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! 

Working Approach: Hybrid, ~2 days from local office & up to 3 days from home

Summary

As a Systems Engineer at Cloudflare, you will be a key contributor to one of the systems that help build a better Internet. You will take ownership of medium-to-large projects, driving them from initial design to successful completion with some supervision. 

In this role, you will act as a natural point of contact for your projects, mentor junior engineers, and help improve the resilience and architecture of our systems. We are looking for an engineer who can solve complex issues with minimal help and contribute to shaping features and processes within a talented, collaborative team.

About the authoritative DNS team

Cloudflare runs one of the largest DNS infrastructures in the world. We run DNS for millions of Internet properties globally.  Aggregated our authoritative DNS and resolver platforms handle around 3 trillion DNS queries per day

Our DNS systems are custom built internally, so we’ve developed a lot of proprietary technology that operates at scale, and we are iterating constantly to meet new scaling and reliability requirements.

You will get to be part of a team that builds and maintains one of the core Cloudflare systems. You will maintain and expand our DNS infrastructure and implement features for our customers. We like to think outside the box and come up with novel approaches and solutions that scales.

Responsibilities

• Design, scope, and implement medium-to-large features and projects that may involve multiple team members.
• Write high-quality, maintainable, and well-tested code that simplifies and improves the systems your team owns.
• Serve as a mentor and onboarding guide for junior team members, helping them grow through thoughtful code and design reviews.
• Act as a subject matter expert for moderately complex systems, becoming a go-to person for questions about the projects you work on.
• Debug and resolve complex service issues with minimal assistance, improving system resilience through refactoring and re-architecting.
• Proactively identify issues affecting the team and propose effective solutions to improve our processes and technology.
• Collaborate with Product and other stakeholders to provide meaningful input on product requirement documents (PRDs).

Requirements / Must-Have Skills

• BA/BS in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• A strong professional background (typically 3+ years) in software or systems engineering.
• Demonstrated expertise in one or more systems programming languages such as Go, Rust, Python, C++, or similar.
• Proven experience in designing and building scalable, distributed systems.
• Ability to drive projects to completion and scope work effectively for yourself and other team members.
• Excellent problem-solving skills with the ability to debug complex systems independently.
• Strong communication and mentorship skills, with a history of helping others on your team succeed.

Nice-to-Have Skills

• Experience running established team meetings or technical discussions.
• Contributions to technical documentation or talks that guide your team or organization.
• Experience interviewing and providing meaningful feedback on technical candidates.
• Familiarity with building services in a large-scale, high-performance environment.
• Open source contributions is a big bonus
• Knowledge of DNSSEC and various security extensions to DNS
• Knowledge of HTTP, TLS and CDN Networks

We encourage you to apply even if you don't feel you meet every single requirement. We're building a diverse team and are keen to hear from people who can bring different perspectives and experiences to Cloudflare.

What Makes Cloudflare Special?

We’re not just a highly ambitious, large-scale technology company. We’re a highly ambitious, large-scale technology company with a soul. Fundamental to our mission to help build a better Internet is protecting the free and open Internet.

Project Galileo: Since 2014, we've equipped more than 2,400 journalism and civil society organizations in 111 countries with powerful tools to defend themselves against attacks that would otherwise censor their work, technology already used by Cloudflare’s enterprise customers--at no cost.

Athenian Project: In 2017, we created the Athenian Project to ensure that state and local governments have the highest level of protection and reliability for free, so that their constituents have access to election information and voter registration. Since the project, we've provided services to more than 425 local government election websites in 33 states.

1.1.1.1: We released 1.1.1.1 to help fix the foundation of the Internet by building a faster, more secure and privacy-centric public DNS resolver. This is available publicly for everyone to use - it is the first consumer-focused service Cloudflare has ever released. Here’s the deal - we don’t store client IP addresses never, ever. We will continue to abide by our privacy commitment and ensure that no user data is sold to advertisers or used to target consumers.

Sound like something you’d like to be a part of? We’d love to hear from you!

This position may require access to information protected under U.S. export control laws, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations. Please note that any offer of employment may be conditioned on your authorization to receive software or technology controlled under these U.S. export laws without sponsorship for an export license.

Cloudflare is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.  We are committed to providing equal employment opportunity for all people and place great value in both diversity and inclusiveness.  All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to their, or any other person's, perceived or actual race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care status, or any other basis protected by law. We are an AA/Veterans/Disabled Employer.

Cloudflare provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities.  Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job. Examples of reasonable accommodations include, but are not limited to, changing the application process, providing documents in an alternate format, using a sign language interpreter, or using specialized equipment.  If you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job, please contact us via e-mail at hr@cloudflare.com or via mail at 101 Townsend St. San Francisco, CA 94107.