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About the department

Cloudflare’s Infrastructure group is responsible for building our global network. Our Hardware Engineering team helps research, test, and deploy new equipment enabling compute, storage, and network. Deployed across 200+ cities in 100+ countries, the hardware we select helps improve the security, reliability, and performance of the Internet.

About the Role

We need to make thoughtful infrastructure choices affecting a significant portion of the Internet. Hardware we work with includes servers, routers, switches, optical equipment, power distribution units, cables, optics, and more. As a Network Hardware Engineer, you will work with colleagues on the Hardware Engineering, Network Operations, and Hardware Sourcing teams to evaluate and inform decisions around new networking equipment.

What you'll do

• Develop systems for Cloudflare’s next generation of network hardware. Examples of network hardware that Cloudflare purchases are: switches, routers, line cards, metro optical/line systems, optics/transceivers.
• Experiment with different designs and solutions for Cloudflare’s network hardware and work cross-functionally with Network Engineering and Hardware Sourcing to enact your suggestions globally
• Work with vendors to obtain, debug, and maintain the most efficient and effective next-generation network hardware and software for Cloudflare’s workload
• Develop tools and automation to evaluate network hardware performance
• Partner with engineers in the Network Engineering, Network Operations, Datacenter Engineering, and Observability teams to make informed decisions about hardware strategy
• Communicate your results and updates through blog posts, internal talks, and tickets

Examples of desirable skills, knowledge and experience

• Extensive experience with networking hardware architecture, validation, performance benchmarking, debug, and deployment
• Previous experience in testing, measuring, and/or simulating hardware performance and an understanding of no-stone-left-unturned experimentation
• Deep knowledge of network engineering and protocols used in data center switching and routing, Internet routing, and optical line systems.
• Track record of driving engineering projects from idea to experiment to implementation
• Demonstrated success in working with ODMs and technology vendors
• Professional-level proficiency in Python, Go, or similar programming and/or scripting languages

Bonus Points

• Experience with white-box network switches and open source projects such as openswitch.net
• Experience with Juniper equipment, especially the QFX, PTX, and/or MX series
• Operational experience as a network engineer in a hyperscale cloud infrastructure
• In-depth knowledge of platforms (ASICs, TCAMs, etc).