Jobs Companies Cisco Lead Data Scientist

About this Lead Data Scientist role at Cisco

Cisco · Onsite · Chicago, Illinois, US
The application window is expected to close on: 09/13/2026

Meet the Team

Splunk, a Cisco company, is building a safer, more resilient digital world with an end-to-end, full-stack platform designed for hybrid, multi-cloud environments.

We are looking for a Lead Data Scientist to drive advanced analytics and predictive modeling initiatives that power growth across the Splunk and Cisco portfolios. In this role, you will serve as a hands-on individual contributor—applying your data science expertise to real business challenges, collaborating across teams, and transforming complex data into actionable insights.

Your work will directly enable more scalable, consistent, and customer-focused sales strategies. This role focuses on execution, model development, and production support, working closely with senior data scientists on broader strategy and advanced projects.

Your Impact

  • Design, develop, and maintain predictive models and analytical workflows to drive revenue growth, customer engagement, and sales effectiveness.
  • Apply analytics and machine learning techniques to account prioritization, propensity modeling, and tailored sales recommendations within the TAS framework.
  • Conduct statistical and exploratory data analyses across large, multi-source datasets to uncover meaningful patterns and insights.
  • Partner with Sales, Marketing, Product, Partner, and Customer Success teams to understand business questions and translate them into impactful data science solutions.
  • Build and maintain scalable data pipelines and features to support ongoing model development and refresh cycles.
  • Support deployment, monitoring, and validation of models in production environments.
  • Create clear documentation, dashboards, and presentations to communicate findings and recommendations to both technical and non-technical audiences.
  • Apply data quality checks and validation methods to ensure the reliability of analytical outputs.
  • Collaborate with and support senior data scientists on complex modeling, experimentation, and AI-driven initiatives.

Minimum Qualifications:

  • Bachelors + 8 years of related experience, or Masters + 6 years of related experience, or PhD + 3 years of related experience
  • 3+ years of driving cross business initiatives across multiple businesses
  • Experience with continuous improvement of analytics processes, tools, and best practices.
  • Experience applying predictive modeling, statistical analysis, or machine learning to business problems.
  • Experience in Python and SQL, with experience using cloud data platforms such as Snowflake, Pendo, RStudio, tableau.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Familiarity with common data science and machine learning tools, frameworks, and workflows.
  • Experience working with large, complex datasets from multiple sources.
  • Exposure to model deployment, monitoring, or production analytics environments.
  • Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain analytical results to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
  • Ability to manage multiple tasks, work independently within a defined scope, and deliver results in a fast-paced environment.
  • Interest in applied AI, responsible AI practices, and continuous learning.

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 $169,000.00 to $214,200.00 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:

$204,900.00 - $298,800.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$181,400.00 - $263,800.00

* 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.

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How this Data Scientist salary compares

This role pays $191,600/yrin line with the typical range for Data Scientist roles.

$101,375 median $170,550 $257,000

Typical range $130,500–$216,263/yr, from 1,282 comparable Data Scientist listings on JobsRadar (pay annualized to USD). See Data Scientist salary insights →

About Cisco

Cisconians power the future. We make impact as a team, innovating fast and fearlessly to create meaningful solutions on a large scale. The depth and breadth of our technology doesn't just benefit our customers – it also means limitless opportunities for us to experiment and learn. We understand the power each of our unique backgrounds bring when we work together. Because of that, we have a global network of thinkers, doers, experts, and curious creators who help one another do their life’s best work.

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