Software Architect, Duo

The application window is expected to close on: 09/24/2026

Preferred candidates will be based in Ann Arbor, MI or Austin, TX. Remote candidates will be considered.

Meet the Team

Duo's compliance and security obligations span FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standards), FedRAMP (Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program), EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC) internal Cisco Security and Trust organization (STO) requirements, customer attestations, and audit evidence across engineering teams. This is an exciting opportunity for an architect who can translate regulatory and security mandates into executable projects, triage incoming issues, and build systems that connect Duo to broader SBG compliance processes.

Your Impact 

This Software Architect role draws upon hands on experiences of building modern SaaS applications and bridges Product, Security, SRE, and Duo Engineering — ensuring compliance is designed into delivery workflows, not handled as ad hoc audit support.  In this role, you will:

• Understand the existing software and production architecture of the service to identify gaps for meeting compliance requirements.

• Leverage AI for analysis and building tools to equip engineering teams in meeting compliance requirements.

• Understand FedRAMP, CRA, PQC, and related compliance requirements and translate them into engineering projects with clear scope, ownership, and execution paths. Project translation will require a good working knowledge of program and project management.

• Triage CIAM (Cisco Incident Alert Manager) issues and coordinate remediation with the relevant Duo Engineering teams.

• Provide application-level compliance evidence for auditors in partnership with Duo Engineering teams.

• Answer Product and Security questionnaires for customer compliance and security reviews.

• Work closely with product managers that are responsible for compliance related product features and certifications.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree + 12 years of related experience, or Masters + 8 years of related experience, or PhD + 5 years of related experience to include experience in software development lifecycles and project management practices. 

• Experience in microservice-based architecture and building modern SaaS applications on AWS/GCP/Azure

• Experience with existing software implementations, to include designing and building new AI-enabled tools.

• Experience in regulatory compliance architecture (FedRAMP, CRA, PQC, and related frameworks)

• Experience translating compliance and security requirements into engineering roadmaps and deliverables.

Preferred Qualifications

• Ability to exercise cross-functional influence across Security, Product, SRE, and engineering without direct authority and identify/coordinate cross-team dependencies.

• Experience building IAM products.

• Experience working in FIPS / FedRAMP environments.

• Experience with Post Quantum Cryptography transition planning and execution.

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. 

Message to applicants applying to work in the U.S. and/or Canada:

The starting salary range posted for this position is $177,600.00 to $257,400.00 and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position 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. The full salary range for certain locations is listed below. For locations not listed below, the recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.

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. Please see the Cisco careers site to discover more benefits and perks.  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 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. 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 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:

$214,100.00 - $356,300.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$192,400.00 - $317,200.00

* 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.