Opportunity brief
Cisco is hiring for the role of Software QA Engineer!
Responsibilities of the Candidate:
- Define and drive test strategies for Catalyst 9000 switching platforms, ensuring comprehensive validation across functional, scale, performance, resiliency, interoperability, and security domains. - Design, develop, and maintain scalable test automation frameworks using Python and modern automation technologies. - Lead end-to-end validation of Layer 2, Layer 3, security, management, and platform software features. - Develop automated test suites for feature validation, regression testing, system integration testing, upgrade testing, and customer deployment scenarios. - Collaborate closely with software developers, architects, and product managers to understand feature requirements and define robust validation plans. - Leverage AI-assisted development tools such as GitHub Copilot, Codex, Claude, and VS Code extensions to improve automation productivity, test coverage, and engineering efficiency. - Build and enhance CI/CD-based validation pipelines to enable continuous testing and faster release cycles. - Perform root-cause analysis of complex networking and software issues using protocol-level debugging and packet analysis tools. - Drive quality metrics, risk assessments, defect prevention initiatives, and release readiness reviews. - Mentor team members on networking technologies, automation best practices, troubleshooting techniques, and quality engineering methodologies. - Partner with customer support and field teams to reproduce customer issues and validate software fixes
Requirements:
- Bachelor's or Master's Degree in Computer Science, Electronics, Information Technology, or a related field. - 1+ years of experience in Software QA, System Validation, or Network Testing. - Strong experience testing enterprise switching and networking products. - Hands-on expertise with:Layer 2 SwitchingVLANs, VTP, STP, RSTP, MSTEtherChannel, LACPLayer 3 RoutingIPv4 and IPv6ARP, DNS, DHCPOSPF, EIGRP, BGPVRF, MulticastACLs, QoSAAA, RADIUS, TACACS+High Availability and Redundancy features - Experience validating network security features including:802.1XMACsecTrustSecPort SecurityDHCP SnoopingDynamic ARP InspectionIP Source Guard - Strong automation experience using Python. - Hands-on experience with REST APIs, NETCONF, RESTCONF, YANG, JSON, and YAML. - Experience using automation and testing frameworks such as PyTest, Robot Framework, or equivalent. - Strong Linux fundamentals including scripting, troubleshooting, and system administration. - Experience with virtualization and container technologies such as VMware, KVM, Docker, or Kubernetes.
Proficiency with Git and modern software development workflows.