Description
The high-impact System Thermal Engineering and Mechanical (STEAM) team within Networking Hardware Engineering (NHE) provides engineering leadership and foundational innovation across Cisco's core verticals. As the Senior Director of Mechanical and Thermal Engineering, you will lead a specialized, multi-disciplinary engineering organization dedicated to the research, design, and optimization of mechanical and thermal systems across the networking sector.
Responsibilities:
- Manage, mentor, and develop a high-performing organization of engineering managers, senior engineers, and technicians.
- Be responsible for the end-to-end development and execution of complex mechanical and thermal engineering projects.
- Lead the design and optimization of mechanical enclosures, sheet metal, cooling systems, tolerance analysis, material selection, and Design-for-Reliability (DFR).
- Develop and scale engineering standards across multiple product lines.
- Ensure all hardware designs strictly align with relevant IEEE standards, industry regulations, safety requirements, and standards.
- Drive deep design reviews of mechanical enclosures, sheet metal fabrication, high-speed connector integration, tolerance analysis, and partner with technical collaborators on granular structural and thermal simulations.
- Establish seamless data transfer and collaboration workflows between STEAM and partner teams.
- Develop and execute strategic business and technology plans for the mechanical and thermal engineering department.
- Synthesize complex technical updates, engineering tradeoffs, and critical needs into clear, actionable presentations for executive leadership.
Minimum Qualifications:
- 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.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Master’s degree or Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering or a related technical field or equivalent work experience in the hardware industry.
- Direct experience building high-density hardware products for AI/ML and Hyperscale customers.
- Proven expertise with advanced cold plates, backing plates, liquid cooling architectures, optical devices, Co-Packaged Optics / Chip-Package-Optics (CPO), Chip-Package-Copper (CPC), Thermal Interface Materials (TIMs), and novel cooling solutions.