Sr. AI/ML Machine Learning Engineer - CX

• Contribute to the design and development of AI–ML based services collaborating with product management and engineering teams to deliver impactful, scalable AI solutions.
• Analyze data, develop, validate, and deploy machine learning models that drive measurable improvements in operational efficiency and automation.
• Build and fine-tune model architectures for natural language and perception-based tasks, applying best practices in model optimization and evaluation.
• Work with techniques such as transformer architecture, distillation, and reinforcement learning to improve model performance, scalability, and reliability.
• Support the training and fine-tuning of Large and Small Language Models (LLMs and SLMs) for domain- and task-specific applications.
• Collaborate on the development and deployment of AI agents and applications, ensuring responsible, safe, and explainable AI behavior.
• Stay current with emerging AI technologies and research to continuously improve solution quality and technical capability.
• Contribute to best practices in model development and deployment.

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Machine Learning, Mathematics, Statistics, or related field with 6+ years of software engineering experience, or Master’s degree in a related field with 3+ years of experience.
• Experience in Python, Java or C++, with experience in model development, training, and deployment.
• Experience building enterprise grade AI Agents and Agentic workflows.
• Experience with leading machine learning frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, Scikit-Learn along with data manipulation tools essential for the AI lifecycle.
• Experience developing Large Language Models (LLMs), Natural Language Processing (NLP), or Generative AI techniques.
• Experience working in cross-functional teams, deliver results in fast-paced environments, and effectively communicate technical concepts.

• Experience working on (SLM) Small Language Model development.
• Experience with Cisco networking and security technologies
• Knowledge of network automation and AI-based anomaly detection.
• Familiarity with AI-driven DevOps automation and model observability.
• Exposure to edge computing environments.
• Experience on various AI cloud platforms such as AWS SageMaker, Google Cloud AI Platform, Azure ML or similar.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to contribute to design discussions and documentation.
• Excellent problem-solving skills, thinking outside of the box!

The starting salary range posted for this position is $203,000.00 to $258,600.00 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: $203,000.00 - $297,400.00 Non-Metro New York state & Washington state: $181,000.00 - $264,600.00

• 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.