ML Research Engineer Jobs in North Carolina

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

2015608 – Software Engineer - AI/ML (Remote)

• The application window is expected to close on: July 10, 2026
• Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.
• This role is remote and can be performed from anywhere in the U.S.

Meet the Team

Join a cutting-edge team focused on designing, building, and securing modern AI systems that power autonomous agents and LLM-powered applications. This team operates at the intersection of applied machine learning, software engineering, and security, delivering trustworthy, observable, and resilient AI solutions that address software security across Cisco and the industry. You will be part of a collaborative environment that values innovation, security, and operational excellence.

Your Impact

As an AI/ML Engineer, you will design and implement agentic AI systems using frameworks such as LangGraph, DeepAgents, Claude, OpenCode, or custom orchestration layers. You will build, evaluate, and deploy LLM-powered applications including agentic RAG pipelines, multi-agent workflows, and tool-using assistants. Your role includes integrating AI agents with internal and external systems via APIs and MCP servers, embedding security throughout the AI development lifecycle, and developing evaluation harnesses and red-team test suites to monitor model behavior and robustness. You will fine-tune open-weight models and collaborate with embedded engineering teams to deploy models effectively. Your work will ensure AI systems are not only capable but also secure and reliable.

Minimum Qualifications

• Hands-on experience building agentic AI systems involving tool use, planning loops, multi-step reasoning, agent memory, and state management.
• 3+ years of experience in Software Engineering in an enterprise environment with technologies like Python, JavaScript, Typescript, or Go.
• Working experience of LLM orchestration frameworks and creating agentic harnesses and agent skills.
• Familiarity with model training, evaluation, and troubleshooting to improve accuracy and reliability.
• Ability to develop reusable code aimed at automation and collaborate with engineering teams for deployment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in a relevant field.
• Background in cybersecurity, application security, or offensive security.
• Familiarity with MCP (Model Context Protocol), A2A protocols, or other emerging agent interoperability standards.
• Experience with fine-tuning techniques such as LoRA, QLoRA, DPO, RLHF, and model evaluation frameworks like lm-evaluation-harness or HELM.
• Experience with secure multi-tenant AI infrastructure, guardrail systems, or AI gateways.
• Strong understanding of security best practices embedded throughout the AI development lifecycle.

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 $150,300.00 to $195,200.00 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:

$181,000.00 - $270,300.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$165,300.00 - $240,600.00

• 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.