Network Hardware Engineer

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 Location: Austin, TX

Applications will be accepted until November 01, 2026.

Job Title

Network Hardware Engineer

Role Summary

As a pivotal technical contributor within the Network Hardware Engineering (NetHW) team, you will drive the selection and qualification process for network devices used in Cloudflare's Global Network. The NetHW team manages the New Product Introduction (NPI) process for all network devices.

Our responsibilities also include the evaluation and qualification of new production network operating system images and versions. Furthermore, we provide essential support by reproducing bugs to assist Operations with TAC cases and testing new features and major configuration updates.

Role Responsibilities

You will be involved in every stage of the New Product Introduction (NPI) process, including requirements gathering, device selection, Device Validation Testing (DVT), Production Validation Testing (PVT), and Operational Acceptance. Furthermore, you will be responsible for creating and automating test plans that align with both operational needs and hardware limitations, as well as driving efforts to improve testing efficiency.

Network Hardware Systems Engineering Responsibilities

Product Lifecycle Management: Lead the introduction of new network hardware systems, including detailed engineering validation in lab environments

Qualification & Validation: Gather requirements, contribute to network architecture, and execute hardware design and product validation

Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Network Engineering & Operations, Datacenter Engineering & Operations, and other operational teams to make network hardware decisions

Automation & Performance Testing: Develop tools and automation to effectively evaluate network hardware performance

Operational Support: Assist operational engineers by troubleshooting, reproducing, and resolving network hardware issues

Communication: Document and share results and updates via blog/wiki posts, ticketing systems, and internal presentations

Role Requirements (Must-Have Skills)

Must-Have Skills

BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent practical experience

Proven ability to conduct thorough evaluation and experimentation, including testing, measurement, and/or simulation of hardware performance

Extensive experience with networking hardware architecture, validation, performance benchmarking, debugging, and deployment

Deep knowledge of network engineering and protocols used in data center switching and routing as well as Internet routing

Track record of driving engineering projects from idea to experiment to implementation

Demonstrated success in working with OEM/ODMs and technology vendors

Professional-level proficiency in Python or similar programming and/or scripting languages

Familiarity with various coding agents and other AI tools and technologies

NIce-to-Have Skills

Adept at automating traffic generation equipment (Spirent/Ixia) and test cases

In-depth hardware knowledge of platforms (ASICs, TCAMs, Packet-Pipelines, etc)

Experience with Optical Line Systems and troubleshooting transceiver issues

Familiarity with different network operating systems such as Junos, IOS-XR, EOS, SONiC, and ArcOS

Experience with white-box network switches and open source projects

Proficient in using observability and monitoring tools like Prometheus and Grafana, with the ability to analyze and observe trends over time.

Hands-on experience with configuring and validating RoCEv2 (RDMA over Converged Ethernet) fabrics, specifically implementing Priority Flow Control (PFC) and Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN) on network devices.

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 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.