"Alerted.org

The application window for this role is expected to close on 11/31/2025. However, the job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.

Meet the team

The AI Defense team is a passionate and innovative group of experts dedicated to safeguarding AI systems and ensuring their safety, integrity, and robustness. We are committed to staying at the forefront of the field, employing innovative techniques and strategies to tackle complex challenges. As part of our team, you will have the opportunity to contribute to the development and deployment of secure AI solutions that make a meaningful impact in industry, and for a better world.

Your Impact

+ Lead the design, development, and evolution of our AI validation platform, enabling secure and reliable deployment of AI systems.

+ Drive the creation and curation of AI artifacts including the AI validation prompt bank, AI security policies, AI taxonomies and more, supporting both AI validation workflows and broader AI product development.

+ Collaborate across engineering, security research, and product teams to establish robust frameworks for evaluating AI systems’ trustworthiness and resilience.

+ Provide technical leadership and mentorship within the team, establishing leading practices for development, testing, and artifact management.

Minimum qualifications

+ Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field and 6+ years of software engineering experience, or Master’s degree with 4+ years of experience.

+ Experience designing and building scalable cloud-based systems (AWS, Azure, or GCP), including container orchestration (e.g., Kubernetes, Docker).

+ Proven experience in technical leadership, architecture design, and end-to-end feature ownership in AI/ML or platform domains.

+ Experience with API design and frameworks (e.g. OpenAPI, GraphQL, gRPC, REST, etc.)

Preferred qualifications

+ Exceptional problem-solving skills, with the ability to analyze complex requirements and propose effective solutions.

+ Experience developing, deploying, and maintaining applications in AWS environment with cloud native solutions.

+ Experience designing or managing structured content like taxonomy systems, policy engines, or evaluation datasets.

+ Background in AI security, privacy, or model robustness (e.g., red teaming, DLP for LLMs, misuse detection).

\#CiscoAIJobs

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 $212,300.00 to $275,800.00 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.

+ 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:

$212,300.00 - $317,100.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$193,800.00 - $282,100.00

* 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.

Cisco is an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, genetic information, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis.

Cisco will consider for employment, on a case by case basis, qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.