Director, Software Engineering | C++, Go, Python, SONiC, People Leadership | 15+ years, Bangalore
Cisco · Posted Nov 4
Networking, cloud, cybersecurity, and enterprise IT infrastructure services
Get a personal compatibility score
Add a resume for personal matches
About the role
The Cisco Distributed System Engineering (DSE) group builds products that power the largest networks in the world, harnessing open-source technologies while pushing the boundaries on systems and silicon architecture to support AI/ML workloads and growing internet scale. The team works on large-scale distributed systems and open networking, with end-to-end product development and production support responsibilities. As Director of Software Engineering and Site Lead in India, this role leads a high-performing organization responsible for SONiC development across platform enablement, manageability, control plane, and DevOps, partnering closely with US-based engineering teams.
What you will do
- Lead engineering teams and managers deliver reliable SONiC capabilities across platform enablement, manageability, control plane, and DevOps.
- Serve as the India team site lead, establishing vision, culture, organizational priorities, and strong collaboration with US counterparts and global engineering teams.
- Own hiring, workforce planning, performance management, succession planning, and retention while building a diverse, inclusive, and high-performing organization.
- Develop engineering managers and technical talent through coaching, career growth, knowledge sharing, and opportunities to lead complex technical initiatives.
- Drive engineering excellence, innovation, customer impact, and active engagement with the SONiC open-source and networking communities.
Skills used in this role
What the employer is looking for
- Bachelor's degree in computer science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field, plus 15+ years of professional software engineering experience.
- 5+ years of experience managing engineering managers or leading multiple software engineering teams.
- 5+ years of experience developing or operating network operating systems, distributed systems, cloud infrastructure, or control-plane/data-plane software.
- 3+ years of experience delivering production software on Linux using C++, Python, Go, or equivalent systems programming languages.
- Experience leading software delivery across multiple engineering components, including planning, execution, release, and operational support.
Preferred qualifications
- Master's degree in computer science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related technical field.
- Experience with networking, SONiC, open networking, network operating systems, or cloud-scale infrastructure.
- Experience across platform enablement, hardware abstraction, manageability, control plane, automation, and DevOps.
- Experience leading geographically distributed engineering organizations of 50 or more employees.
- Contributions to open-source projects, industry standards, technical communities, patents, publications, or conference presentations.
Benefits and support
- Compensation and benefits are detailed in the job posting
About Cisco
Cisco Systems, Inc. is a worldwide leader in IT, networking, and cybersecurity solutions that transform how people connect, communicate, and collaborate. The company specializes in routing, switching, data center infrastructure, and software-defined networking designed for enterprises of all sizes. Today, Cisco drives major advancements in AI infrastructure, observability, and secure hybrid work platforms.
- Industry
- Networking
- Company size
- 90000+ employees
- Founded
- 1984
- Location
- San Jose, California, USA
- Funding stage
- Public Company
Leadership
Chair and Chief Executive Officer
President and Chief Product Officer
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Executive Vice President and Chief People, Policy & Purpose Officer
Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Experience Officer
Recent coverage
Cisco News
Cisco's Jeetu Patel: AI Orders Hit $9.3 Billion After a $1 Billion Bet Nobody Took Seriously2026-10-29
Cisco News
Cisco Introduces Ecosystem Deal Registration and Expands AI-Enabled Tools at Partner Summit 20262026-10-26
PR Newswire
Cisco and NVIDIA Advance Open AI Infrastructure at OCP Global Summit 20262026-10-12
Cisco Press Room
Splunk State of Observability 2026: Restoring Predictability in the AI Era2026-10-20