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Engineering

Security Software Engineering Technical Leader

Splunk, a Cisco company, is building a safer and more resilient digital world with an end-to-end full stack platform made for a hybrid, multi-cloud world. Leading enterprises use our unified security and observability platform to keep their digital systems secure and reliable. Our customers love our technology, but it's our caring employees that make Splunk stand out as an amazing career destination. No matter where in the world or what level of the organization, we approach our work with kindness. So bring your work experience, problem-solving skills and talent, of course, but also bring your joy, your passion and all the things that make you, you. Come help organizations be their best, while you reach new heights with a team that has your back.

About The Role

We are seeking a Principal Security Software Engineer to lead the design, development, and implementation of advanced security solutions and guardrails aka Paved Road strategies across our software products and platforms. This role combines deep technical expertise with strategic thinking, enabling the company to proactively defend against evolving cybersecurity threats. As a senior technical leader, you will influence architectural decisions, mentor engineering teams, and collaborate cross-functionally to ensure secure design and development practices are embedded at every layer.

What you'll get to do

  • Drive system architecture and design decisions for various Splunk products.
  • Lead the architecture and implementation of guardrails against emerging threats across multiple products and services.
  • Partner deeply with technical leadership to drive the strategic security projects across Splunk products and infrastructure.
  • Be active at a technical level, participating in design and code reviews and taking a hands-on role for strategically important, potentially risky technical initiatives required to achieve the success of the technical roadmap.
  • Exhibit a growth mindset and provide mentorship and teaching for other engineers, helping them build the skills required to drive impact through influence as well as direct contribution.
  • Research and evaluate emerging security vulnerabilities and propose adoption strategies across products and infrastructure.
  • Represent security engineering in architectural and technical governance bodies.

Must-have Qualifications

  • Strong knowledge of how data intensive applications are constructed and run efficiently.
  • Strong software development experience across large codebases.
  • Deep knowledge of web protocols and distributed systems.
  • Experience leading large scale change (of mindsets, technologies, or tooling) in codebases and organizations.
  • Proven track record of influencing security outcomes in large, complex systems.
  • Deep knowledge of cloud operational models and secure SaaS architecture in a world of containerized microservices.
  • Familiarity of compliance requirements for certifications like PCI DSS, SOC2, HIPAA, FedRAMP
  • Experience addressing systemic security issues through root cause analysis, building security solutions, and project leadership.

Nice To Have Qualifications

  • Deep familiarity with common standards and frameworks (e.g., OWASP, NIST, MITRE ATT&CK, CIS Controls).
  • Knowledge of indexing & storage technology.
  • Deep understanding of browser security and JavaScript frameworks.
 
As part of Cisco's integration of Splunk and our ongoing job mapping process, the [job title and/or range] for this position was updated on [July 11, 2025]. This change reflects our commitment to aligning roles across the organization while ensuring consistency and clarity. The responsibilities and expectations for this role remain unchanged.
 
 
Cisco is an Equal Opportunity Employer 
 
At Cisco, we believe creating a culture of belonging isn’t just the right thing to do; it’s also the smart thing. We prioritize diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging to ensure our employees are supported to bring their best, most authentic selves to work where they can thrive. Qualified applicants receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, age, physical or mental disability or medical condition, genetic information, veteran status, or any other consideration made unlawful by federal, state, or local laws. We consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements.
 
Base Pay Range 
 
Base Pay Range: $164,000 - 235,000 per year
 
When available, the salary range posted for this position reflects the projected hiring range for new hire, full-time salaries in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including equity or benefits. For non-sales roles the hiring ranges reflect base salary only; employees are also eligible to receive annual bonuses. Hiring ranges for sales positions include base and incentive compensation target. Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location and additional factors, including but not limited to skillset, experience, and relevant education, certifications, or training. Applicants may not be eligible for the full salary range based on their U.S. or Canada hiring location. The recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.
U.S. employees have access to quality medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, short and long-term disability coverage, basic life insurance and numerous wellbeing offerings.
 
Employees receive up to twelve paid holidays per calendar year, which includes one floating holiday (for non-exempt employees), plus a day off for their birthday. Non-Exempt new hires accrue up to 16 days of vacation time off each year, at a rate of 4.92 hours per pay period. Exempt new hires participate in Cisco’s flexible Vacation Time Off policy, which does not place a defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use but is subject to availability and some business limitations. All new hires are eligible for Sick Time Off subject to Cisco’s Sick Time Off Policy and will have eighty (80) hours of sick time off provided on their hire date and on January 1st of each year thereafter.  Up to 80 hours of unused sick time will be carried forward from one calendar year to the next such that the maximum number of sick time hours an employee may have available is 160 hours. Employees in Illinois have a unique time off program designed specifically with local requirements in mind. All employees also have access to paid time away to deal with critical or emergency issues. We offer additional paid time to volunteer and give back to the community.
 
Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components. 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 up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid.

Splunk's Hiring Practices

Splunk turns machine data into answers. Organizations use market-leading Splunk solutions with machine learning to solve their toughest IT, Internet of Things and security challenges.
 
Splunk, a Cisco company, is an Equal Opportunity Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, genetic information, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis. We consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. Click here to review the US Department of Labor’s EEO is The Law notice. If you need assistance or an accommodation to apply or during the hiring process, please let us know by completing our Accommodation Request form.
 
Splunk also has policies in place to protect the personal information candidates disclose to us as part of the application process. Please click here to review Splunk’s Career Site Privacy Policy.

Splunk does not discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. Please click here to review Splunk’s Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision.

Splunk is committed to the health and safety of our employees and customers. Splunk is impacted by the mandates outlined for U.S. Government contractors in President Biden’s Path out of the Pandemic: COVID-19 Action Plan. As a result, Splunk requires U.S. employees, whether assigned to an office or 100% remote, to provide proof of full vaccination, as defined by the CDC. Splunk provides reasonable accommodations for employees who have qualifying medical or religious reasons.

Splunk is also committed to providing access to all individuals who are seeking information from our website. Any individual using assistive technology (such as a screen reader, Braille reader, etc.) who experiences difficulty accessing information on any part of Splunk’s website should send comments to accessiblecareers@splunk.com. Please include the nature of the accessibility problem and your e-mail or contact address. If the accessibility problem involves a particular page, the message should include the URL of that page.

Splunk doesn't accept unsolicited agency resumes and won't pay fees to any third-party agency or firm that doesn't have a signed agreement with Splunk.

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