Software Engineer - Datapath
About The Position
The Playbooks / Orchestration team at Alkira is responsible for automating the creation and management of multi-cloud networks for customers. This involves translating customer intent into a working network in minutes using a combination of Ansible, Python, and Go. The team sets up the networking stack on Cloud Exchange Points (CXPs), runs health workflows, integrates new virtual network functions (VNFs), and develops tooling for node inspection and configuration. They collaborate with Routing, Data Path, and Backend teams to ensure customer networks are provisioned correctly and reliably across all clouds. The role offers broad exposure to the entire system, from clouds and Linux to the networking stack and data path, making it a prime learning opportunity for engineers.
Requirements
- Strong software fundamentals including data structures, problem-solving, clean code, and debugging skills.
- Hands-on coding experience in at least one of C, Python, or Go, with an aptitude to learn the others.
- Comfort working in a Linux environment, including shell, processes, logs, and networking tools.
- Hands-on familiarity with core networking concepts like TCP/IP.
- A working mental model of at least one major cloud provider (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and their networking constructs (VPC/VNet, subnet, security group).
- A strong debugging mindset and enjoyment in root cause analysis.
Nice To Haves
- Ansible or other configuration-automation experience.
- Experience using AI-assisted development tools (e.g., Claude Code).
- Experience building CLIs, task runners, or large-scale automation.
- Familiarity with network services such as firewalls and load balancers.
Responsibilities
- Automate cloud infrastructure provisioning and network service setup across AWS, Azure, and GCP using Ansible playbooks.
- Develop Go task engines to manage configuration and teardown of CXP nodes at scale, including node restarts.
- Integrate new VNFs to enable new services and capabilities.
- Build Python tooling and CLIs for inspecting, configuring, and debugging the networking stack on nodes.
- Extend configuration and task models to translate provisioning requests into node commands.
- Ensure connectivity remains correct, fast, and reliable across clouds and at scale.
- Troubleshoot and resolve production provisioning issues, collaborating with other teams on end-to-end configuration flow.
Benefits
- Opportunity for rapid growth and broad exposure across the system.
- Work with networking and systems experts.
- Build a deep, end-to-end understanding of cloud networking.
- On-call rotation for hands-on learning and system understanding.
Stand Out From the Crowd
Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.
What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Entry Level
Education Level
No Education Listed
