Senior Staff Software Engineer, SDN Architecture

Crusoe•Sunnyvale, CA

6d•$250,000 - $300,000

About The Position

As a Senior Staff Software Engineer for SDN Architecture, you will be a driving technical force behind the software-defined networking stack that powers Crusoe's AI-first cloud. You will design and build high-performance networking solutions optimized for AI and HPC workloads, working deeply across the Linux kernel, packet processing pipelines, and network virtualization to help deliver the extreme throughput and low latency that massive GPU clusters demand. You will act as a senior technical contributor and a trusted voice in architecture decisions, partnering closely with Principal Engineers and engineering leadership to shape direction while owning significant portions of the roadmap yourself. This role suits a deep-systems engineer who thrives at the intersection of hardware accelerators and software control planes, and who enjoys raising the technical bar of the teams around them. You will collaborate closely with Product, Hardware, and Infrastructure teams to deliver a reliable, scalable networking fabric that aligns with Crusoe's mission to innovate sustainably.

Requirements

8+ years of experience building and operating large-scale networking systems in production, ideally within cloud or hyperscale data center environments.
Strong SDN and NFV experience coupled with solid systems programming skills in C, C++, Go or Rust.
Strong working knowledge of Linux kernel architecture, memory management, the network stack, and device driver development.
Hands-on experience with kernel bypass and high-speed packet processing, including XDP, eBPF, AF_XDP, or DPDK.
Familiarity with SmartNICs and accelerators, such as NVIDIA ConnectX-6/7, BlueField-3, or Intel IPUs.
Experience with network virtualization and data center fabrics (e.g., Spine-Leaf, BGP, EVPN, VXLAN) and tools like OVS or OVN.
Solid knowledge of SR-IOV and vDPA, with the ability to debug issues across both control and data planes.
A track record of influencing technical decisions through strong written communication and a collaborative, mentoring mindset.
A Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related analytical field (or equivalent professional experience).

Nice To Haves

Contributions to projects like OVS, OVN, Cilium, or Multus.
Hands on experience deploying and operating physical network devices.
Experience with network automation or complex orchestration tooling.
Experience building networking stacks for multi-node GPU training at scale.

Responsibilities

Contribute to and help refine the technical direction for Software-Defined Networking, translating strategy into concrete plans, milestones, and measurable outcomes for your area of ownership.
Participate in and help lead architecture reviews, author design documents for major SDN components, and provide thorough code reviews for critical services.
Build and optimize Linux kernel modules and high-performance drivers using technologies such as XDP, eBPF, AF_XDP, and DPDK.
Help design and implement network architectures for GPU-to-GPU fabrics, high-speed Ethernet, and specialized AI clusters.
Implement and tune virtualization features such as SR-IOV, vDPA, and virtio, and help integrate advanced SmartNICs, DPUs, or IPUs into the stack.
Troubleshoot complex production issues and perform deep performance tuning to maximize throughput and minimize latency and improve future designs based on learnings.
Evaluate emerging SDN and NFV technologies, and contribute to open-source projects where strategically relevant, sharing findings with the broader engineering org.
Mentor engineers across the stack, review their designs and code, and help build a culture of engineering excellence.
Partnering with software and operation teams to implement, execute, deploy and manage your architecture designs while incorporating feedback along the way.