Software Engineer

The application window is expected to close on: 04/27/2026 Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received . This is a Hybrid role with 3 day/ week in Milpitas, CA office. Meet the Team The Cisco Distributed System Engineering (DSE) group is at the forefront of building next-generation networking systems that power the largest and most demanding infrastructures in the world. As the industry evolves to support AI/ML workloads and ever-increasing bandwidth demands, innovations such as Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) are becoming critical to scaling performance, efficiency, and power optimization. The SONiC Optics team is passionate about enabling and productizing optics solutions—including CPO—within Cisco’s network operating systems. We work at the intersection of hardware, optics, and software, integrating innovative optical technologies into SONiC-based platforms. You will join a team of engineers passionate about distributed systems, open-source networking, and next-generation optical architectures. This is a fast-paced environment where you will contribute to product development and help bring CPO-based solutions to production. Your Impact Software Development & Integration Develop and improve software modules within SONiC to support optical subsystems, including pluggable optics and Co-Packaged Optics (CPO). Contribute to platform adaptation layers that interface SONiC with hardware components such as ASICs, optical engines, and BMCs. Implement and maintain drivers, APIs, and services for optics monitoring, configuration, and lifecycle management. Participate in debugging and resolving system-level issues across software and hardware boundaries. Optics & Platform Enablement Support integration of CPO technologies into SONiC-based platforms, including telemetry, diagnostics, and control-plane interactions. Work closely with hardware and optics teams to understand device capabilities and expose them through software interfaces. Assist in validating performance, reliability, and thermal/power characteristics of optics solutions. System Design & Quality Contribute to the design of scalable and maintainable software components for optics management. Help implement telemetry and monitoring solutions for optical modules and CPO subsystems. Participate in unit testing, system testing, and automation efforts to ensure high-quality work. Collaboration & Open Source Collaborate with multi-functional teams including hardware, QA, and system integration. Engage with the SONiC open-source community, contributing to optics-related features and improvements where applicable. Support CI/CD workflows and participate in improving development and test processes. Minimum Qualifications Bachelors 7 years of related experience OR Masters 4 years of related experience OR PhD 1 year of related experience. 5 years of experience in software development Minimum 3 years of experience with Linux-based systems and system-level programming (C/C/Python) 2 years of experience with networking protocols (L2/L3, switching, routing) 3 years of experience with debugging tools and development in distributed or embedded systems environments Preferred Qualifications Exposure to network operating systems such as SONiC or similar platforms Understanding of optics technologies (e.g., QSFP, OSFP, or CPO concepts) Experience with hardware-software interfaces (drivers, SDKs, or platform abstraction layers) Familiarity with containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes) Knowledge of telemetry, monitoring systems, or data plane/control plane interactions Experience with CI/CD pipelines and automated testing 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 physica ... (truncated, view full listing at source)