below marketmost similar roles pay hereabove market
This role pays more than
96%
of similar roles. Most pay
$184,312–$260,812
— the blue band above.
At the midpoint, this role pays about
$338k
versus about
$223k
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.
The Senior Director, Hardware - Mechanical & Thermal Eng leads a multi-disciplinary engineering organization within the Networking Hardware Engineering team. This role involves managing a high-performing organization of engineering managers, senior engineers, and technicians to drive the research, design, and optimization of mechanical and thermal systems for networking products. Key responsibilities include leading the design of mechanical enclosures, sheet metal, cooling systems, and tolerance analysis while establishing multi-year technology roadmaps. The position requires expertise in Design-for-Reliability, high-speed connector integration, and liquid cooling architectures. Candidates must utilize AI/ML tools, computational optimization, and simulation techniques to accelerate workflows. The work focuses on solving complex thermal and mechanical challenges for high-density hardware, ensuring all designs comply with IEEE standards and industry regulations for service provider and enterprise routing and switching platforms.
Lead a multi-disciplinary engineering organization to research, design, and optimize mechanical and thermal systems for networking products.
Drive the development of next-generation package, board, and system technologies through simulation and experimental validation.
Manage and mentor a high-performing team of engineering managers, senior engineers, and technicians.
Oversee the end-to-end execution of complex mechanical and thermal engineering projects to meet company goals and quality landmarks.
Design and optimize mechanical enclosures, cooling systems, tolerance analysis, and material selection for networking applications.
Develop and scale engineering standards using AI/ML tools and computational optimization to accelerate design workflows.
Author multi-year technology roadmaps for next-generation thermal, mechanical, and packaging solutions.
Present complex technical updates and engineering tradeoffs to executive leadership and select customers.
What we're looking for
Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related technical field or equivalent practical work experience.
14+ years of professional engineering experience in mechanical and thermal engineering within microelectronics, networking, telecommunications, or hardware systems.
5+ years of direct technical leadership experience managing multidisciplinary engineering teams.
Experience in mechanical enclosure design, cooling system/thermal design, or tolerance analysis for electronic hardware systems.
Master’s degree or Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering or a related technical field or equivalent work experience in the hardware industry (preferred).
Direct experience building high-density hardware products for AI/ML and Hyperscale customers (preferred).
Proven expertise with advanced cold plates, liquid cooling architectures, optical devices, and novel cooling solutions (preferred).
Deep experience with high-speed connectors, sheet metal fabrication, and ruggedized enclosures (preferred).
GPU
CPU
PCIe
Ethernet
InfiniBand
High-Performance Computing
HPC
Board Design
System Integration
Root Cause Analysis
RCA
Failure Analysis
Power Delivery
Cooling Technologies
Rack-level Architecture
Hardware Reliability
Firmware
Data Center Operations