development teams.
Oversee architecture, design, code quality, and deployment cycles across multiple fast-paced teams.
Communicate complex technical solutions and architectural designs to leadership and internal stakeholder groups.
Mentor junior developers and provide guidance on engineering standards and best practices.
Evaluate new technology stacks and third-party tools through proofs of concept and benchmarking.
Troubleshoot and resolve sophisticated system-level stability and scalability issues in production environments.
What we're looking for
A Bachelor's degree in Engineering or Computer Science with 17+ years of experience, or a Master's degree with 10 years of experience owning architecture and technical strategy.
At least 7 years of experience in a technical leadership role and architecture.
At least 10 years of experience in development in AWS cloud or similar environments.
Proficiency in Python, Go, or Java.
Deep expertise in distributed systems, cloud-native architecture, APIs, micro-services, data platforms, multi-tenant services, and production operations.
Experience building agentic systems and leveraging AI to improve productivity across the software development lifecycle (preferred).
Experience with SSE/SASE, zero-trust architecture, identity-aware access, DNS security, or other related security technologies (preferred).
Experience with LLM applications, RAG, agent orchestration, and advanced data pipelines using Kafka and Kubernetes (preferred).