System Engineer - Network Systems

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.

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.

About the Department

Cloudflare's Network Engineering Team builds and runs the infrastructure that runs our software. The Engineering Team is split into two groups: one handles product development and the other handles operations. Product development covers both new features and functionality and scaling our existing software to meet the challenges of a massively growing customer base. The operations team handles one of the world's largest networks with data centers in 190 cities worldwide and a couple of large specialized data centers for internal needs.

About the role

Cloudflare operates a large global network spanning hundreds of cities (data centers). You will join a team of talented network automation engineers who are building software solutions to improve network resilience and reduce engineering operational toil.

You will work on a range of tools, infrastructure and services - new and existing - with an aim to elegantly and efficiently solve problems and deliver practical, maintainable and scalable solutions. Leverage AI tools and automated assistants to streamline daily workflows.

Examples Of Desirable Skills, Knowledge And Experience

• BA/BS in Computer Science or equivalent experience
• 3+ years of proven experience in developing software components for network automation.
• Understanding of software development principles, design patterns, and various programming languages (like python and golang)
• Proficient with modern Unix/Linux operating systems/distributions
• Experience in MySQL, Postgres, Clickhouse (or equivalent SQL language)
• Experience with CI/CD, containers and/or virtualization
• Experience with Observability systems like prometheus, grafana (or equivalents)
• Demonstrated experience working alongside AI assistants or automated tools to augment task execution and project delivery

Bonus Points

• Knowledge of Networking engineering, with competencies in Layer 2 and Layer 3 protocols and vendor equipment: Cisco, Juniper, etc.
• Experience building and maintaining large distributed systems
• Experience managing internal and/or external customer requirements and expectations

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.

Sound like something you’d like to be a part of? We’d 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 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 View email address on click.appcast.io or via mail at 101 Townsend St. San Francisco, CA 94107.