Staff Engineer, Edge Systems Efficiency

Fastly helps people stay better connected with the things they love. Fastly’s edge cloud platform enables customers to create great digital experiences quickly, securely, and reliably by processing, serving, and securing our customers’ applications as close to their end‑users as possible—at the edge of the Internet. The platform is designed to take advantage of the modern internet, to be programmable, and to support agile software development. Fastly’s customers include many of the world’s most prominent companies, including GitHub, Yelp, Paramount, and JetBlue. We’re building a more trustworthy Internet. Come join us. Staff Software Engineer – Edge Systems The Edge Systems Team develops software that interacts with the full systems stack of Fastly’s infrastructure, from the kernel up to core systems software. Projects include implementing new protocols, optimizing existing systems, routing among the edge nodes, designing distributed systems, and more. The focus is on enhancing the overall efficiency of our edge platform. We are looking for a Staff Software Engineer passionate about applying their talents to make the Internet fast and reliable. What You’ll Do Work across layers from the Linux kernel to core edge systems such as Varnish and WebAssembly. Use a data‑driven approach to identify and implement performance and efficiency improvements across the Fastly platform. Write, test, and deploy C, Rust, and Go code. Enhance, maintain, and optimize network protocols such as TCP and QUIC for performance and efficiency. Lead full lifecycle projects from design to deployment in support of Fastly’s edge systems. Collaborate with cross‑functional teams and stakeholders to shape a clear technical roadmap—prioritizing key initiatives and proactively identifying and mitigating risks—to deploy, support, troubleshoot, and deliver performance and efficiency improvements. Mentor and support the professional growth of engineers, fostering a culture of respect, knowledge sharing, innovation, and collaboration within the team. What We’re Looking For Proven ability to design and implement reliable, scalable, low‑latency systems. Most Staff Engineers at Fastly have at least 7 years of domain‑relevant engineering experience. Significant production experience with coding in C, C++, and/or Rust. Experience with Linux systems and network programming. Hands‑on experience in building distributed infrastructure and maintaining it over time. Advanced knowledge of Linux as a development environment: git, compilers. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to produce clear and comprehensive documentation. A collaborative mindset with experience working across cross‑functional teams, fostering a culture of respect, knowledge sharing, and innovation. Proven ability to mentor and support the growth of engineers, both within a specific area of expertise and more broadly. We’ll be Super Impressed if You Have Experience in Any of These Web/Internet protocols such as TCP, TLS, DNS, QUIC. Linux kernel. Ability to systematically profile and benchmark complex cross‑layer distributed systems. Comfortable working in a geographically distributed team and highly available environments. Work Hours This position will require you to be available during core business hours and occasionally nights and weekends as required for on‑call support. Work Location(s) & Travel Requirements This position is open to the following preferred office locations: San Francisco, CA Denver, CO New York, NY Fastly currently embraces a largely hybrid model for most roles, allowing employees flexibility to split their time between office and home. There is a strong preference for hybrid near a local office; however, we may be willing to consider remote candidates within the US and Canada. This position may require travel as needed by your role or at the request of your manager. SF / LA Fair Chance Ordinance Statement Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. Salary If hired in the United States, the estimated salary range for this position is $211,370 to $253,644. Starting salary may vary based on permissible, non‑discriminatory factors such as experience, skills, qualifications, and location. This role may be eligible to participate in Fastly’s equity and discretionary bonus programs. Benefits We care about you. Fastly works hard to create a positive environment for our employees, and we think your life outside of work is important too. We support our teams with great benefits that start on the first day of employment, including medical, dental, and vision insurance; family planning, mental health support, Employee Assistance Program; Life, Disability, and Accident insurance; a Flexible Vacation policy; up to 18 days of accrued paid sick leave; 401(k) with company match; Employee Stock Purchase Program; and 11 paid local holidays, 12 paid company wellness days. Equal Employment Opportunity Fastly is committed to ensuring equal employment opportunity and to providing employees with a safe and welcoming work environment free of discrimination and harassment. Our employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, family or parental status, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances. Consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and federal or state disability laws, Fastly will provide reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with disabilities. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact your recruiter or the Fastly Employee Relations team at View email address on click.appcast.io or View phone number on click.appcast.io. Fastly collects and processes personal data submitted by job applicants in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Please see our privacy notice for job applicants. #J-18808-Ljbffr I did my part and supported the Regular Toilet