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.