About the Role

Cisco Customer Experience (CX) is seeking a Customer Delivery Software Architect to lead the design and delivery of automation and AI-enabled solutions for a major service provider in Saudi Arabia.

You will define scalable software architectures that connect network infrastructure, operational systems, data platforms, and business workflows. Working with customer stakeholders and cross-functional Cisco teams, you will translate complex operational needs into secure, reusable, and maintainable solutions.

This is a software architecture role-not a network migration or product implementation role. Its primary focus is establishing sound architecture, engineering practices, integration patterns, and governance for network automation and intelligent operations.

Frequent onsite collaboration in Riyadh is required due to customer access controls, local testing requirements, and the need to work closely with engineering and operations teams.

What You’ll Do

• Own the end-to-end software architecture for network automation, orchestration, assurance, observability, and AI-enabled operational solutions.
• Translate business and operational requirements into architecture blueprints, technical roadmaps, integration patterns, data models, APIs, and engineering backlogs.
• Design secure, modular, scalable solutions integrating network platforms with systems such as Cisco Crosswork.
• Establish engineering standards covering source control, automated testing, CI/CD, observability, documentation, release management, security, and software lifecycle governance.
• Guide engineering teams through solution design and delivery, conducting architecture reviews and ensuring implementations meet functional and non-functional requirements.
• Leads and influences global, cross-functional teams-including PMs, PgMs, SDMs, CEs, TLs, and customer stakeholders-to ensure successful delivery of complex, multi-architecture solutions aligned to business outcomes
• Define practical approaches for applying AI and analytics to use cases such as anomaly detection, operational insight, decision support, and workflow automation.
• Build reusable frameworks, reference architectures, and best practices while mentoring engineers and strengthening software architecture capabilities across delivery teams.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with 12 or more years of relevant experience; master’s degree with 8 or more years; PhD with 5 or more years; or equivalent relevant work experience.
• Extensive experience designing and delivering enterprise-grade software, automation, orchestration, or systems-integration solutions.
• Strong proficiency in software architecture principles, distributed systems, API design, event-driven architectures, data modelling, and integration patterns.
• Hands-on experience with Python or a comparable programming language, APIs, Git, automated testing, CI/CD, containers, and modern development practices.
• Experience architecting solutions that integrate network infrastructure, operational platforms, telemetry, data, and business workflows.
• Understanding of AI/ML concepts and their practical application to automation, analytics, and operational use cases.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional engineering teams and communicate effectively with tech.hnical and executive stakeholders.
• Experience with Cisco NSO or comparable orchestration platforms, including service modelling, lifecycle management, device integration and reusable automation components.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in telecommunications, service-provider, or other large-scale, mission-critical environments.
• Knowledge of network orchestration, assurance, observability, and automation platforms, including Cisco Crosswork.
• Experience establishing engineering governance and reusable automation frameworks across multiple teams.
• Familiarity with cloud-native architectures, microservices, Kubernetes, streaming technologies, data platforms, and AIOps.
• Understanding of responsible AI, data governance, model lifecycle management, and security-by-design.
• Experience mentoring software engineers and helping organizations adopt modern software-engineering practices.
• Nature of work: Onsite Full time
• Hours of work: 48 hours per week
• Benefits: Healthcare and Insurance, Employee Stock Purchase program, Flexible Spending Benefit, Flex and Schooling Allowances and many more. 
• Application start and end date:  27th October for 4-5 weeks

Why This Role Matters

This role will shape the software foundations for scalable network automation and intelligent operations. The successful candidate will combine architecture leadership with practical engineering expertise, helping transform automation into secure, reusable capabilities that deliver sustained operational value.

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.