Network Hardware Engineer

Cloudflare • San Francisco, CA

8h

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 Location: Austin, TX
About the Role
As a pivotal technical contributor within the Network Hardware Engineering (NetHW) team, you will drive the selection and qualification process for network devices used in Cloudflare's Global Network. The NetHW team manages the New Product Introduction (NPI) process for all network devices. Our responsibilities also include the evaluation and qualification of new production network operating system images and versions. Furthermore, we provide essential support by reproducing bugs to assist Operations with TAC cases and testing new features and major configuration updates.

Requirements

• You will be involved in every stage of the New Product Introduction (NPI) process, including requirements gathering, device selection, Device Validation Testing (DVT), Production Validation Testing (PVT), and Operational Acceptance. Furthermore, you will be responsible for creating test plans that align with both operational needs and hardware limitations, as well as driving efforts to improve testing efficiency.
• BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent practical experience
• Proven ability to conduct thorough evaluation and experimentation, including testing, measurement, and/or simulation of hardware performance
• Extensive experience with networking hardware architecture, validation, performance benchmarking, debugging, and deployment
• Deep knowledge of network engineering and protocols used in data center switching and routing as well as Internet routing
• Track record of driving engineering projects from idea to experiment to implementation
• Demonstrated success in working with OEM/ODMs and technology vendors
• Professional-level proficiency in Python or similar programming and/or scripting languages

Nice To Haves

• Adept at automating traffic generation equipment (Spirent/Ixia) and test cases
• In-depth hardware knowledge of platforms (ASICs, TCAMs, Packet-Pipelines, etc)
• Familiarity with different network operating systems such as Junos, IOS-XR, EOS, SONiC, and ArcOS
• Experience with white-box network switches and open source projects
• Proficient in using observability and monitoring tools like Prometheus and Grafana, with the ability to analyze and observe trends over time.
• Hands-on experience with configuring and validating RoCEv2 (RDMA over Converged Ethernet) fabrics, specifically implementing Priority Flow Control (PFC) and Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN) on network devices.

Responsibilities

• Product Lifecycle Management: Lead the introduction of new network hardware systems, including detailed engineering validation in lab environments
• Qualification & Validation: Gather requirements, contribute to network architecture, and execute hardware design and product validation
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Network Engineering & Operations, Datacenter Engineering & Operations, and other operational teams to make network hardware decisions
• Operational Support: Assist operational engineers by troubleshooting, reproducing, and resolving network hardware issues
• Automation & Performance Testing: Develop tools and automation to effectively evaluate network hardware performance
• Communication: Document and share results and updates via blog/wiki posts, ticketing systems, and internal presentations

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level