Meet The Team

The Common Hardware Group (CHG) delivers the silicon, optics, and hardware platforms for Cisco's core Switching, Routing, and Wireless products. We design the networking hardware for Enterprises and Service Providers of various sizes, the Public Sector, and Non-Profit Organizations across the world. Cisco Silicon One (#CiscoSiliconOne) is the only unifying silicon architecture in the market that enables customers to deploy the best-of-breed silicon from Top of Rack (TOR) switches all the way through web scale data centers and across service provider, enterprise networks, and data centers with a fully unified routing and switching portfolio. Come join us and take part in shaping Cisco's ground-breaking solutions by designing, developing and testing some of the most complex Silicon Photonics being developed in the industry. 

Your Impact

Step into the driver's seat of global connectivity and put your mark on technology powering the world’s network infrastructure. As a Hardware Test Engineer at Cisco, you won’t just run tests—you will directly shape the reliability, automation, and performance of next-generation hardware before it reaches the hands of millions. Working alongside world-class senior design and manufacturing engineers, you’ll own critical test features, optimize process automation, and perform hands-on failure analysis on cutting-edge platforms. This is your chance to solve high-stakes engineering puzzles, influence hardware design reviews, and accelerate your career at the forefront of tech innovation. Don't miss the opportunity to build the resilient, next-gen hardware that defines tomorrow.

• Design, Develop & Support: Assist with devising and executing tests for hardware platforms, drive process improvements and automation to reduce cycle times, and support failure analysis for root-cause determination under senior guidance.

• Test Support & Quality: Execute system-level unit, integration, and protocol tests to ensure compliance with Cisco and industry quality standards, while tracking bugs and analyzing test data.

• Collaboration & Team Development: Cross-collaborate with hardware, software, and manufacturing teams throughout the feature lifecycle, participate in design and schematic reviews, and share technical knowledge to resolve complex problems.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field, plus 1 year of related experience (internship, co-op, or full-time), or Master's degree with 0 years of related experience.

• Hands-on experience testing, debugging, or troubleshooting electronic or optical hardware.

• Basic knowledge of test and measurement tools and root-cause analysis methods, gained through coursework, internship, or entry-level work experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with PCB design/layout tools such as OrCAD or Cadence Allegro.

• Exposure to fiber optics, photonics, or optical component testing.

• Familiarity with scripting or data analysis tools (e.g., SQL, Python, JMP) for test data analysis.

• Experience supporting test automation to reduce operator intervention in manufacturing test flows.

• Willingness to travel occasionally to support cross-site collaboration.

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:

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:

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

* 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.