Engineering Manager, Cloudflare Hyperdrive
About The Position
At Cloudflare, we are on a mission to help build a better Internet. Today the company runs one of the world’s largest networks that powers millions of websites and other Internet properties for customers ranging from individual bloggers to SMBs to Fortune 500 companies. Cloudflare protects and accelerates any Internet application online without adding hardware, installing software, or changing a line of code. Internet properties powered by Cloudflare all have web traffic routed through its intelligent global network, which gets smarter with every request. As a result, they see significant improvement in performance and a decrease in spam and other attacks. Cloudflare was named to Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top Company Cultures list and ranked among the World’s Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company. We realize people do not fit into neat boxes. We are looking for curious and empathetic individuals who are committed to developing themselves and learning new skills, and we are ready to help you do that. We cannot complete our mission without building a diverse and inclusive team. We hire the best people based on an evaluation of their potential and support them throughout their time at Cloudflare. Come join us! Available Locations: Austin, TX | New York, NY | Seattle, WA About the Team The Cloudflare Hyperdrive team builds the technology that makes regional databases feel like they are global. Hyperdrive is a core piece of the Cloudflare Developer Platform that accelerates database queries from Cloudflare Workers by pooling connections and caching data at the edge. By eliminating the massive latency overhead of TCP, TLS, and database-specific handshakes, Hyperdrive allows developers to use the databases they already know and love—like PostgreSQL and MySQL—without the "cold start" performance penalties typically associated with serverless environments. Hyperdrive is integrated directly into the Cloudflare global network and features: Global Connection Pooling: Maintains "warm" connections to origin databases across the globe, reducing connection times by up to 90%. Intelligent Query Caching: Automatically caches frequently run read queries as close to the user as possible. Protocol-Aware Proxying: Features custom-built implementations of database wire protocols (PostgreSQL and MySQL) to parse and optimize traffic in real-time. Seamless Integration: Works with existing ORMs and drivers, providing a simple connection string that "just works" for developers. The team is geographically distributed across North America. What you'll do We are looking for an Engineering Manager to lead the Hyperdrive team. You will guide a group of talented systems engineers building the "connective tissue" between the edge and the world’s most popular databases. You will play an active part in shaping product features—such as adding support for new database protocols, improving caching logic, and expanding private networking capabilities via Cloudflare Tunnel. You will ensure the team hits ambitious performance goals and reliability targets. You bring a passion for solving the "distributed data" problem and thrive in a fast-paced environment where you are building low-level infrastructure that scales to millions of requests per second. Most importantly, you have a track record of leading technical teams with empathy, clarity, and a focus on professional growth.
Requirements
- Strong communications skills – Ability to translate complex systems architecture (like database wire protocols and connection states) into clear team goals.
- Distributed Systems Leadership – Experience leading and hiring teams that build high-availability, low-latency distributed services.
- Navigation of Ambiguity – Hyperdrive solves problems that are often unique to the edge; you are expected to find creative paths to delivery when "standard" solutions don't apply.
- Operational Excellence – Experience overseeing the execution, deployment, and maintenance of critical infrastructure with high predictability.
- Developer-Centric Mindset – Passion for building APIs and tools that developers love, ensuring that Hyperdrive remains easy to adopt and transparent in its magic.
- Technical Mentorship – A track record of hiring, onboarding, and developing engineers. You’re as good at explaining the “why” (business value) as you are the “how” (technical implementation).
- Systems Programming Background – At least 4 years of professional experience with Rust, Go, or C++ . (Hyperdrive's core logic is heavily rooted in high-performance systems programming).
- Database Fundamentals – Solid understanding of how databases work under the hood, including connection lifecycles, transaction states, and wire protocols.
Nice To Haves
- Deep Database Knowledge – Experience with PostgreSQL or MySQL internals, including experience with connection poolers (like PgBouncer) or proxy layers.
- Networking Expertise – Deep understanding of TCP/IP, TLS, and WebSockets (used in Hyperdrive’s Tunnel integration).
- Linux/Systems Performance – Experience debugging and optimizing failure modes in large-scale, Linux-based distributed environments.
- Serverless Ecosystem – Familiarity with the Cloudflare Workers ecosystem and the unique challenges of stateful connections in an ephemeral computing world.
- Open Source – Contributions to database drivers, ORMs, or networking libraries.
Responsibilities
- Lead the Hyperdrive team.
- Guide a group of talented systems engineers building the connective tissue between the edge and the world’s most popular databases.
- Play an active part in shaping product features—such as adding support for new database protocols, improving caching logic, and expanding private networking capabilities via Cloudflare Tunnel.
- Ensure the team hits ambitious performance goals and reliability targets.
Benefits
- Medical/Rx Insurance
- Dental 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
- Life & Accident Insurance
- 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan
- Employee Stock Participation Plan
- Flexible paid time off covering vacation and sick leave
- Leave programs, including parental, pregnancy health, medical, and bereavement leave
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Manager
Education Level
No Education Listed
