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Senior Systems Engineer

Cloudflare· Engineering
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Hybrid (Atlanta, US), Hybrid (Austin, US), Hybrid (Denver, US), Hybrid (Seattle, US), Hybrid (Washington DC, US)$185k - $254kfull-timePosted 2mo ago

About the role

Hands-on software engineering role shaping and building the Linux-based edge runtime and distributed control plane that connect customer sites to Cloudflare. Leads major initiatives across low-level systems, distributed services, and API design with a focus on secure, observable, and scalable systems for large fleets.

Responsibilities

  • Build systems end to end: design and implement capabilities spanning the cloud control plane, Linux appliance runtime, telemetry pipeline, and physical, virtual, and cloud deployment environments.
  • Build a Linux-based networking platform: develop and harden the appliance dataplane; build secure, reliable networking capabilities using IPsec, MASQUE, eBPF, and Linux kernel networking primitives while keeping the system small, predictable, and secure.
  • Engineer reliable fleet control: build distributed control-plane and state-management systems that safely deliver configuration and commands, tolerate intermittent connectivity and partial failures, converge to known-good state, and support zero-touch operation across large device fleets.
  • Secure the device lifecycle: improve hardware-backed identity, attestation, secure boot, immutable OS images, credential rotation, and staged over-the-air upgrades with safe rollback and recovery.
  • Make operability a product feature: design telemetry, diagnostics, synthetic tests, support bundles, and remote operations that help customers and support teams understand the system.
  • Drive customer-centered product decisions: collaborate with customers, Product, Support, and Solutions Engineering to translate requirements into technical direction, with clear opinions and data-driven revisions.
  • Own production outcomes: prototype quickly, ship in safe increments, and own rollout, monitoring, incident follow-up, and long-term maintainability.
  • Lead across teams: set architectural direction for major initiatives, write technical proposals, conduct rigorous reviews, mentor engineers, and coordinate with Cloudflare WAN, Gateway, DEX, One Client, and platform/security teams.

Qualifications

  • 8+ years of professional software engineering experience
  • Strong software engineering skills in Rust, C/C++, Go, or a comparable system programming language, with ability to work across the stack including TypeScript
  • Strong understanding of Linux networking internals, with experience building against the kernel networking stack using eBPF/XDP, netlink, and network namespaces
  • Experience designing and implementing distributed control planes, desired-state reconciliation, remote configuration, or similar systems managing large intermittently connected fleets
  • Experience designing secure systems, including threat modeling, least privilege, credential handling, and software supply-chain integrity
  • Track record of owning ambiguous initiatives from discovery through production (architecture, implementation, staged deployment, incident response, failure analysis)
  • Technical leadership and communication skills to influence decisions and explain trade-offs
  • Product judgment grounded in customer evidence, usability, and operational simplicity
  • Practical experience using AI-assisted engineering tools, coding agents, harnesses, or automation to improve engineering quality and throughput

Skills

Required:Rust, C/C++, GoLinux networking internalsDistributed control planesSecurity & threat modelingTechnical leadership & communication

Benefits

  • Health & Welfare Benefits: Medical/Rx Insurance, Dental Insurance, Vision Insurance, Flexible Spending Accounts, Commuter Spending Accounts, Fertility & Family Forming Benefits, On-demand mental health support and Employee Assistance Program, Global Travel Medical Insurance
  • Financial Benefits: Short and Long Term Disability Insurance, Life & Accident Insurance, 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan, Employee Stock Participation Plan
  • Time Off: Flexible paid time off covering vacation and sick leave, Leave programs including parental, pregnancy health, medical, and bereavement leave
Last updated Aug 26, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

About Cloudflare

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