Principal Systems Developer - Acacia Optical Networks

The application window is expected to close on: 06/23/2026.

Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.

Meet the Team Acacia designs intelligent optical interconnect products using advanced signal processing and photonic integration for 100G, 400G, 1T, and beyond. Our technologies are deployed across data center, metro, long‑haul, and ultra‑long‑haul optical networks, helping enable the next generation of high‑speed communications.

At Acacia, you’ll work alongside experts across DSP, ASIC, optics, photonics, software, hardware, systems, and application engineering in a collaborative environment passionate about innovation, technical excellence, and customer success.

Your Impact As a Principal Systems Developer, you will be a senior individual contributor who plays a critical role in defining, aligning, and enabling next‑generation optical products across multiple engineering teams. This role is primarily internally focused and sits at the intersection of Product Management, System Application Engineering, and R&D.

You will help translate market needs into clear product and system requirements, drive technical trade‑off discussions, identify and close cross‑functional gaps, and contribute to the successful development and deployment of advanced optical solutions. Depending on business needs and your experience, the role may also include selective customer‑faceng engagement.

What You’ll Do

Own the translation of Market Requirements Documents (MRDs) into clear, actionable Product Requirements Documents (PRDs) and system‑level requirements for engineering teams.

Play a key role in the product definition phase, including technical requirement development, feature clarification, trade‑off analysis, and multi‑functional alignment.

Work closely with ASIC and other R&D teams to identify technical, architectural, and execution gaps and help drive closure.

Collaborate across DSP, ASIC, optics, photonics, hardware, software, systems, and System Application Engineering to ensure strong alignment from product definition through deployment.

Participate in technical discussions and implementation planning for next‑generation products, including coherent optical systems, pluggable solutions, DSP/ASIC interaction, host interfaces, and high‑speed platforms at 1 T / 1.6 T and beyond.

Contribute to roadmap and architecture discussions through system‑level analysis, technical insight, and engineering trade‑off recommendations.

Support full product lifecycle activities, including roadmap discussions, alpha sample support, host card development, system verification, integration support, and field issue resolution.

Partner with System Application Engineering to support customer engineering teams, lab activities, system integration, and deployed system issues as needed.

Serve as a technical liaison between Product Management, customers, and internal engineering teams to ensure requirements, product gaps, and technical issues are clearly understood and addressed.

Influence future feature development and current product improvements based on market requirements, system knowledge, and field findings.

Work with multi‑functional teams to find opportunities for AI‑enabled engineering capabilities, including internal productivity tools, automated workflows, and data analysis solutions, and contribute to implementation efforts.

Author and review application notes, product specifications, technical documentation, and Python‑based scripts/tools that support development, validation, debug, and customer enablement.

Act as a broad systems leader across R&D, stepping in where needed to remove blockers, improve coordination, and accelerate execution.

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or related field with 12+ years of experience in optical communications, or Master’s degree with 10+ years of experience, or PhD with 8+ years of experience.

Systems‑level knowledge of optical communication technologies, including OTN, Ethernet, and coherent optical systems.

Prior experience driving product definition and technical requirement development while delivering across engineering teams such as ASIC, DSP, optics, and hardware.

Demonstrated experience translating market needs into comprehensive product and system requirements to guide engineering teams.

Proficiency in coding and scripting combined with strong written and verbal communication skills for effective cross‑functional collaboration.

Preferred Qualifications

Direct experience with electrical transceiver applications, including backplane and cable communications.

Prior experience coding with Python.

Experience in customer‑facing technical roles supporting network equipment manufacturers, hyperscalers, or service providers.

Experience contributing to roadmap and architecture discussions.

Familiarity with next‑generation optical platforms and technologies, including high‑speed coherent and pluggable systems.

Experience with AI‑assisted engineering workflows, internal automation, or engineering data analysis tools.

Experience with troubleshooting and issue replication skills across both hardware and software domains.

Compensation and Benefits The starting salary range posted for this position is $194,900.00 to $247,200.00 and reflects the projected salary range for new hires 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.

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. 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 a 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.

0.75% 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: $225,000.00 - $374,100.00

Non‑Metro New York state & Washington state: $208,600.00 - $330,000.00

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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