Distinguished Hardware Security Engineer Hybrid/Remote

This is a preferred hybrid role based in Raleigh, NC; San Jose, CA; or other Cisco hubs for US Citizens. US remote is also an option. Some travel is required.

At Cisco, trust starts in silicon. As a Distinguished Engineer on our Foundational Security Technologies team, your architectural decisions will help secure millions of devices running the world’s most critical networks, data centers, and AI infrastructure. 

The Security and Trust Organization (S&TO) holds company-wide responsibility for the trustworthiness of everything Cisco ships. Foundational Security Technologies is the team that makes that promise real at the hardware and firmware layer — and it’s growing. 

We’re looking for an industry-recognized expert in hardware and embedded system security to define and drive Cisco’s next generation of hardware security innovation, in partnership with product teams across the company. 

This is Cisco’s principal authority role for hardware security — spanning trustworthy systems, embedded security, secure enclaves, and silicon roots of trust. You’ll set the foundational hardware security roadmap across Cisco’s networking, routing, switching, optical, data center, AI systems, and cloud infrastructure portfolio, architecting immutable roots of trust, platform firmware resiliency, cryptographic device identity, and anti-tamper protections. You’ll do it in close partnership with business unit engineering leaders, ASIC architects, supply chain executives, and the technical leadership at our largest hyperscale and webscale customers. You’ll also represent Cisco’s voice in the global standards consortia that define the industry. 

• Set the security standards, requirements, and technical direction that secure the hardware and embedded software across Cisco’s entire product portfolio. 

• Architect chip- and platform-level roots of trust — including platform firmware resiliency, cryptographic device identity, and anti-tamper protections — as the building blocks of secure-by-design systems. 

• Advise business unit engineering leaders and executives on embedded security decisions, translating deep technical trade-offs into clear business outcomes. 

• Ensure Cisco stays ahead of emerging regulation, including the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), US federal executive orders, and Common Criteria / CNSA mandates. 

• Work directly with hyperscaler and cloud-scale customers’ technical leadership to translate their security requirements into Cisco’s silicon and system roadmaps. 

• Represent Cisco in the industry standards bodies that shape the field, contributing to or spearheading work in groups such as OCP Security, TCG, DMTF, GlobalPlatform, IEEE, or NIST. 

• Mentor the next generation of hardware security architects and technical leaders, building depth and resilience across the organization. 

• Education & Experience: BS/MS/PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field, with 15+ years of experience in hardware systems design, silicon security, or embedded architecture. 

• Distinguished Technical Leadership: A track record as a Distinguished Engineer, Fellow, Chief Architect, or senior technical leader driving hardware security strategy at a top-tier networking, semiconductor, or hyperscale cloud company. 

• Hardware Systems & Networking Depth: Deep knowledge of complex networking systems (terabit switches, edge/core routers, security appliances, optical transceivers), board-level design, FPGA/ASIC development, and system-level cost/performance trade-offs, with direct experience across design, development, manufacturing, and product lifecycle management. 

• Applied Cryptography & Platform Security: Demonstrated knowledge of applied cryptography, PKI architectures, key management, and hardware security countermeasures such as side-channel (DPA/SPA) and fault-injection mitigations. 

• Multi-Functional & Executive Communication: Outstanding communication skills, with the ability to move fluidly between low-level silicon and firmware detail and executive-level strategy. 

• Standards & Consortia Contributions: Active contribution to, or leadership within, one or more hardware-security-focused industry standards groups such as OCP Security, TCG (TPM, DICE, CyRes), DMTF (SPDM), GlobalPlatform, FIDO Alliance, RISC-V Security, IEEE, NIST, or ETSI. 

• Advanced Platform Security: Hands-on experience with post-quantum cryptography, NIST SP 800-193 platform resiliency, secure enclave design, physical anti-tamper mechanisms, or authenticated lifecycle management. 

• Regulatory & Certification Leadership: Experience leading products through security certification and regulatory compliance programs such as FIPS 140-3, Common Criteria, CNSA, or PSA Certified. 

• Hardware Security Assessments: Experience conducting hardware security assessments, penetration testing, and/or side-channel resiliency testing against hardware and firmware targets. 

S&TO

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. 

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:

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

* 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.