The application window is expected to close on: 06/19/2026
Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.
This role will be remote from the San Jose, CA or Seattle, WA location.
Meet the TeamCisco's AI Software & Platform Group is building the platform for AI app development, first for Cisco's own teams and now, increasingly, for partners and the third-party developers building on Cisco. Developer Foundations is the substrate everything runs on: the shared services and building blocks, like the app registry, hosting, and the SDK, that Cloud Control Studio and everything else built on Cisco depend on. We are a small, senior, high-trust team that moves quickly and owns its outcomes, and we are hiring a leader to own those foundations as a product.
Your ImpactYou own Developer Foundations: the shared layer the rest of Cisco builds on. It spans the core services and building blocks, areas like the registry, hosting, the SDK, and the public APIs, that turn raw infrastructure into something teams can build on quickly. You set the direction for that layer and own its outcomes.
This is a senior role defined by ownership rather than task lists. You shape the strategy for the foundations and carry accountability for where they go, working hand in hand with engineering leaders and the teams that depend on you. It is one of the most consequential product seats in the group.
You treat the foundations as a product with real customers. Cloud Control Studio is your largest, and so is every team and partner building directly on Cisco. Increasingly those builders are AI coding agents as much as people, and the foundations have to be as easy for an agent to build on as for a human. Your job is to make the building blocks reliable, coherent, and easy to build on, so the experiences above them move fast without fighting the substrate.
As Cisco opens up to partners and third-party developers, you own how they build on it: the public-facing APIs and SDK, and the integration and governance model that lets outside developers build on Cisco safely. You partner across DevNet, Legal, and Security to make that real.
You will be measured on outcomes that matter: reliability and performance, how quickly teams can build on the foundations, SDK and API adoption, and how little friction the experiences above you hit.
Minimum Qualifications- 8+ years in product management or an equivalent discipline, including owning a platform or infrastructure area end to end with accountability for its outcomes.
- Hands-on software engineering background. You have shipped production code and can earn the trust and respect of senior engineers on technical merits.
- Fluency with AI coding agents. You use them in your own work and understand how AI agents build on platforms and APIs, because they are fast becoming the developer you build for.
Preferred Qualifications- Platform depth: hosting and runtimes, service APIs, SDK design, Model Context Protocol (MCP), and integrating with identity and OAuth systems.
- Platform as a product: experience owning APIs, SDKs, or platform services that other teams build on.
- Internal-customer mindset: experience treating an internal platform as a product with internal customers and clear contracts while operating in large, matrixed enterprises where many teams depend on the same foundations.
- External surface: exposing a platform externally through public APIs, SDKs, and partner integration and governance.
- Communication: excellent written and verbal communication, with the range to speak credibly to internal teams and external customers and stakeholders alike.
