Software Engineer

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 10/27/2026

Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.
Software Engineer (Grade 8) - IOS XR Routing & BNG Test  Meet the Team  The Cisco IOS XR Routing and BNG Test Team ensures the reliability, scalability, performance, and resiliency of Cisco’s carrier-grade routing platforms. We work closely with software developers, architects, product managers, and customer-facing teams to deliver comprehensive, end-to-end validation across Layer 2, Layer 3, routing, subscriber-management, and network-service technologies for service providers, hyperscalers, and web-scale customers operating some of the world’s largest and most demanding networks.  Our team values technical depth, automation-first engineering, continuous learning, collaborative problem-solving, and responsible adoption of AI-assisted development practices.  Your Impact  As a Software Test Engineer, you will own the quality validation of IOS XR routing and Broadband Network Gateway capabilities. You will design test strategies, develop automation, validate complex customer scenarios, investigate system-level failures, and provide data-driven release recommendations.  Your work will help ensure that Cisco delivers stable, scalable, and production-ready networking solutions. You will also mentor junior engineers, improve test frameworks, and use modern AI-assisted tools to accelerate engineering and troubleshooting workflows.  What You Will Do  • Design and execute functional, system, regression, scale, performance, interoperability, resiliency, and high-availability tests for IOS XR routing and BNG features.  • Validate BNG subscriber technologies, including IPoE, PPP, PPPoE, DHCPv4/DHCPv6, DHCP relay, Prefix Delegation, RADIUS, AAA, PAP/CHAP, accounting, Change of Authorization, subscriber policies, and session lifecycle management.  • Test Layer 2 and Layer 3 technologies such as Ethernet, VLAN, QinQ, LACP, IPv4/IPv6, BGP, OSPF, IS-IS, MPLS, Segment Routing, L2VPN, L3VPN, EVPN, ECMP, BFD, QoS, and high-availability mechanisms.  • Develop reusable and scalable test automation using Python and frameworks such as pyATS, Genie, or equivalent tools.  • Build and maintain physical, virtual, containerized, and cloud-based test environments using Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, clustering technologies, VMware, OpenStack, and network simulation platforms.  • Validate control-plane, forwarding-plane, subscriber-scale, traffic, failover, software upgrade, rollback, process restart, route churn, and subscriber churn scenarios.  • Troubleshoot complex issues using IOS XR logs, protocol traces, packet captures, telemetry, RADIUS transactions, crash information, and system-resource data.  • Validate model-driven interfaces and telemetry using YANG, NETCONF, RESTCONF, gNMI, gRPC, OpenConfig, and native IOS XR models.  • Integrate automated tests into CI/CD pipelines, code reviews, version control, and regression testing.  • Use approved AI coding assistants and engineering agents for test generation, automation development, log analysis, defect triage, and documentation.  • Apply foundational knowledge of generative AI, AI agents, MCPs, reusable AI skills, prompt and context management, and responsible validation of AI-generated output.  • Collaborate across engineering teams, review test designs and automation code, mentor junior engineers, and communicate product-quality risks and release readiness.  Minimum Qualifications  • Bachelor’s or master’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Telecommunications, or a related technical field.  • Five or more years of experience in software engineering, network product testing, test automation, or quality engineering.  • Strong knowledge of BNG architecture and subscriber-management technologies, including PPP/PPPoE, DHCP, RADIUS, AAA, accounting, and subscriber session management.  • Comprehensive understanding of Layer 2 and Layer 3 networking, including TCP/IP, Ethernet, VLANs, IPv4/IPv6, BGP, OSPF, IS-IS, and MPLS.  • Experience configuring and troubleshooting Cisco IOS XR or another