Machine Learning Engineering Technical Leader

The application window is expected to close on: 11/26/2026

Meet the Team

Outshift is Cisco’s incubation engine, tasked with chasing technologies that defy conventional boundaries. We don't just build products; we shape the future of technology. Our team built AGNTCY, the open-source "Internet of Agents" now stewarded by the Linux Foundation, and helped establish the Agentic AI Foundation (AAIF) alongside industry leaders like Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI. We are now focused on building the Internet of Cognition—a shared semantic layer that enables agents and humans to reason together. You will join a team of "doers" who value code over slide decks, collaboration over silos, and real-world implementation over theoretical research.

Your Impact

We’re looking for a Senior AI/ML Engineer to help build the Internet of Cognition, not simply execute someone else’s roadmap. You’ll transform concepts like shared context, shared intent, and coordinated reasoning across distributed agents into scalable, production-grade systems. This is a senior individual contributor role, not a management position. You’ll drive technical decisions, develop hands-on solutions, and elevate the engineers around you through technical leadership, mentorship, and strong engineering practices.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelors +12 years of related experience or Masters +8 years of related experience or PhD 5+ years of related experience.
• 8+ years of experience building and owning production software and machine learning systems from development through deployment and ongoing support.
• Experience with Python development to include working across the full technology stack, from high-level agent logic to underlying systems and infrastructure.
• Experience with LLMs and agentic frameworks (e.g., LangChain/LangGraph, AutoGen, or similar).
• Experience working within open-source codebases, contributing to code development, and participating in peer code reviews to maintain code quality and engineering standards.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience building with emerging agent protocols such as MCP, A2A, or AGENTS.md.
• Contributions to influential open-source ecosystems, including Linux Foundation and CNCF projects.
• Deep networking and security knowledge, bringing strength in areas that are foundational to Cisco

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 physical and digital worlds. These solutions provide customers with unparalleled security, visibility, and insights across the entire digital footprint.

Fueled by the depth and breadth of our technology, we experiment and create meaningful solutions. Add to that our worldwide network of doers and experts, and you’ll see that the opportunities to grow and build are limitless. We work as a team, collaborating with empathy to make really big things happen on a global scale. Because our solutions are everywhere, our impact is everywhere. 

We are Cisco, and our power starts with you. 

Message to applicants applying to work in the U.S. and/or Canada:

The starting salary range posted for this position is $256,900.00 to $333,400.00 and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation*, equity, or benefits.

Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location, market conditions, job-related skillset, experience, qualifications, education, certifications, and/or training. The full salary range for certain locations is listed below. For locations not listed below, the recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.

U.S. employees are offered benefits, subject to Cisco’s plan eligibility rules, which include medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability coverage, and basic life insurance. Please see the Cisco careers site to discover more benefits and perks.  Employees may be eligible to receive grants of Cisco restricted stock units, which vest following continued employment with Cisco for defined periods of time.

U.S. employees are eligible for paid time away as described below, subject to Cisco’s policies:

• 10 paid holidays per full calendar year, plus 1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees

• 1 paid day off for employee’s birthday, paid year-end holiday shutdown, and 4 paid days off for personal wellness determined by Cisco

• Non-exempt employees** receive 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year, accrued at rate of 4.92 hours per pay period for full-time employees

• Exempt employees participate in Cisco’s flexible vacation time off program, which has no defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use (subject to availability and some business limitations)

• 80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter, and up to 80 hours of unused sick time carried forward from one calendar year to the next

• Additional paid time away may be requested to deal with critical or emergency issues for family members

• Optional 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer

For non-sales roles, employees are also eligible to earn annual bonuses subject to Cisco’s policies.

Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components, subject to the applicable Cisco plan. For quota-based incentive pay, Cisco typically pays as follows:

• .75% of incentive target for each 1% of revenue attainment up to 50% of quota;

• 1.5% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 50% and 75%;

• 1% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 75% and 100%; and

• Once performance exceeds 100% attainment, incentive rates are at or above 1% for each 1% of attainment with no cap on incentive compensation.

For non-quota-based sales performance elements such as strategic sales objectives, Cisco may pay 0% up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid.

The applicable full salary ranges for this position, by specific state, are listed below:

New York City Metro Area:

$256,900.00 - $383,500.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$234,400.00 - $341,100.00

* For quota-based sales roles on Cisco’s sales plan, the ranges provided in this posting include base pay and sales target incentive compensation combined.

** Employees in Illinois, whether exempt or non-exempt, will participate in a unique time off program to meet local requirements.