Software Engineer, Network Performance & Reliability (Argo)

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, US Responsibilities • The Argo team was formed to own a very important aspect of Cloudflare's systems: enable more reliable network connectivity for Cloudflare’s products than the Internet itself provides. • Almost all products in Cloudflare’s portfolio are or will be powered by Argo technology, including CDN, Spectrum, Magic Transit, Stream, Workers, Workers AI, R2, WARP, and more. As a member of the Argo team, you’ll be a key technical contributor to the cutting edge network software infrastructure used by those products. • You will work closely with various Engineering teams to translate their requirements into new capabilities on the platform. Likewise you will partner with Network Engineering and SRE to ensure that the technology makes the best use of Cloudflare's world-class edge network. • 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, Linux networking, ClickHouse, PostgreSQL, Grafana, Kubernetes, and more. You will use AI-powered tools and systems as part of your daily workflow to analyze and extend codebases, introspect production systems and datasets, and accelerate problem-solving. • Engineering teams at Cloudflare operate a Run What You Build model, including ours. We are responsible for the health of our system and participate in our team's on-call rotation as part of operational responsibilities. • 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 Go, Rust, C, or C++. We use Rust extensively, and while experience with the language isn't required a willingness to learn it is. • A solid grasp of networking protocols in Layers 3 and 4 of the OSI Model. • Knowledge of HTTP, TLS, and CDN networks. • Experience in implementing secure and highly-available distributed systems. • Strong ability to debug issues in complex systems. • Strong collaboration and communication skills. • Experience/interest in HTTP networking and VPN technologies. • Experience/interest in network performance monitoring and tuning. • Willingness to adopt and integrate AI tools and systems into your engineering workflow. Bonus Points • Knowledge of TCP/IP and Internet routing. • Professional systems-level programming experience in Rust. • Working knowledge of statistical-analysis techniques and control theory. • Experience building tools and APIs. • Experience with monitoring, alerting, and debugging large-scale distributed systems • Experience participating in an on-call rotation. • Experience using AI-assisted development tools (e.g., code completion, codebase analysis, log/data exploration) in a professional setting. Compensation Compensation may be adjusted depending on work location. Equity This role is eligible to participate in Cloudflare’s equity plan. Benefits Cloudflare offers a complete package of benefits and programs to support you and your family. Our benefits programs can help you pay health care expenses, support caregiving, build capital for the future and make life a little easier and fun! The below is a description of our benefits for employees in the United States, and benefits may vary for employees based outside the U.S. Health & Welfare Benefits • Medical/Rx Insurance • Dental Insurance • Vision Insurance • Flexible Spending Accounts • Commuter Spending Accounts • Fertility & Family Forming Benefits • On-demand mental health support and Employee Assistance Program • Global Travel Medical Insurance Financial Benefits • Short and Long Term Disability Insurance • Life & Accident Insurance • 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan • Employee Stock Participation Plan Time Off • Flexible paid time off covering vacation and sick leave • Leave programs, including parental, pregnancy health, medical, and bereavement leave What Makes Cloudflare Special? We’re not just a highly ambitious, large-scale technology company. We’re a highly amb