Software Engineer - Routing Protocols and Network Infrastructure

Overview

This notice serves as an advertisement for possible upcoming employment opportunities at Cisco, specifically within the DSE Platform Independent Common (PI-Common) group. Although the exact opening may not be currently available, candidates applying may be contacted when a suitable position becomes open.

The PI-Common team is responsible for creating high-performing, platform-agnostic system software that operates on Cisco's leading routers and switches. Their work includes core routing protocols and essential infrastructure components underpinning large-scale infrastructure, cloud networking, and network experience products.

Team and Technology Focus

The team concentrates on important control-plane technologies such as Interior Gateway Protocols (IGP) including OSPF, IS-IS, EIGRP, RIP; BGP-LS; First Hop Redundancy Protocols like HSRP, VRRP, and GLBP; and routing infrastructure modules such as route-policy frameworks, prefix management, filtering, and scalability solutions for control planes. These form the backbone of network deployments across varied sectors including enterprise, service providers, cloud services, and AI infrastructure, all requiring high scalability, reliability, security, programmability, and easy troubleshooting.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and fix defects in software supporting IGP protocols, BGP-LS, FHRP technologies, and routing infrastructure.
• Write clean, maintainable, and efficient code in C/C++ for multi-threaded system-level applications.
• Enhance routing infrastructure components like route-policy processing, filtering, prefix handling, and integration with control planes.
• Diagnose software problems leveraging logs, traces, core dumps, protocol states, and platform diagnostics.
• Conduct root cause analyses on software defects and customer-reported issues under senior engineer guidance.
• Create and maintain comprehensive unit, functional, regression, and scaling tests for protocol and infrastructure modifications.
• Collaborate closely with platform, hardware, and testing teams to validate software across Cisco's operating systems and hardware.
• Develop a deep understanding of routing protocol behaviors, system implementations, and operational practices.
• Participate actively in design, code reviews, technical discussions, and initiatives to improve team quality, automation, and debuggability.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Electronics, Electrical Engineering, Networking, or related technical disciplines.
• Between 1 to 3 years of relevant software development experience.
• Solid knowledge of data structures, operating systems, and core networking principles.
• Proficiency programming in C or C++.
• Experience with scripting languages such as Python or Perl.
• Comfort with Unix/Linux software development environments.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and debugging abilities.

Preferred Skills

• Experience with routing protocols including OSPF, IS-IS, EIGRP, RIP, BGP, or BGP-LS.
• Understanding of multi-threaded programming, interprocess communication, memory handling, and system-level software concepts.
• Familiarity with debugging tools like gdb, packet capture analysis, logs, traces, and core file examination.
• Background in networking software, embedded systems, distributed systems, or considerable infrastructure software projects.
• Ability to rapidly acquire complex technical knowledge and function well within collaborative teams.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.

About Cisco

Cisco fosters a collaborative environment where individuals’ unique talents and perspectives help drive its mission to create an inclusive future. With over 40 years of innovation, Cisco leads the technology space, offering products that enable secure, efficient data and infrastructure connectivity in the AI era and beyond. Employees are encouraged to grow through varied career paths in an empowering workplace.