Principal Software Engineer, AI Defense (Hybrid)
Cisco Systems
Listing collected from Cisco Systems's career site. NextChapter is independent of Cisco Systems.
Milpitas, CA · Posted October 30, 2026
Just laid off? Start here: a plan for the first weeks
See every open role at Cisco Systems
More in California job market · All Principal Software Engineer jobs (356) · Technology & Software · Data & Analytics jobs
More roles at Cisco Systems
- Sr. Director of Data Center Networking Infrastructure Product Marketing · San Jose, CA
- Principal Corporate Counsel: Data Governance & Regulatory · Research Triangle Park, NC
- Partner Sourcing Manager - Hybrid · San Jose, CA
- Director, Associate General Counsel: Product Legal · Research Triangle Park, NC
- Director, Pricing Strategy and Monetization ( Remote) · San Jose, CA
- Senior Director, Communications Orchestration & AI Transformation · San Jose, CA
Similar jobs
- Principal Electrical Engineer Firmware · RTX · goleta, CA
- Principal Software Engineer - DevSecOps · RTX · san jose, CA
- Principal Program Systems Integration Engineer · Trinzic · El Segundo, CA
- Principal Software Engineer · Trinzic · El Segundo, CA
- Principal Software Engineer, Embedded (RIS) · Hewlett Packard Enterprise · Sunnyvale, CA
- Software Engineer Sr Stf - E5 · Lockheed Martin · Sunnyvale, CA
Where Milpitas, CA ranks
Where Milpitas, CA placed in our monthly rankings, month by month. Each month stays online at its own address.
November 2026
- #12Best cities for mid-career professionals in the West Coast60% · of 71
- #17Best cities for manufacturing and industrial pay after cost of living$132k · of 35
- #19Best cities for pay after cost of living in California$149k · of 32
- #20Best all-round cities for mid-career professionals in the West Coast46 / 100 · of 39
- #20Best all-round cities for AI careers in the West Coast44 / 100 · of 39
- #21Cities with the most jobs that need no experience in the West Coast0.8% · of 66
Rankings about data & analytics jobs
- Best cities for data and analytics jobs #1 New York (1,713 openings)
- Best cities for data and analytics pay after cost of living #1 Foster ($232k)
- Most requested AI skills in data and analytics jobs #1 Machine learning engineering (17.1%)
- AI tools named most often in data and analytics jobs #1 Databricks (7.6%)
- Employers with the most data and analytics jobs #1 Amazon (711 roles)
Data & Analytics jobs · Top Data & Analytics employers · All rankings
Pay compared with the market
This listing does not state pay. Across 91 open principal software engineer listings that state pay, the middle half runs $208,500 to $320,000 and the median is $275,000.
Listed pay is what employers advertise, not what people are paid.
Principal Software Engineer salaries by state · Check your own pay
How AI is used in this kind of work
Among software developers, AI is already used for some of the tasks. Measured exposure for software developers: 29% (some).
Share of this job’s tasks that AI is already used for at work, from real usage. It is not a forecast of job loss, and a low number means no use seen yet. Source: Anthropic Economic Index.
About the job
We are seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead the security architecture for Cisco's AI Defense platforms. Drive the design of high-throughput control and data planes, safeguarding enterprise AI workflows. Ideal for experienced engineers with a strong background in distributed systems and AI security.