Senior Software Engineer - Network Platforms

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.

At Cloudflare, we’re not looking for people who wait for a polished roadmap; we’re looking for the builders who see the cracks in the Internet that everyone else has simply learned to live with. We value candidates who have the instinct to spot a "normalized" problem and the AI-native curiosity to create a solution using the latest tools. Our culture is built on iteration, leveraging AI to ship faster today to make it better tomorrow, while ensuring that every improvement, no matter how small, is shared across the team to lift everyone up. If you’re the type of person who values curiosity over bureaucracy, and that AI is a partner in solving tough problems to keep the Internet moving forward, you’ll fit right in.

The Network Platforms team was formed to build and extend network software infrastructure responsible for delivery of traffic through critical paths of Cloudflare's global network. These systems directly impact traffic across Cloudflare's network infrastructure, across numerous products and millions of customers. They are key to Cloudflare's mission to make the internet faster, safer, and more reliable.

As a member of the team you will build and extend various software systems that carry traffic on critical paths of Cloudflare's network: from the host server linux kernel, to the network hardware dataplane, to the physical interconnect at an adjacent network. You will participate in all stages of the software development lifecycle, from designing and documenting systems, to writing code and automated tests, to planning, managing, and monitoring production software deployments. You will collaborate with engineers across the company, from operations teams to the teams building customer-facing products, ensuring these capabilities match business needs. Our team at Cloudflare operates under a "Run What You Build" model. This means we are responsible for the health of our systems and actively participate in our team's on‑call rotation as part of our operational duties.

We are looking for smart, innovative team players that have experience in covering Linux kernel network stack development (particularly with eBPF), complex distributed systems, and understanding of internet protocols and technologies. As you’ll be solving problems of massive scale and significance, you are a growth-oriented individual who enjoys being outside of your comfort zone. You are comfortable in a fast‑paced but sensible work environment. You value curiosity and empathy and lead with these values.

Role Requirements

• Systems-level programming experience in Go, Python, Rust, C, or C++
• A solid grasp of BGP and internet routing
• Relish opportunities to dive into new technologies, and a demonstrated ability to do so
• Experience in implementing, deploying, and debugging mission-critical distributed systems
• Strong collaboration and communication skills
• Willingness to adopt and integrate AI tools and systems into your engineering workflow

Bonus Points

• Familiarity vendor switching SDKs
• Familiarity with SR-MPLS and sFlow, BGP-LS & PCE protocols
• Experience writing packet-processing software (eg, eBPF at TC or XDP, DPDK)
• Experience using AI-assisted development tools (e.g., code completion, codebase analysis, log/data exploration) in a professional setting
• Experience participating in an on‑call rotation

Compensation

For Portugal based hires: Estimated annual salary is between €68,000-91,000€. The final offer will be inclusive of time exemption, in alignment with the applicable law and collective bargaining agreements.

Equity

This role is eligible to participate in Cloudflare’s equity plan.

What Makes Cloudflare Special?

We’re not just a highly ambitious, large‑scale technology company. We’re a highly ambitious, large‑scale technology company with a soul. Fundamental to our mission to help build a better Internet is protecting the free and open Internet.

Project Galileo

Since 2014, we've equipped more than 2,400 journalism and civil society organizations in 111 countries with powerful tools to defend themselves against attacks that would otherwise censor their work, technology already used by Cloudflare’s enterprise customers--at no cost.

Athenian Project

In 2017, we created the Athenian Project to ensure that state and local governments have the highest level of protection and reliability for free, so that their constituents have access to election information and voter registration. Since the project, we've provided services to more than 425 local government election websites in 33 states.

1.1.1.1

We released 1.1.1.1 to help fix the foundation of the Internet by building a faster, more secure and privacy‑centric public DNS resolver. This is available publicly for everyone to use - it is the first consumer‑focused service Cloudflare has ever released. Here’s the deal - we don’t store client IP addresses never, ever. We will continue to abide by our privacy commitment and ensure that no user data is sold to advertisers or used to target consumers.

Please note that applicants who progress to the offer stage of the interview process may be asked to attend an in‑person interview within one of the Cloudflare Offices or Cloudflare Hubs. More details about this will be available at that stage of the interview process. This position may require access to information protected under U.S. export control laws, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations. Please note that any offer of employment may be conditioned on your authorization to receive software or technology controlled under these U.S. export laws without sponsorship for an export license.

Cloudflare is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunity for all people and place great value in both diversity and inclusiveness. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to their, or any other person's, perceived or actual race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care status, or any other basis protected by law. We are an AA/Veterans/Disabled Employer. Cloudflare provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job. Examples of reasonable accommodations include, but are not limited to, changing the application process, providing documents in an alternate format, using a sign language interpreter, or using specialized equipment. If you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job, please contact us via e‑mail at hr@cloudflare.com or via mail at 101 Townsend St. San Francisco, CA 94107.