Staff Software Engineer Integrated Network Strategy

At Cloudflare we are on a mission to help build a better Internet. Today the company runs one of the worlds 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 Magazines Top Company Cultures list and ranked among the Worlds Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company.

At Cloudflare were not looking for people who wait for a polished roadmap; were 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 youre 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 youll fit right in.

Integrated Network Strategy is where Cloudflares foundational infrastructure planning network design and capacity roadmaps are shaped. We own the systems and processes that enable our global network to scale across 337 cities in 125 countries while maintaining industry-leading performance and reliability. We design the architectural standards capacity methodologies and hardware evolution strategies that keep Cloudflares network ahead of exponential growth. Rather than being constrained by the structures which make Cloudflare a massively successful business we leverage our edge and network to solve infrastructure problems at massive scale and efficiencysomething nearly impossible for any other organization.

We are looking for a Staff Engineer to join our team and lead the design evolution and operational excellence of our global network infrastructure. You will own the foundational decisions about how our network grows: from capacity planning methodologies and hardware evolution strategies to architectural standards that inform infrastructure teams across the organization. You will work with a team of passionate talented engineers and architects that are building the systems powering the internets most critical infrastructure. You will play an active part in shaping the network architecture strategies and long-term roadmaps that will keep Cloudflare ahead of unprecedented scale. You will make sure our company hits our ambitious infrastructure and operational goals. You will change whats possible for internet infrastructure.

If youve designed backbone and edge networks from the ground up automated BGP policy and traffic engineering at hyperscale driven network planning and sourcing to balance performance redundancy and cost and led teams through major architectural shifts - this is the role for you. You bring a deep understanding of modern routing protocols (BGP ISIS RSVP-TE) software-defined forwarding and the tradeoffs between automation standardization and operational flexibility. You excel at building extensible frameworks that allow teams to solve tomorrows problems without rewiring todays foundation. You have a track record of taking on greenfield problems and turning them into repeatable systems and processes. Most importantly you have the respect of infrastructure teams because you combine technical depth with strategic thinking and the ability to influence without authority.

Note: it is not required that you have all of these! Teams have varying needs focuses and deep expertise areas.

• 10 years designing operating or planning large-scale network infrastructure at hyperscale (or equivalent)
• Proven track record building greenfield network architectures and evolving them as business needs change
• Deep hands-on expertise with modern routing protocols (BGP ISIS RSVP-TE QoS traffic engineering)
• Strong experience with software-defined networking overlay networks and programmable forwarding
• Expert-level understanding of network economics: cost drivers capacity planning peering strategy and trade-offs between performance redundancy and capital efficiency
• Track record automating complex network operations and building extensible frameworks that scale across large teams
• Experience designing and implementing DDoS mitigation strategies firewall policies and network security at scale
• Ability to design intent-based systems that reduce operational complexity while maintaining flexibility
• Strong systems-level understanding across the full stack: from hardware platforms and protocols through software-defined networking to application-level routing decisions
• Experience leading network design planning budgeting and sourcing decisions for large deployments
• Ability to think 35 years ahead while shipping solutions today
• Proven ability to influence without direct authority; comfortable presenting technical recommendations to senior leadership and non-technical stakeholders
• Strong writing and documentation skills; able to articulate complex technical decisions and trade-offs clearly
• Experience mentoring junior engineers or leading teams through major architectural transitions
• Comfortable working in a matrix environment with multiple stakeholders (product operations procurement finance) and driving alignment

• Experience at a hyperscaler or large infrastructure platform (Meta Google Netflix Amazon Microsoft etc.)
• Background designing and implementing network automation frameworks
• Experience with network telemetry Netflow data analysis and observability at scale
• Track record driving significant cost optimization through network design and peering strategy
• Experience with IPv6 deployment and evolution at scale
• Knowledge of SDN platforms hardware abstractions and vendor-agnostic network design
• Familiarity with Cloudflares products network or competitive landscape

Network Architecture & Design

• Design and evolve the architecture of Cloudflares global network including core infrastructure patterns interconnection strategies and edge deployment models
• Establish and maintain design standards that enable consistency reliability and defensibility across heterogeneous deployments
• Lead architectural reviews; anticipate technical debt and recommend major evolution initiatives working across team

Capacity Planning & Systems Design

• Own the design and continuous improvement of capacity management processes and systems used across infrastructure teams
• Develop methodologies for forecasting demand modeling growth scenarios and optimizing resource utilization
• Build tools dashboards and automated systems that make capacity planning visible transparent and actionable

Hardware & Network Evolution

• Drive the evolution of network hardware and platform strategies evaluating new platforms vendors and architectures
• Lead technical evaluations of emerging technologies (silicon switching architectures routing protocols optical transport etc.)
• Work with procurement supply chain and engineering teams to transition the network to next-generation platforms

Next-Generation Planning & Research

• Conceive and plan multi-year technical roadmaps for network infrastructure anticipating growth patterns and industry dynamics
• Conduct research into emerging infrastructure trends and translate insights into strategic recommendations
• Lead architectural exploration and validation projects that de-risk future directions before large-scale commitment

Collaboration & Organizational Impact

• Partner with infrastructure teams to translate architectural visions into operational realities
• Work with finance and operations to understand cost implications and optimize infrastructure spend
• Mentor and elevate the technical decision-making capability of engineering teams across the organization

Were not just a highly ambitious large-scale technology company. Were 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 weve equipped more than 2400 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 Cloudflares 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 weve 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. Heres the deal - we dont 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.

Sound like something youd like to be a part of Wed love to hear from you!

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 persons 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.

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