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From the employer's careers site First seen 25 Oct 2026 · Still live on 31 Oct 2026

Lead Hardware Board Design Engineer

Cisco Milpitas, California senior full-time

Salary

$171,600 to $245,000 per year

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Description

The Cisco Service Provider Routing Hardware Engineering team develops next-generation hardware by adhering to IEEE standards and industry best practices. As a Lead Hardware Board Design Engineer, you will be a recognized technical leader for a product. You will apply deep hardware expertise to define architecture, lead complex product initiatives, resolve difficult technical issues, and guide engineers across disciplines.

Responsibilities:

  • Defining board-level architecture, technology choices, power-delivery strategy, and design direction for complex networking products.
  • Leading major hardware initiatives from requirements and architecture through validation, qualification, and manufacturing release.
  • Solving novel or high-risk signal integrity, power integrity, reliability, thermal, and manufacturing challenges.
  • Actively participating in design reviews, architecture discussions, cross-functional technical investigations, and laboratory work.
  • Guiding teams to clear, data-driven decisions.
  • Mentoring engineers and improving hardware delivery processes.
  • Establishing practical design methods, constraints, verification strategies, and quality improvements.
  • Partnering with silicon vendors, PCB fabricators, contract manufacturers, and other suppliers on technical tradeoffs and product execution.
  • Communicating technical risks, alternatives, and recommendations to senior stakeholders.
  • Contributing to product-line technology roadmaps.
  • Owning the design and validation of a sub-system.
  • Ensuring designs meet functional specifications.
  • Participating as a valuable team member in cross-functional meetings, specification creation, and technical documentation.

Minimum Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering and 7+ years of experience, or Master’s in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering and 5+ years of related experience, or PhD in Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering and 2+ years of related experience.
  • Experience with hardware board design and system-level development, including high-speed digital design, signal integrity, power integrity, and hardware validation using lab equipment such as oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and spectrum analyzers.
  • Experience with taking board designs from concept through production, including schematic generation, layouts, troubleshooting, and hands-on use of design tools such as Cadence Concept and Allegro.
  • Experience with networking, server, computer, or high-performance embedded systems, including technologies such as high-speed Ethernet, PCIe, DDR, SerDes, advanced packaging, multi-phase power conversion, thermal management, EMI/EMC.
  • Experience with leading technical projects or programs, partnering with silicon vendors, fabricators, contract manufacturers, or technology suppliers, and leading multi-site engineering teams or cross-functional tiger teams.

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Methodical, analytical approach to problem solving, experience with breaking down complex issues, evaluating evidence, and documenting clear conclusions and next steps.
  • Experience with networking product design.
  • Experience with co-packaged optics, near-packaged optics, or optical and signal-integrity budget analysis.
  • Experience creating test scripts in Python.
  • Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams.
  • Effective verbal and written communication skills.

Skills

Required

Nice to have

  • analytical approach
  • problem solving
  • networking product design
  • co-packaged optics
  • near-packaged optics
  • optical and signal-integrity budget analysis
  • test scripts in Python
  • cross-functional teams
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