Principal Data Plane Engineer

Xsight Labs • Durham, NC

15h • Hybrid

About The Position

We are looking for a Principal Dataplane Engineer to join our Xsight Labs US software engineering team. In this role, you will be a technical lead for a strategic networking initiative focused on extracting maximum performance from Xsight’s next-generation silicon. You will design, implement, and optimize dataplane software that interfaces directly with custom hardware pipelines, enabling line-rate packet processing, advanced offloads, and scalable cloud networking features. As part of this effort, you will work closely with silicon architects, firmware, and control-plane teams, and actively engage with the open-source community to help define and influence dataplane models, APIs, and performance frameworks. Location is flexible between Xsight’s East Coast offices in Billerica, Massachusetts or Durham, North Carolina.

Requirements

• Strong understanding of dataplane architectures and high-performance packet processing.
• Experience developing Linux-based dataplane software targeting embedded or server-class CPUs (x86 and/or ARM).
• Expertise in designing low-latency, high-throughput systems with strict performance constraints.
• Ability to translate hardware specifications and networking requirements into efficient, testable dataplane implementations.
• Experience profiling, debugging, and optimizing dataplane code across CPU, memory, and I/O subsystems.
• Proven ability to collaborate closely with hardware, firmware, and control-plane teams.
• Expert-level proficiency in C
• Performance-driven, detail-oriented engineering mindset
• Strong problem-solving and debugging skills
• Self-learner with the ability to ramp quickly on new hardware and architectures
• Team-player with excellent verbal and written communication skills

Nice To Haves

• Hands-on experience with DPDK, including PMDs, RTE Flow, and performance tuning.
• Familiarity with NIC offloads, hardware accelerators, or programmable packet processing pipelines.
• Knowledge of L2/L3 forwarding, encapsulation, and tunneling protocols (Ethernet, VLAN, VXLAN, IP, TCP/UDP).
• Experience with highly available and scalable networking systems.
• Exposure to hardware/software co-simulation, emulation, or FPGA-based validation environments.
• Prior or active contributions to open source dataplane or networking projects.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and optimize dataplane software that interfaces directly with custom hardware pipelines.
• Enable line-rate packet processing, advanced offloads, and scalable cloud networking features.
• Work closely with silicon architects, firmware, and control-plane teams.
• Actively engage with the open-source community to help define and influence dataplane models, APIs, and performance frameworks.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal
• Education Level: No Education Listed