Interconnection Manager, Network Strategy Americas

About the Role The Interconnection Manager for the Americas is the network strategy leader for one of Cloudflare's most important and most contrasted regions — a mature, high-volume United States market alongside a fast-growing, infrastructure-constrained South America. You will own the strategy that scales our connectivity with the largest ISPs and eyeball networks in the U.S. while solving the harder, less-charted problem of building resilient, cost‑effective network reach across South America. This role operates on an AI‑first model. You won't just consume reports — you'll use AI agents and tooling to analyze traffic, model capacity and cost scenarios, surface peering and transport opportunities, and automate the operational work that historically slowed interconnection teams down. AI is the force‑multiplier that lets a single strategist see the whole region clearly and act on it quickly, shifting your time from reactive task processing to proactive architecture. The decisions you make will directly shape Cloudflare's standing as the network leader across the Americas. You will work in close partnership with the Regional Network Acquisition Manager, who executes high‑volume sourcing, contract lifecycle, and vendor management under your strategic direction — freeing you to lead the complex, high‑stakes work. What You'll Do / Responsibilities Regional Network Strategy — Americas Own and execute the interconnection and backbone strategy for the Americas, balancing the distinct realities of the U.S. and South American markets. United States: Drive interconnection scale and depth with the largest U.S. ISPs and eyeball networks (e.g., Comcast, Charter, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile), expanding private interconnect, peering, and capacity to keep pace with traffic growth. South America: Solve the region's unique build challenges — a sparse and uneven IXP fabric, terrestrial and subsea transport economics, regulatory and market fragmentation, and heavy reliance on local partners — to establish durable, performant reach (with particular focus on Brazil, the region's largest market). AI-First Operating Model Use AI‑driven analytics to interpret regional traffic patterns, peering opportunities, and performance/cost trade‑offs, and to inform interconnection and capacity decisions. Leverage and help shape automated, agentic workflows for LOAs, ticketing, contract tracking, and data hygiene — partnering with the support layer to push routine execution to automation. Build models and scenario analyses (capacity, cost, resiliency) that let you make faster, better‑evidenced strategic calls and clearly defend them to leadership. Interconnection & Backbone Management Formulate and execute plans to optimize traffic flow across the region, balancing backbone, partner, transit, IX, and peer connections. Develop and execute strategies for the expansion, optimization, and maintenance of Cloudflare's backbone across the Americas, planning capacity for scalability and high performance. Lead negotiations for high‑value, complex interconnection agreements and Tier‑1 partnerships. Advise budget planning cycles to ensure proper resource allocation for regional growth and scaling. Partnership with the Regional Network Acquisition Manager Set the strategy and priorities the Network Acquisition Manager executes against; review and approve sourcing recommendations for new and existing transport services. Lead complex, high‑value negotiations directly, while the Acquisition Manager runs high‑volume requirements, contract lifecycle support, inventory, and first‑level billing response. Ensure a clean handoff model so strategic intent translates into reliable, well‑documented execution. Relationship Management Cultivate and maintain strong relationships with ISPs, IXPs, carriers, and partners across the Americas. Act as the regional expert for interconnection relationships, focused on availability, capacity, effectiveness, and cost efficiency. Cross‑Functional Collaboration Collaborate with Data Center Strategy, Network Engineering, Capacity Planning, and Infrastructure Operations to align on network strategy and implementation. Engage internal stakeholders to plan requirements and deliver cross‑functional projects, communicating clearly throughout. Industry Engagement Represent Cloudflare in regional and global industry forums and conferences, contributing to best practices and standards. Desirable Skills, Knowledge, and Experience: 5+ years of experience in network infrastructure, ideally within a Telco, ISP, CDN, or cloud environment. Strong understanding of networking protocols and technologies, including BGP, DWDM, and IP networking. Proven experience negotiating and managing interconnection agreements. Working knowledge of the Americas connectivity landscape — the U.S. wholesale/peering market and the transport, IXP, and partner dynamics of South America (including subsea and terrestrial considerations). Fluency with AI tools in daily work, and a genuine appetite to use AI/agentic tooling to scale decision‑making and eliminate manual toil. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills. Strong analytical and problem‑solving abilities. Experience with capacity planning, cost modeling, and operations research. Bonus Points Professional proficiency in Spanish and/or Portuguese , to support relationship‑building and network expansion across South America. Hands‑on experience building or scaling network presence in emerging or infrastructure‑constrained markets. Experience designing AI‑assisted analytics or automation for network/commercial operations. Compensation Compensation may be adjusted depending on work location. For Bay Area based hires: Estimated annual salary of $150,000 - $207,000 For New York based hires: Estimated annual salary of $143,000 - $197,000 For Washington D.C. based hires: Estimated annual salary of $143,000 - $197,000 Equity This role is eligible to participate in Cloudflare’s equity plan. Health & Welfare Benefits Medical/Rx Insurance Vision Insurance Flexible Spending Accounts Commuter Spending Accounts Fertility & Family Forming Benefits On-demand mental health support and Employee Assistance Program Global Travel Medical Insurance Short and Long Term Disability Insurance 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan Employee Stock Participation Plan Time Off Flexible paid time off covering vacation and sick leave Leave programs, including parental, pregnancy health, medical, and bereavement leave Equal Employment Opportunity Statement 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. #J-18808-Ljbffr CloudFlare