Distinguished Hardware Engineer

The application window is expected to close on: 10/05/2026 Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received .

Meet the Team The Silicon & Optics (SaO) QUAD Quality team, part of Cisco’s Common Hardware Group (CHG), operates at the critical intersection of field performance, customer trust, and continuous product improvement. We are seeking a Distinguished Engineer to lead our most complex root cause investigations, translate technical findings into durable defensive design improvements, and serve as the primary technical authority representing Cisco’s quality standards to our executive-level customers.

Your Impact This is a senior-level technical leadership position for someone passionate about defining and advancing hardware quality standards across Cisco’s high-performance portfolio, including switching, routing, and AI data center compute products.

Responsibilities

• Define and govern comprehensive hardware quality strategies and validation standards, ensuring long-term reliability for hyperscaler, enterprise, and AI data center markets.
• Lead high-stakes root cause analysis and corrective action programs, addressing critical failures across design, manufacturing, and supply chain to ensure both immediate remediation and long-term architectural robustness.
• Institutionalize lessons learned from field and manufacturing failures by championing "defensive design" principles—such as enhanced fault tolerance and design margins—to prevent recurring issues in future generations.
• Utilize large-scale data analysis and AI-driven pattern recognition on field telemetry to proactively identify systemic trends and mitigate emerging risks before they impact customers.
• Advise executive leadership on product roadmaps, represent Cisco’s quality commitments to key customers, and elevate the engineering community through mentorship and industry-wide influence.

Minimum Qualifications

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