Hardware Security Engineer CSDL Hybrid

The application window is expected to close on: 11/29/2026

This role is hybrid in Raleigh, North Carolina. (RTP) 3 days onsite.

Meet the Team

The Security & Trust Organization (S&TO) has corporate-level responsibility for customer data protection and compliance, corporate information protection, and government and product security. Security is a key concern of our customers and a top investment area for Cisco. Join us and help us become the #1 Trusted IT Company in the World.

Your Impact

Join the HW-CSDL (Hardware Cisco Secure Development Lifecycle) team. Serve as a trusted technical advisor and security partner to hardware engineering teams across Cisco. You will bridge the gap between security assessments and practical hardware implementation—helping product teams interpret evaluation findings, evaluate risk, and architect robust designs that align with HW-CSDL standards and global security regulations.

What You’ll Do

• Security Consulting & Guidance: Partner directly with product hardware teams to analyze results from hardware security evaluations and provide actionable, clear, and pragmatic design guidance to achieve HW-CSDL compliance.
• System-to-Component Analysis: Deconstruct and review sophisticated hardware architectures from the system level down to boards, ASICs/FPGAs, power/management controllers, and discrete components to identify vulnerabilities and design-in resilience.
• Standards Interpretation & Application: Parse, interpret, and operationalize emerging industry and government standards (e.g., NIST SP 800-193, CNSA 2.0, EU Cyber Resilience Act, IEEE 2883) into technical guidance and design requirements.
• Technical Documentation: Author high-quality security guidelines, reference architectures, implementation guides, and best-practice documentation for engineering audiences across the company.
• Multi-Workstream Execution: Participate in, lead, and balance multiple parallel engagements, consulting efforts, and security initiatives across diverse product families.
• Advocacy & Education: Educate and influence hardware design communities outside STO to foster a security-first culture throughout the product development lifecycle.

Who You Are

Experienced hardware engineer with a background in hardware design, low-level architecture, and security principles. Enjoys translating sophisticated technical standards into practical engineering requirements and partnering across teams to tackle complicated hardware security problems. Communicates technical concepts clearly through engineering documentation and multi-functional collaboration, and thrives when managing multiple parallel technical initiatives in a dynamic environment.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related technical field with 7+ years of relevant hardware design/engineering experience (or Master’s degree with 4+ years of experience).
• Prior background in hardware development (e.g., reading and interpreting system-level schematics, block diagrams, component datasheets, PCB design or review or register-level hardware documentation).
• Prior background in hardware security fundamentals, such as Hardware Root of Trust (RoT), Secure Boot, hardware and firmware resiliency, cryptographic primitives (symmetric/asymmetric encryption, hashing, digital signatures), or secure key storage.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with AI-assisted development and automation for hardware security applications (e.g., LLM-assisted compliance checks, automated review scripts, or security analysis tooling).
• Experience with scripting (e.g., Python, Bash) and RTL design/verification (e.g., Verilog, SystemVerilog) for hardware security solutions development.
• Background in hardware security frameworks and standards, such as NIST SP 800-193, NSA CNSA 2.0, TCG DICE / TPM, OCP Secure Boot, IEEE 2883, or global cybersecurity regulations (e.g. EU CRA).
• Experience with hardware threat modeling or hardware security analysis (e.g., fault injection, side-channel analysis, JTAG/debug security).
• Experience participating in hardware security industry forums, working groups, or standards bodies.

S&TO

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 $132,800.00 to $185,100.00 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.