Senior Software Engineer, Network Simulations

SimSpace Corporation

1d • $165,000 - $225,000

About The Position

SimSpace serves as an AI Proving Ground where organizations can confidently train, test, and outmaneuver adversaries in any environment. Trusted by allied governments, militaries, enterprises, and research institutions worldwide, SimSpace enables adaptive, AI-ready defenses that stay ahead of evolving threats. Founded in 2015 by experts from U.S. Cyber Command and MIT Lincoln Laboratory, the platform unifies training, testing, and validation in a realistic, live-fire simulation—helping teams evaluate security investments, optimize performance, and compress cyber readiness cycles from months to days.

We are looking for a Senior Software Engineer to serve as the technical lead for SimSpace's internet simulation platform — the system that makes cyber range environments behave like the real internet at the network layer. This is foundational, novel work: you will be designing and building a kernel-level simulation layer that reproduces the observable behavior of worldwide internet routing — correct ASN topology, realistic inter-AS latency, accurate traceroute and MTR output — without instantiating a single virtual router.
The approach is grounded in a patent pending eBPF-based architecture developed at SimSpace, and this role will take that proof of concept into a production-grade system. As the technical lead on a newly formed team, you will set architectural direction, mentor peer engineers, and partner closely with a Principal Engineer and your Engineering Manager to build something that does not yet exist at this fidelity in the industry.

Requirements

• Deep expertise in Linux kernel networking and eBPF program development, including XDP, TC hooks, BPF map types, and the tradeoffs involved in kernel-space packet processing
• Strong systems programming skills — C or Rust for eBPF program development, and Go or Python for the control-plane agent and tooling layer
• Solid understanding of real-world internet routing — BGP, ASN topology, CIDR allocation, inter-AS peering — sufficient to model it faithfully without running routing software
• Experience designing systems with well-defined control plane and data plane separation, particularly where distributed components may have intermittent connectivity to a central controller
• Demonstrated technical leadership: you have set architectural direction and driven engineering quality across a team, whether as a tech lead, principal, or senior-plus individual contributor
• Comfort at the intersection of research and production engineering — this role involves taking a proof of concept and building it into something that runs reliably at scale
• Familiarity with Kubernetes as the deployment environment for both control plane services and distributed agent components

Nice To Haves

• Experience with network simulation, traffic shaping, or cyber range infrastructure is a strong plus
• Prior work in cybersecurity, defense, or government-adjacent environments is a plus due to SimSpace’s customer base

Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end architecture of the eBPF-based routing simulation layer, including XDP and TC hook point design, BPF map structure, and synthetic ICMP TTL-exceeded generation that makes traceroute and MTR behave correctly against the simulated topology
• Design and build the control-plane topology database and the pipeline that compiles real-world internet topology data into a form that in-range agents can consume and apply
• Architect the in-range proxy agent: the lightweight component that bridges the persistent control plane to individual cyber ranges, applying topology configuration locally and handling DNS delegation and traffic forwarding
• Define the interface contract between the control plane and in-range agents, including topology update propagation, graceful degradation when control plane connectivity is interrupted, and agent lifecycle management
• Serve as technical lead for the team — making daily architectural decisions across the full service scope, conducting design reviews, and maintaining engineering quality across all four engineering roles on the team
• Partner with other Engineers on novel simulation challenges, bring independent judgment to architectural tradeoffs, and shape the technical roadmap
• Mentor engineers on the team, raising the bar on systems design, kernel-level debugging, and engineering rigor
• Collaborate with adjacent platform teams on the operational model for a long-lived, multi-tenant service serving active cyber range deployments

Benefits

• Competitive and comprehensive package designed to support your well-being, growth, and success
• Base salary range: $160,000 - $225,000
• Opportunity for annual bonuses tied to company performance and individual contributions
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits
• Savings plans—coverage starts on day one!
• Company-paid counseling, coaching, and resources for you and your family through Spring Health
• 401(k)-retirement savings plan featuring a company match
• Unlimited vacation
• Dedicated health & wellness days
• Paid leave plans to support you and your loved ones during life’s most important moments
• Equity stock options at hire, with annual performance-based grants
• Employee referral program ($1,500–$3,500 for every qualified hire)
• Peloton Interactive Wellness Program: Full- and partial- subsidized membership plans and equipment discounts
• LinkedIn Learning membership
• Monthly reimbursements for meaningful connections with teammates through our SocialSpace Community
• Legal plan coverage
• Pet insurance
• Wellness reimbursements

What This Job Offers

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