Lead Network Software Engineer - Technology Vendor

Join a global software company transforming how AI and cloud infrastructure teams manage modern networks through advanced automation, abstraction, and multi-tenancy designed for next-generation data center environments. An exciting opportunity has opened for a Lead Software Engineer to join an R&D team building a next-generation network automation platform for AI-driven data centers. The role focuses on designing and developing distributed agents across switches, servers, and DPUs, working on low-level infrastructure that supports large-scale, high-performance network environments, including L2/L3 networking, NAT, and VXLAN systems. Responsibilities Lead the design and development of lightweight, high-performance agents written in Golang to configure and manage routing, switching, and overlay networking. Build systems for policy enforcement, including NAT (SNAT/DNAT), ACLs, and VXLAN state management across multi-tenant environments. Design secure, scalable communication between distributed agents and the central controller using gRPC, streaming, and event-driven models. Ensure agent efficiency across heterogeneous environments, including bare-metal servers, network switches, and SmartNICs/DPUs. Develop reliable telemetry and monitoring pipelines while optimizing for a low resource footprint and high resiliency. Drive debugging and observability strategies (logs, metrics, tracing) and collaborate closely with control-plane and dataplane teams. Mentor engineers and set high standards for code quality, testing, and system design within the R&D team. Skills/Must have Expert-level Golang proficiency: 5+ years of experience building production‑grade systems or infrastructure‑level software. Deep Linux Networking mastery: Extensive hands‑on experience with Netlink, namespaces, iptables/nftables, and tc. Network Infrastructure knowledge: Deep understanding of routing (BGP), switching, VXLAN, EVPN, and NAT implementations. Distributed Systems expertise: Proven experience building agent‑based architectures and handling complex, real‑world debugging. Local Presence: Based in Silicon Valley with the ability to work 2‑3 days a week from the Santa Clara office. Benefits Foundational Impact: Build the critical component that interacts directly with physical and virtual network infrastructure for AI data centres. High‑Performance Environment: Work on the future of automated cloud networking rather than legacy tooling, with exposure to SmartNICs and DPUs. Technical Leadership: Hands‑on role with the autonomy to define architecture and mentor an elite team of engineers. Rare Opportunity: Join a specialized R&D team at the forefront of large‑scale AI infrastructure and “neo‑cloud” development. Salary Competitive compensation, based on the candidate’s experience, skills, and location, including stock options and comprehensive benefits. #J-18808-Ljbffr Hamilton Barnes Associates Limited