Principal Engineer - AI Security

Cisco · RTP, North Carolina, North Carolina · $202,100.00 - $271,700.00 · hybrid As a Principal Engineer on the AI Security team, you will be a senior technical authority shaping the security standard for every AI capability Cisco ships. Your impact will include: Define the AI Security Standard: Author and evolve threat models, architecture patterns, and security requirements for AI-native features. Secure AI-Assisted Development: Set the standard for coding assistants and agent-authored code. Architectural Leadership: Serve as the authority on secure AI architecture across Cisco's platforms. Adversarial & Supply Chain Risk: Own abuse and adversarial case coverage. Security Validation: Advance red-teaming strategy, evaluation harnesses, and release checkpoints for AI capabilities. Partnership: Act as a trusted advisor to senior engineering leadership across CX, Operations, and Product. Minimum Qualifications: 12+ years of experience in software security, with deep, hands-on experience architecting and securing AI/ML-integrated systems. Proven ability to secure AI models and applications. Strong background in threat modeling, secure software development lifecycles (SDLC), and architecture validation. Experience quantifying security risk and providing clear, authoritative technical guidance. Preferred Qualifications: Experience securing autonomous agents, tool-calling, multi-agent orchestration. Experience designing or running red-team/evaluation programs for AI systems. Deep understanding of AI safety, ethical AI, and global data protection regulations. Familiarity with emerging AI governance and risk frameworks. At Cisco, we're revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era. 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. The starting salary range posted for this position is $202,100.00 to $271,700.00 and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position in U.S. and/or Canada locations.