Senior Software Engineer

Cisco

. Design, develop, test, and improve high-performance software agents .

Posted 9/24/2026full-timeSan Jose • California • United StatesSenior💰 $167,700 - $245,200 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

Use this summary to align your resume positioning with the role.

Demonstrates expertise in software development across multiple operating systems, including Linux, Unix, and Windows, with a strong focus on systems programming in C or C++. Proficient in debugging complex software systems and implementing network policies in containerized environments.

Highest-signal resume keywords

C ProgrammingC++ ProgrammingMultithreaded Application DevelopmentOperating System FundamentalsContainerized Computing

ATS Keywords

Tailor your resume

Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Hard Skills

Software DevelopmentSystems ProgrammingDebuggingTroubleshootingNetwork Policy EnforcementCrash Dump AnalysisGolang ProgrammingInter-Process CommunicationFile SystemsNetworking

Soft Skills

CollaborationProblem-Solving

Tools & Technologies

LinuxUnixWindowsContainer-Based DeploymentsCloud Computing

Industry Keywords

High-Performance SoftwareSoftware AgentsCross-Functional CollaborationProduction DeploymentDistributed Computing

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

CloudFirewallsLinuxUnixC++Go

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Design, develop, test, and improve high-performance software agents
Develop software across Linux, Unix, and Windows environments and multiple processor architectures
Develop functionality for enforcing network policies on workloads from a central controller
Build capabilities to monitor and protect container-based deployments
Analyze complex software systems involving multiple processes and operating system kernels
Collaborate with software engineers, data engineers, data scientists, UX/UI engineers, technical support engineers, and other cross-functional partners
Participate throughout the product lifecycle, from design and rapid prototyping through production deployment and ongoing improvement
Collect workload information including network traffic, processes, users, and file access
Troubleshoot and deploy capabilities into production environments

Requirements

What you’ll need

Bachelor's degree with 5+ years of software development experience, or a Master's degree with 4+ years of software development experience
Experience with systems programming using C or C++, including multithreaded and multiprocess application development
Experience with operating system fundamentals, including threads, processes, file systems, networking, and inter-process communication
Experience debugging and troubleshooting complex software systems
Preferred: Windows systems programming
Preferred: Networking technologies and concepts
Preferred: Host-based firewalls
Preferred: Crash dump analysis
Preferred: Golang programming
Preferred: Software interacting with operating system kernels or other low-level system components
Preferred: Containerized, cloud, or distributed computing environments

Benefits

Comp & perks

Medical, dental and vision insurance
401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution
Paid parental leave
Short- and long-term disability coverage
Basic life insurance
Cisco restricted stock unit grants may be available
10 paid holidays per full calendar year
1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees
Paid employee birthday
Paid year-end holiday shutdown
4 paid personal wellness days
16 days of paid vacation for non-exempt employees
Flexible vacation time off program for eligible exempt employees
80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter
Up to 80 hours of unused sick time carried forward annually
Additional paid time away for critical or emergency family issues
Optional 10 paid volunteer days per year
Annual bonuses for non-sales roles
Performance-based incentive pay for sales-plan employees
Opportunities for growth and professional development