AI Operations Engineer

Location: RTP, North Carolina, US

The application window is expected to close on: 10/28/2026

2027488 – AI Operations Engineer – (Hybrid)

NOTE: Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.

This role is listed as hybrid – eligible new-hire candidates will need to live in proximity to a physical location and be present in office on a semi-regular basis.

Meet the Team

You’ll work with a small team of upbeat developers providing applications which support Cisco’s Vulnerability Tracking and Disclosure processes. You’ll work to incorporate AI-enhancements to enable the next generation of Cisco’s tools and processes. You’ll be given plenty of leeway to use your skills to brainstorm, build, and implement exciting new AI capabilities which improve the team’s workflow and enhance information and services available to Cisco customers.

Your Impact

You will serve as a primary engineer on ground breaking AI projects to accelerate how Cisco assesses, remediates, and reports Security Vulnerability applicability to Cisco and Third-Party code bases. You will develop, build, and operate agentic AI workflows for vulnerability analysis and evaluate the performance of system outputs. By locating new data sources and crafting feedback loops, you will systematically improve the correctness and quality of agentic actions. Additionally, you will design scaling strategies and infrastructure based on compute performance evaluations and partner with vulnerability analysts to validate outputs.

Minimum Qualifications

• Experience: 7+ years of professional software-development experience, including the design and delivery of applications powered by large language models
• Programming: Proficiency in Python and experience developing production APIs and services
• Applied AI: Experience using commercial foundation models (e.g., OpenAI GPT, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini) and implementing RAG, embeddings, structured outputs, and agentic workflows
• Production Engineering: Experience with cloud platforms, REST APIs,
• SQL/data systems, Git, CI/CD, and observability tools

Preferred Qualifications

Education: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, or a related technical rigor (or equivalent professional experience)

Security Domain: Certifications in or proven experience working in computer security or vulnerability management.

AI Orchestration: Experience with LangGraph, LangChain, or equivalent orchestration frameworks, and LLM observability platforms.

Infrastructure: Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, vector databases, and MCP; or equivalent.

Data Systems: Experience with Postgres databases.

AI Scaling: Experience operating AI applications at production scale, including fine-tuning and post-training.

Why Cisco?

At Cisco, we’re revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era – and beyond. We’ve been innovating fearlessly for 40 years to create solutions that power how humans and technology work together across the physical and digital worlds. These solutions provide customers with unparalleled security, visibility, and insights across the entire digital footprint.

Fueled by the depth and breadth of our technology, we experiment and create meaningful solutions. Add to that our worldwide network of doers and experts, and you’ll see that the opportunities to grow and build are limitless. We work as a team, collaborating with empathy to make really big things happen on a global scale. Because our solutions are everywhere, our impact is everywhere.

We are Cisco, and our power starts with you.

Message to applicants applying to work in the U.S. and/or Canada:

The starting salary range posted for this position is $169,800.00 to $214,800.00 and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation*, equity, or benefits.

Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location, market conditions, job-related skillset, experience, qualifications, education, certifications, and/or training. The full salary range for certain locations is listed below. For locations not listed below, the recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.

U.S. employees are offered benefits, subject to Cisco’s plan eligibility rules, which include medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability coverage, and basic life insurance. Please see the Cisco careers site to discover more benefits and perks. Employees may be eligible to receive grants of Cisco restricted stock units, which vest following continued employment with Cisco for defined periods of time.

U.S. employees are eligible for paid time away as described below, subject to Cisco’s policies:

10 paid holidays per full calendar year, plus 1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees

1 paid day off for employee’s birthday, paid year-end holiday shutdown, and 4 paid days off for personal wellness determined by Cisco

Non-exempt employees** receive 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year, accrued at rate of 4.92 hours per pay period for full-time employees

Exempt employees participate in Cisco’s flexible vacation time off program, which has no defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use (subject to availability and some business limitations)

80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter, and up to 80 hours of unused sick time carried forward from one calendar year to the next

Additional paid time away may be requested to deal with critical or emergency issues for family members

Optional 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer

For non-sales roles, employees are also eligible to earn annual bonuses subject to Cisco’s policies.

Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components, subject to the applicable Cisco plan. For quota-based incentive pay, Cisco typically pays as follows:

.75% of incentive target for each 1% of revenue attainment up to 50% of quota;

1.5% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 50% and 75%;

1% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 75% and 100%; and

Once performance exceeds 100% attainment, incentive rates are at or above 1% for each 1% of attainment with no cap on incentive compensation.

For non-quota-based sales performance elements such as strategic sales objectives, Cisco may pay 0% up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid.

The applicable full salary ranges for this position, by specific state, are listed below:

New York City Metro Area

$203,000.00 - $297,400.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state

$181,000.00 - $264,600.00

• For quota-based sales roles on Cisco’s sales plan, the ranges provided in this posting include base pay and sales target incentive compensation combined.

** Employees in Illinois, whether exempt or non-exempt, will participate in a unique time off program to meet local requirements.

Additional Locations: Austin, Texas, US, Nashville, Tennessee, US, Atlanta, Georgia, US, Chicago, Illinois, US