Principal AI/ML Engineer

The Cisco Security AI team delivers AI products and platform for all Cisco secure products and portfolios so businesses around the world can defend against threats and safeguard the most vital aspects of their business with security resilience. We are passionate about making businesses secure and simplifying security with zero compromise using AI and Machine Learning.

Who You Are:

As a Principal Engineer, you will have the incredible opportunity to be at the forefront of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and deep learning research and development. You will play a critical role in designing, implementing, and evolving our AI platforms and products. Your expertise will drive innovation and maintain our competitive edge in the market. We are looking for a passionate AI/Data Science Principal Engineer to join us on the sprint that takes us from ideas to prototypes, and from prototypes to products.

As a director-level leader and individual contributor, you will be an integral part of the Security AI team, joining us at an early stage of the journey and responsible for leading the ideation, design, development and testing phases of new products. As an authority in this domain, you have strong technology experience, eye for business and a good level of visibility and recognition in the industry (including for example patents, publication/blogs, open-source contributions, conference speaker, academic collaboration, active role in industry consortium…). The right candidate thrives in multifaceted environments and can be counted on when the going gets tough. The ideal candidate is also an outstanding communicator who can pitch solutions for complex problems in a simple and articulated way, adjusting communication style to the audience (Customers, Exec, Business, Technical, UX …). This role is critical to the growth of our team and our new ventures.

What You Will Do:

• Lead with technical and industry vision and act as a key contributor for our team strategy in the fields of AI and Data Science.
• Define and design AI-based solutions, evaluate technical feasibility and provide estimates on efforts and risks.
• Drive prototypes and MVP architecture and development to deliver innovative features services which are consistent, maintainable, and highly scalable.
• Collaborate with multi-functional teams, including data scientists, software developers, product managers, and business stakeholders to define and achieve strategic objectives.
• Mentor and guide a team of AI engineers and data scientists, fostering an environment of technical excellence and continuous learning.
• Stay abreast of the latest developments in AI and ML and evaluate the potential impact of new technologies on our products and services.
• Drive the adoption of standard processes in coding, testing, documentation, and maintainability.
• Ensure the ethical use of AI, focusing on fairness, privacy, security, and transparency.
• Communicate complex AI concepts to non-technical audiences and provide thought leadership within the company and at industry events.
• Contribute to the creation of intellectual property through patents, publications, and presentations.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Minimum of 15 years of Software Engineering experience to include serving in the capacity of Director/CTO/Chief/Principal Engineer position for AI Machine Learning / Deep Learning solutions applied across different industry verticals and different data modalities.
• Minimum of 7 years of experience using programming languages such as Python, Java or C++ and familiarity with AI frameworks like Tensorflow, PyTorch or Keras
• Minimum of 5 years of experience focused on developing, training and deploying AI models in real-world applications to include machine learning algorithms, deep learning architectures, and the underlying mathematical principles.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience with cloud computing platforms (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) and ML deployment strategies.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Understanding and hands on experience in Large Language Models, Natural Language Processing, Computer vision, Image Processing, and other generative AI techniques.
• Proven experience owning the development of AI-based products or systems.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to address complex issues.
• Excellent leadership and communication skills.
• Experience with building DataOps/MLOps workflows, infrastructure and tooling.
• Familiarity with Agile development methodologies and DevOps practices.
• Ability to coach/mentor other engineers and especially early in their career
• Ability to constantly identify, follow and learn innovative technologies, work in a fast-paced, team-focused environment.