# Quality Lead - Hyperscale Systems

**Company**: Cisco
**Location**: San Jose, California
**Work arrangement**: onsite
**Experience**: senior
**Job type**: full-time
**Salary**: $233,900.00 - $330,400.00
**Category**: Engineering
**Industry**: Technology

**Apply**: https://cisco.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Cisco_Careers/job/San-Jose-California-US/Principal-Hardware-Engineer_2028596?utm_source=yubhub.co&utm_medium=jobs_feed&utm_campaign=apply
**Canonical**: https://yubhub.co/jobs/job_99273e7b-354

## Description

The Networking Hardware Engineering (NHE) team at Cisco creates innovative hardware platforms central to the AI era. You will define and drive the end-to-end quality strategy for next-generation hyperscale switching, routing, wireless access points, AI servers, and optical platforms.

Responsibilities:

- Define and drive the end-to-end quality strategy for next-generation hyperscale switching, routing, wireless access points, AI servers, and optical platforms, from architecture and development through qualification, high-volume production, and customer deployment.

- Lead resolution of complex product quality issues and customer cases, bringing together engineering, manufacturing, operations, and customer teams to identify root causes, contain impact, and deliver timely, lasting corrective actions.

- Serve as a senior technical partner concern point for critical customer issues, including deployment, interoperability, reliability, performance, and system integration challenges across Cisco and third-party products.

- Establish thorough quality and reliability practices across silicon, high-speed SerDes, optics, PCB, power, thermal, mechanical, firmware, diagnostics, and network operating systems.

- Drive system-level failure analysis and risk reviews. Translate field data, customer feedback, and manufacturing findings into preventive actions that improve product robustness and customer experience.

- Lead quality readiness for emerging Ethernet platforms, including pluggable, linear-drive, and near-packaged/co-packaged optical solutions.

- Partner directly with hyperscale customers to understand operational requirements, resolve quality concerns, and build confidence in product readiness, reliability, and serviceability.

- Define and strengthen qualification, validation, diagnostics, and production-monitoring plans to detect issues early and reduce recurrence in deployed systems.

- Influence multi-functional teams and senior leaders on quality priorities, product risk, and corrective-action plans. Mentor engineers and represent Cisco in strategic customer and industry engagements.

Minimum Qualifications:

- Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering or computer engineering or computer science, with 15+ years of experience; master’s degree with 12+ years in electrical engineering or computer engineering or computer science; or PhD in electrical engineering or computer engineering or computer science with 10+ years of related experience such as networking, switching, optics, or data-center infrastructure.

- Experience leading quality, reliability, systems engineering, or customer issue resolution for complex, high-volume networking, switching, optical, or hyperscale data-center products.

- Experience driving complex technical investigations from customer symptom and data collection through root-cause identification, corrective action, and verification of effectiveness.

- Experience with Ethernet switching and optical communication technologies, including switch ASICs, high-speed SerDes, signal integrity, optical modules, DSPs, link budgets, and system validation.

- Experience leading multi-functional response to critical customer cases, field partner concerns, product defects, or interoperability issues.

Preferred Qualifications:

- Strong judgment in assessing product risk and prioritizing actions, with the ability to influence engineering teams, customers, and executive partners.

- Experience with quality and reliability across fixed, modular, chassis-based, or disaggregated switching platforms.

- Knowledge of hyperscale data-center architectures, AI/ML fabrics, scale-out networks, and distributed systems.

- Experience with silicon photonics, coherent optics, linear-drive optics, near-packaged/co-packaged optics, or optical switching.

- Familiarity with SONiC, Linux-based network operating systems, SAI, platform firmware, telemetry, diagnostics, and fleet automation.

- Experience using field, manufacturing, and test data to identify emerging quality trends and drive preventive improvements.

- Contributions to industry standards, patents, or publications, with recognized technical leadership in networking quality or optical systems.

Benefits:

- Medical, dental, and vision insurance

- 401(k) plan with Cisco matching contribution

- Paid parental leave

- Short and long-term disability coverage

- Basic life insurance

- Paid time away (vacation, holidays, sick time)

- Optional 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer

Salary Range: $233,900.00 - $330,400.00

## Skills

### Required
- Electrical Engineering
- Computer Engineering
- Computer Science
- Networking
- Switching
- Optics
- Data Center Infrastructure
- Ethernet Switching
- Optical Communication Technologies

### Nice to have
- Hyperscale Data Center Architectures
- AI/ML Fabrics
- Scale-out Networks
- Distributed Systems
- Silicon Photonics
- Coherent Optics
- Linear-Drive Optics
- SONiC
- Linux-based Network Operating Systems

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Source: [Apply at cisco.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com](https://cisco.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Cisco_Careers/job/San-Jose-California-US/Principal-Hardware-Engineer_2028596?utm_source=yubhub.co&utm_medium=jobs_feed&utm_campaign=apply)