Principal Software Engineer, Splunk Analytics and Search

The application window is expected to close on: 08/07/2026 Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received . Meet the Team Cisco and Splunk are building a safer, more resilient digital world. Organizations around the globe rely on our security and observability platform to keep their systems secure, available, and performing at their best. The Analytics and Search organization powers one of the most important capabilities of the Splunk Platform. Our teams build the technology that helps customers explore, understand, and act on massive amounts of machine data. As AI becomes an increasingly important part of the platform, we continue to evolve our search technologies to support new ways of discovering insights and solving problems.

We're looking for a Principal Software Engineer who enjoys solving difficult technical problems, working across teams, and helping shape the future of search at Splunk. In this role, you'll work with engineers, architects, and product partners across Cisco and Splunk to build technologies that serve thousands of customers around the world. Design distributed search and analytics systems that are reliable, scalable, and easy to evolve. Partner with engineering and product teams to turn long-term technical vision into practical solutions. Guide complex engineering efforts from early design through delivery and ongoing improvements. Improve the performance, reliability, and efficiency of the Splunk search platform. Help teams simplify existing systems while building reusable platform capabilities. Work across organizations to solve technical challenges and make thoughtful engineering decisions. Share knowledge through design reviews, mentoring, and technical discussions. Partner with customers and support teams to address important production issues and learn from real-world usage. Contribute to technical strategy, hiring, and the engineering culture across the organization.

Bachelor's degree with 15+ years of experience, Master's degree with 12+ years, PhD with 10+ years, or equivalent practical experience. Experience designing and building large-scale distributed systems or data platforms. Experience developing software that operates reliably in production. Experience with distributed computing, search technologies, data processing, or query execution. Experience working with cloud, hybrid, or on-premises platforms. Experience with C++, SQL, or cloud technologies such as AWS. Experience with search engines, distributed query processing, or large-scale analytics platforms.

Ability to collaborate across multiple engineering teams and influence technical direction. Strong communication skills, including explaining technical concepts to different audiences. Experience mentoring engineers and supporting technical growth across teams. Knowledge of indexing, query optimization, databases, or information retrieval. Familiarity with Spark, Presto, Athena, or similar distributed data systems. Experience building cloud-native services. Experience with observability, security, analytics, or similar enterprise platforms. Experience working directly with enterprise customers. 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