Software Engineer, Cloudflare Network Interconnect
CloudflareRole Description & Requirements
About Us
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.
At Cloudflare, we’re not looking for people who wait for a polished roadmap; we’re looking for the builders who see the cracks in the Internet that everyone else has simply learned to live with. We value candidates who have the instinct to spot a "normalized" problem and the AI-native curiosity to create a solution using the latest tools. Our culture is built on iteration, leveraging AI to ship faster today to make it better tomorrow, while ensuring that every improvement, no matter how small, is shared across the team to lift everyone up. If you’re the type of person who values curiosity over bureaucracy, and that AI is a partner in solving tough problems to keep the Internet moving forward, you’ll fit right in.
Available Locations: Austin, TX
About the Role
The CNI team builds and operates the systems that let Cloudflare's enterprise customers connect their networks directly to Cloudflare through private, dedicated interconnects — rather than traversing the public Internet. The product, Cloudflare Network Interconnect (CNI), supports various interconnect types across hundreds of locations worldwide. These systems underpin Magic Transit, Cloudflare WAN, Zero Trust, and application security for some of Cloudflare's largest customers.
What You'll Do
As a member of the team you will build and extend the systems that provision, monitor, and orchestrate private network interconnects at scale. You will collaborate with Product Management, Network Engineering, and Infrastructure teams on ambitious initiatives to connect enterprise customers directly to Cloudflare's global network.
Responsibilities
You will participate in all stages of the software development lifecycle: from designing and documenting systems, to writing code and automated tests, to planning, managing, and monitoring production software deployments. You will work with a wide range of technologies and programming languages, including Rust, Go, PostgreSQL, Prometheus, Kubernetes, Linux networking, network operating systems, and BGP routing, among others.
Our team at Cloudflare operates under a "Run What You Build" model. This means we are responsible for the health of our systems and actively participate in our team's on-call rotation as part of our operational duties.
Because you'll be solving problems of massive scale and significance, you are a growth-oriented individual who enjoys being outside of your comfort zone. You are comfortable in a fast-paced but sensible work environment. You value curiosity and empathy and lead with these values.
Desirable Skills, Knowledge, and Experience:
- Systems-level programming experience in Rust, Go, C, or C++.
- Understanding of IP networking fundamentals: BGP, Layer 3 routing, and how physical and virtual interconnect technologies work (cross-connects, VLANs, overlay tunnels).
- Experience building, deploying, and debugging distributed systems.
- Experience participating in an on-call rotation for services with direct customer impact.
- Willingness to adopt and integrate AI tools and systems into your workflow.
- Strong collaboration and communication skills.
Bonus Points
- Hands-on experience with BGP configuration, route policy, or peering operations.
- Experience building provisioning or automation systems for network infrastructure.
- Familiarity with network inventory and IPAM systems (e.g., NetBox).
- Experience with cloud provider networking (AWS Direct Connect, GCP Partner Interconnect, Azure ExpressRoute).
- Knowledge of GRE, VXLAN, or other overlay/tunnel technologies.
- Experience with Kubernetes-based service deployments and CI/CD pipelines.
- Experience with telemetry/observability platforms (Prometheus, Grafana, ClickHouse, Elasticsearch).
- Experience using AI-assisted development tools (e.g., code completion, codebase analysis, log/data exploration) in a professional setting.
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!
Please note that applicants who progress to the offer stage of the interview process may be asked to attend an in-person interview within one of the Cloudflare Offices or Cloudflare Hubs. More details about this will be available at that stage of the interview process.
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.
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