Hardware Engineer Jobs in San Jose, CA

The application window is expected to close on: 10/13/2026Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.

Who We Are

The Common Hardware Group (CHG) delivers the silicon, optics, and hardware platforms for Cisco's core Switching, Routing, and Wireless products. We design the networking hardware for Enterprises and Service Providers of various sizes, the Public Sector, and Non-Profit Organizations across the world. As a Senior Hardware Validation Engineer, you will lead the electrical design validation and physical layer (PHY) qualification for our next-generation enterprise and industrial switches. You will be responsible for ensuring our hardware meets the highest quality, performance, and industry standards.

Your Impact

As a Sr. Hardware Engineer, you will drive product excellence by designing and executing comprehensive, end-to-end test architectures across complex board components and PHY systems. Leveraging test automation, scripting, and cross-functional collaboration, you will debug root-cause issues and ensure seamless compliance with industry standards for successful mass production releases. Beyond technical execution, you will act as a key technical leader—owning critical projects, mentoring junior engineers, and establishing standard test frameworks that scale product quality across the organization.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical or Computer Engineering (7+ years of experience) or MSEE/CE (5+ years of experience).
• Prior experience in the field of networking hardware validation/testing.
• Prior hands-on experience with electrical and optical test equipment (Oscilloscopes, Power meters, Signal generators, VNA (Vector Network Analyzers), and Thermal chambers).
• Prior experience with L2/L3 routing and switching, OSI Model, and LAN/WAN topologies.
• Prior experience with Python for test automation.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience with high-speed interfaces, including 10G/25G/100G/400G network interfaces.
• Prior experience with PHY/Signal Integrity for high-pass/low-pass filters, and IEEE 802.3 signal compliance testing.
• Prior experience with Power/Bus architecture, including prior knowledge of Power over Ethernet (PoE) testing, CPU, clocking, and bus architectures (PCIe, USB, I2C).
• Prior experience with traffic generators such as Ixia or Spirent.
• Prior experience with EMI/EMC testing and regulatory compliance.

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 $154,900.00 to $225,300.00 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:
$154,900.00 - $259,100.00

Non-Metro New York state& Washington state:
$136,500.00 - $228,300.00

• 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.