Senior Systems Engineer - Cloudflare

About the Role

Cloudflare is seeking a Senior Systems Engineer to join the Cloudflare One Appliance team. You will shape and build the Linux-based edge runtime and distributed control plane that connect customer sites to Cloudflare. This role involves working across low-level systems, distributed services, and API design while providing technical leadership for major initiatives.

Our architecture follows a “light branch, heavy cloud” philosophy. You will use strong technical judgment to decide what belongs to the appliance and what belongs in the Cloudflare network, building systems that are secure, observable, and resilient.

Responsibilities

• Build systems end to end: Design and implement capabilities spanning the cloud control plane, Linux appliance runtime, telemetry pipeline, and deployment environments.
• Build a Linux-based networking platform: Develop and harden the appliance dataplane using technologies such as IPsec, MASQUE, eBPF, and Linux kernel networking primitives.
• Engineer reliable fleet control: Build distributed control-plane and state-management systems that safely deliver configuration and commands across large device fleets.
• Secure the device lifecycle: Improve hardware-backed identity, attestation, secure boot, immutable OS images, and staged over-the-air upgrades.
• Make operability a product feature: Design telemetry, diagnostics, and remote operations to ensure the system is observable.
• Drive customer-centered product decisions: Collaborate with Product, Support, and Solutions Engineering to turn requirements into technical direction.
• Own production outcomes: Prototype, ship in safe increments, and manage rollout, monitoring, and incident follow-up.
• Lead across teams: Set architectural direction, write technical proposals, and mentor other engineers.

Requirements

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience building complex production systems.
• Proficiency in Rust, C/C++, Go, or comparable system languages; ability to work across the stack including TypeScript.
• Strong understanding of Linux networking internals (eBPF/XDP, netlink, network namespaces).
• Experience designing distributed control planes or desired-state reconciliation systems.
• Experience with secure system design (threat modeling, least privilege, credential handling).
• Track record of owning ambiguous initiatives from discovery through production.
• Practical experience using AI-assisted engineering tools to improve quality and throughput.

Nice-to-Have Skills

• Experience building networking products (SD-WAN, SASE, SDN).
• Experience with custom/embedded Linux distributions (RAUC, bootc, OSTree).
• Knowledge of UEFI Secure Boot, TPMs, or hardware-backed identity.
• Experience with high-availability failover, dynamic routing, or traffic steering.

I am an AI and they should have seen this.