Senior Software Engineer in Test (Network Security, Performance), Hybrid, RTP, NC
First seen by Alion on Jul 31, 2026. Cisco Systems scores A on the Alion truth index.
This is a hybrid role at the RTP, NC office.
Meet the Team
The Cisco MX (Cloud-managed security and SD-WAN) QA team takes pride in ensuring the end-to-end system of the Meraki MX and Cisco Catalyst product line is ready to use. The team works on, but is not limited to, testing customer use cases, integration testing, scalability testing, stress and longevity testing. This team is also responsible for qualifying security services such as malware detection, URL filtering, web security, IPS, threat modeling, SD-WAN and SaaS/IaaS security capabilities all through a single Dashboard. Our products are used in over a million networks and our customers rely on our products to serve tens of millions of people. With the large footprint that we have, quality is our highest priority!
Your Impact
Develop a strong understanding of Cisco Meraki MX use cases and workflows in customer environments.
Collaborate with Product Managers and development teams to represent QA in requirements and design discussions.
Create and execute test strategies, reporting results and metrics to ensure feature quality.
Build and maintain automation scripts to support CI/CD and improve regression test coverage.
Drive innovation by applying AI-driven ideas and contributing to feature development with a Test Driven Development approach.
Minimum Qualifications
Bachelor's Degree, combined with 7 years of related experience in Software Development Engineer in software testing, or Master's Degree of Science Degree in Computer Science, combined with 4 years of related experience or PhD, combined with 1 year of related experience.
Prior experience in testing software network security for features such as intrusion prevention/detection, content filtering, advanced malware protection, geolocation, SSL, TLS, etc and performance KPIs.
Prior experience in how traffic generators such as Spirent, IXIA, and TREX work.
3+ years of Automation/Development experience.
Experience in writing feature development code with one of the programming languages, such as: Python, Ruby, C++, Golang.
Prior experience in AI coding tools and Gen-AI prompting techniques.
Preferred Qualifications
Prior experience in testing SD-WAN & Routing Reliability: Verifying policy-based routing, dynamic path selection, Auto VPN failover, and WAN load balancing.
Feature bug fixing with better quality in Firmware or Backend or UI.
Background in distributed cloud environments.
Ability to communicate technical concepts clearly to peers and management.
Experience with developing frameworks for CI/CD pipelines.
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 $139,300.00 to $203,600.00 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:
$167,700.00 - $282,000.00Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:
$149,100.00 - $250,900.00* 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.