What are the responsibilities and job description for the Software Development Test Engineer position at Cisco?
The application window is expected to close on: 06/22/2026
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 at the RTP, NC office.
Meet the Team
Cisco SDWAN focuses on simplifying and securing enterprise WANs, enabling seamless cloud connectivity, automating network operations, and ensuring optimal application performance through advanced SD-WAN solutions.
Our Team works on Cisco SD-WAN solutions that help enterprises build resilient, secure, and scalable wide area networks for distributed branch, cloud, and hybrid environments. The focus is on simplifying network operations through centralized management and automation, improving application and user experience with intelligent connectivity, and strengthening security with SASE-ready, zero-trust architecture. The team enables customers to connect sites, users, and cloud workloads with better visibility, performance, and operational efficiency.
Your Impact
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 $137,000.00 to $200,500.00 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:
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
The applicable full salary ranges for this position, by specific state, are listed below:
New York City Metro Area
$165,000.00 - $277,600.00
Non-Metro New York State & Washington State
$146,700.00 - $247,000.00
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 at the RTP, NC office.
Meet the Team
Cisco SDWAN focuses on simplifying and securing enterprise WANs, enabling seamless cloud connectivity, automating network operations, and ensuring optimal application performance through advanced SD-WAN solutions.
Our Team works on Cisco SD-WAN solutions that help enterprises build resilient, secure, and scalable wide area networks for distributed branch, cloud, and hybrid environments. The focus is on simplifying network operations through centralized management and automation, improving application and user experience with intelligent connectivity, and strengthening security with SASE-ready, zero-trust architecture. The team enables customers to connect sites, users, and cloud workloads with better visibility, performance, and operational efficiency.
Your Impact
- Define and drive test strategy and validation architecture for the SDWAN controller/Dashboard features managing Cisco Secure SDWAN Solution.
- As part of this SDWAN controller test team, you will be focusing on the tests validating Cisco SDWAN controller features like configuration, policy management, high availability multi-tenancy and UI/UX features on SDWAN secure routers.
- Design and evolve scalable test frameworks, test automation using Python/Restapi, and validation pipelines for controller-based solutions.
- Establish end-to-end test strategies covering functional, system, scale, application performance, resiliency, security and administration.
- Collaborate with engineering leaders, product management, hardware, and TAC teams to define quality goals, test scope, and execution strategies.
- Lead customer demos and technical presentations to showcase product capabilities and articulate solution value.
- Represent the test organization in cross-functional forums to influence release decisions, risk assessment, and quality metrics.
- Bachelor’s degree in engineering (BSEE/MSEE/CS) or an equivalent technical discipline.
- 8-12 years of relevant experience in testing NMS products / SDWAN controllers and Automation.
- Knowledge of Software Development Life Cycle, from Requirements analysis, Testbed bring up, Test Plan creation, execution and release validation.
- Worked in testing of the SD-WAN control and management plane, including multi-tenancy architectures, clustering for high availability and disaster recovery solutions.
- Strong experience in developing test plans based on customer use cases and functional and Product requirements.
- Experience with High Availability/Redundancy, Layer 2/3 security concepts including IPSec, TLS, DTLS, Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and certificate management.
- 6 years working experience of automation skills using Python, Selenium and REST API
- Expert-level proficiency in root cause analysis using advanced debugging techniques, kernel logs, and system traces.
- Strong fundamentals in Linux operating systems and experience with virtualization technologies like KVM, ESXi.
- Proficiency with network traffic generators such as Ixia, Spirent, and analyzers like Wireshark.
- Proficiency with GIT for version control.
- Worked on validation of modern configuration models, including YANG, NETCONF, and RESTCONF.
- SD-WAN Vendor Experience: Specific experience with major SD-WAN solutions (e.g., Cisco Viptela/Meraki, VMware VeloCloud, Fortinet, Palo Alto Prisma SD-WAN).
- Cloud Networking: Familiarity with cloud networking concepts and integration with SD-WAN (AWS, Azure, GCP).
- Database knowledge, Devops tools, distributed systems architecture.
- Configuration Management Tools: Experience with tools like Ansible.
- Agile Methodologies: Experience working in an Agile development environment.
- Exposure or hands-on experience with AI-based automation tools of SDWAN controllers/Applications.
- Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and debugging skills.
- Strong verbal and written communication skills.
- Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a team environment and collaborate with cross-functional teams.
- Proven mentorship capabilities and a passion for developing talent.
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 $137,000.00 to $200,500.00 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
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.
The applicable full salary ranges for this position, by specific state, are listed below:
New York City Metro Area
$165,000.00 - $277,600.00
Non-Metro New York State & Washington State
$146,700.00 - $247,000.00
- 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.
Salary : $137,000 - $200,500