C

Cisco

Makes networking gear and security software

Senior Electrical Product Engineer-Senior Hardware NPI & Quality Lead - A deep understanding of PCB/PCBA, And a passion for DFM and NPI

Full-TimeUpdated on 10/20/2026
No salary listed
Expert
Bachelor's
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
In Person
Hardware EngineeringHardware Systems Integration

About the job

Requirements
  • A Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or equivalent, plus 10+ years of related experience.
  • Understand system hardware architectures, design concepts, and engineering development practices.
  • Use diagnostic tools to debug and troubleshoot failing systems down to board level and boards down to component level.
  • Characterize timing interfaces using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, time-domain reflectometers, and other equipment.
  • Test, debug, and bring up prototype boards.
  • Have experience with Allegro, Valor, and other manufacturing tools used in the role.
  • Have deep knowledge and understanding of printed circuit board fabrication and assembly processes and technology.
  • Be able to act in a lead role for an engineering or related function.
  • Have proficiency with design tools, including Valor, schematic, computer-aided design, and other computer-aided engineering tools.
  • Have a deep understanding of the end-to-end process for optical and regular printed circuit board assembly.
  • Have good written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills.
Responsibilities
  • Partner and collaborate with hardware development engineering, test development engineering, quality and reliability engineering, technology and quality, and other extended teams within Supply Chain, emphasizing design for manufacturability, design for resiliency, and design for quality to enable delivery of high-quality products for production.
  • Provide new product introduction support for ongoing engineering from pre-concept commitment through end of life.
  • Collaborate with stakeholders to develop processes and technology that support new product development.
  • Manage bills of materials and bill-of-materials risk.
  • Collaborate with hardware and mechanical design teams on design-for-X issues and ensure they are resolved before product release.
  • Drive and participate in design and manufacturing failure mode and effects analyses.
  • Provide leadership in driving product quality issues in new product introduction and sustaining work.
  • Work on value engineering and cost avoidance before production release; engage early with Component Engineering, Technology and Quality, Global Supply Management, and Hardware Engineering to influence component selection, process efficiency, and design changes.
  • Conduct design-lab experimentation and debugging, including design of experiments and failure analysis.
  • Assess contract manufacturer and supply-chain technical capability gaps.
  • Create, analyze, and release product documentation.
  • Manage technical lifecycle activities, including defect-reduction team participation and new-component qualification.
  • Perform design diagnostic analysis and provide input and influence.
  • Debug and bring up boards.
  • Lead and direct resolution of sophisticated issues.
Desired Qualifications
  • Experience working on a switch or router product is a plus.

About the company

Cisco makes the switches and routers that connect offices, data centers, and cloud services, and it also sells cybersecurity tools and Webex video meetings to businesses and governments. It was one of the first companies to sell routers that let different kinds of computer networks exchange data, and in 2000 it briefly became the world's most valuable company. Customers run its network gear, from Wi-Fi access points to AI data center systems, with Cisco software that sets up and secures the network, while its Splunk unit searches computer logs to catch outages and attacks. Cisco earns money from hardware sales, software subscriptions, and support contracts. It was founded in 1984 and is based in San Jose, California.

Company Size

10,001+

Company Stage

IPO

Headquarters

San Jose, California

Founded

1984

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Cloud giants fuel growth: they ordered $9.3 billion of Cisco's AI gear in the year to July 2026, up 4.5-fold.
  • Stock awards gained value: Cisco shares rose 63% in the year to October 2026, four times the S&P 500's 15%.
  • Signed deals steady the business: Cisco had $46.7 billion of contracted sales still to deliver in July 2026, up 7%.

What critics are saying

  • Record sales didn't stop layoffs: Cisco cut nearly 4,000 jobs, just under 5% of staff, in May 2026.
  • Rivals lead in data center switches: in the June 2026 quarter, Nvidia held 20.4%, Arista 18.7% and Cisco 18.2%.
  • Hardware-heavy AI growth squeezes profit: Cisco's gross margin fell to 66.3% from 68.4% in the July 2026 quarter.

What makes Cisco unique

  • Cisco still sells the most network switches: it took 28.7% of worldwide switch sales in the June 2026 quarter.
  • Cisco designs its own networking chips: Microsoft and Alibaba signed on early for its Silicon One P200, launched October 2025.
  • Cisco trains future network engineers: its Networking Academy has taught over 28 million learners in 195 countries since 1997.

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Benefits

  • Paid Vacation
  • Hybrid Work Options
  • Flexible Work Hours
  • Professional Development Budget

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

-1%

1 year growth

0%

2 year growth

0%
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Oct 12th, 2026
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NVIDIA and Cisco announced Ultra-Dense Small Form Factor Pluggable (USFP), a new optical module for AI data centres, on October 12, 2026. They say it will be the first to support 400Gb/s-per-lane electrical signals, for capacity up to 12.8Tb/s. USFP offers 4x the bandwidth density and about 1.3x the power efficiency of 200Gb/s-per-lane modules. Operators can connect more computing systems without adding network tiers, while cutting networking's share of power use. The first transceivers will pack 16 full-duplex lanes in an octal small form factor-sized footprint, with 32 lanes or more planned. The companies are working with TE Connectivity and Amphenol on cages, connectors and modules. They plan an open industry specification through a community-led multi-source project.

PR Newswire
Oct 12th, 2026
Cisco and NVIDIA plan open 400G optics spec as Microsoft, Alibaba deploy P200 silicon

Cisco unveiled new chips, systems and optics for AI networks at the Open Compute Project Global Summit on October 12, 2026. With NVIDIA, it plans to create an open specification for Ultra-Dense Small Form Factor Pluggable (USFP), a 400Gb/s-per-lane optical module. Cisco says USFP should deliver 4x the bandwidth density and 1.3x the power efficiency of 200Gb/s-per-lane optics. Microsoft and Alibaba have put systems powered by Cisco's 51.2T Silicon One P200 into production. The first systems using the 102.4T G300 chip are shipping to customers. Cisco also introduced the 51.2T G302 chip for top-of-rack switches, which it plans to ship before the end of 2026. Its Live Protect security feature for SONiC customers starts in mid-2027.