Software Engineer - Rust - Data Center Networking

At Cloudflare, we are on a mission to help build a better Internet. Today the company runs one of the world’s largest networks that powers millions of websites and other Internet properties for customers ranging from individual bloggers to SMBs to Fortune 500 companies. Cloudflare protects and accelerates any Internet application online without adding hardware, installing software, or changing a line of code. Internet properties powered by Cloudflare all have web traffic routed through its intelligent global network, which gets smarter with every request. As a result, they see significant improvement in performance and a decrease in spam and other attacks. Cloudflare was named to Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top Company Cultures list and ranked among the World’s Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company. 

We realize people do not fit into neat boxes. We are looking for curious and empathetic individuals who are committed to developing themselves and learning new skills, and we are ready to help you do that. We cannot complete our mission without building a diverse and inclusive team. We hire the best people based on an evaluation of their potential and support them throughout their time at Cloudflare. Come join us! 

About the Team

Cloudflare is redefining the way networks are run at scale. Our Network Services product suite puts the connectivity, scale, and performance of Cloudflare’s global network in front of customers’ network infrastructure and private networks, providing a single pane of glass for network connectivity, visibility, and operating network functions like DoS mitigation, Next-Gen Firewall, IDS/IPS, WAN optimization, Network Interconnects, and more. We are a team of engineers and product managers who obsess over quickly building products that solve real customer problems using innovative technologies and techniques which leverage Cloudflare’s unique architecture and global network footprint.

Cloudflare Network Interconnect

Cloudflare Network Interconnect allows customers to connect their network infrastructure directly with Cloudflare – rather than using the public Internet – for a more reliable and secure experience. Customers can bring Cloudflare’s full suite of network functions to their physical network edge, directly connected over direct 1Gbps, 10Gbps, and/or 100Gbps links.

About the Role

We’re looking for curious and empathetic engineers who are excited to join us in changing the way networking is done. Some of the things our team works on include:

• A Linux-based networking dataplane which ingests and forwards traffic from some of the largest networks in the world
• Developing custom software for dedicated hardware switching equipment such as networking ASICs
• Developing high performance networking software to connect some of Cloudflare’s largest customers into Cloudflare via private links
• Developing a robust and automated control plane to manage a fleet of custom network devices across the globe
• Communicating results and updates through blog posts, internal talks, and tickets
• Partnering with teams in the Network Engineering, Network Operations, Data Center Engineering, and Observability organizations to seamlessly integrate with wider Cloudflare systems to push forward the product roadmap and integrate customer’s interconnects
• Partnering with some of the best engineers and product managers to solve big problems

Examples of desirable skills, knowledge, and experience

• Experience building and shipping large-scale, reliable, highly distributed systems
• Systems-level programming experience, preferably in Rust and/or C++
• Expertise in L2, L3, and/or L4 networking protocols
• Familiarity with network engineering and protocols used in data center switching and routing as well as Internet routing - BGP, BFP, OSPF, MPLS, etc.
• Experience building on top of Linux kernel networking primitives – netfilter, nftables, eBPF, tc, switchdev, network namespaces, etc
• Experience designing and integrating RESTful APIs and backend systems
• Excellent debugging and optimization skills
• Attention to detail and ability to solve complex customer problems
• Own solutions end-to-end and driving the design, development, and deployment process
• Able to work across teams and level common, sustainable solutions
• Creative, open-minded, collaborative problem solver
• Focus on clarity in written and verbal communication

Bonus Points

• Experience with white-box network switches and open source projects such as openswitch.net
• Experience developing, working on, or modifying the Linux kernel, or Linux k