Senior Software Engineer II, Network Datapath

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Colorado.

📋 Description

• Design, develop, and enhance high-performance network datapath software for DigitalOcean's cloud infrastructure.

• Construct and refine packet-processing and forwarding systems aimed at optimizing throughput, latency, CPU efficiency, scalability, and reliability.

• Create networking functionalities across the host, kernel, user space, and hardware-accelerated datapath.

• Examine packet-processing paths and remove bottlenecks.

• Develop software for routing, packet filtering, encapsulation, tunneling, load balancing, traffic steering, and network virtualization.

• Establish datapath observability, telemetry, debugging, and performance monitoring tools.

• Integrate software with DPUs, SmartNICs, programmable NICs, and hardware acceleration technologies.

• Create automated testing and benchmarking frameworks.

• Investigate production networking issues, including packet drops, latency, throughput degradation, CPU utilization, and unexpected traffic behavior.

• Collaborate with teams in Network Infrastructure, Compute, Availability, and hardware.

• Contribute to the development of next-generation network architectures.

• Write RFCs, architecture documents, technical proposals, design documents, and implementation plans.

• Document technical decisions, trade-offs, performance characteristics, dependencies, and operational considerations.

• Engage in design reviews and offer technical guidance.

• Mentor engineers and enhance software engineering and networking practices.

⛳️ Requirements

• Extensive experience in designing and developing production software in C, C++, or Go.

• Profound understanding of networking and packet processing.

• Experience in developing software for Linux-based networking systems.

• Knowledge of TCP/IP, routing, switching, VLANs, VXLAN, BGP, ECMP, NAT, load balancing, and network virtualization.

• Proficiency in debugging and optimizing performance-sensitive systems.

• Familiarity with Linux networking internals, including the Linux kernel networking stack, network namespaces, sockets, queues, interrupts, and NIC drivers.

• Experience with DPDK, XDP, eBPF, AF_XDP, or SR-IOV.

• Experience with multithreaded and concurrent software.

• Strong understanding of performance analysis, profiling, benchmarking, and troubleshooting.

• Ability to analyze complex systems across hardware, operating systems, networking, and applications.

• Capacity to independently drive projects from technical design through implementation and production deployment.

• Excellent technical writing skills for creating RFCs, architecture/design documents, technical proposals, and other engineering documentation.

• Strong communication skills and the ability to collaborate effectively across engineering teams.

• Experience in developing software for DPUs, SmartNICs, IPUs, or programmable NICs is highly valuable.

• Understanding of functionality distribution among host CPUs, NICs, DPUs, and switches is highly valuable.

• Experience with DPU-based networking, security, storage, virtualization, or packet processing is highly valuable.

• Familiarity with programmable datapaths such as P4, eBPF, or other programmable data-plane technologies is highly valuable.

• Knowledge of PCIe, DMA, queues, interrupts, RSS, offloads, and NIC hardware architecture is highly valuable.

• Own significant technical components from design through production.

• Solve complex performance and reliability challenges.

• Make technical decisions based on quantifiable performance and operational requirements.

• Develop scalable solutions.

• Proactively identify architectural and performance bottlenecks.

• Collaborate across Network Infrastructure, Compute, Security, and other engineering organizations.

• Produce clear RFCs and technical documentation.

• Mentor fellow engineers.

• Utilize AI and modern engineering tools to enhance team productivity.

🏝️ Benefits

• Reimbursement for relevant conferences, training, and educational pursuits.

• Access to over 10,000 courses on LinkedIn Learning.

• Employee Assistance Program.

• Local Employee Meetups.

• Flexible time-off policy.

• Bonus eligibility based on both company and individual performance.

• Equity grants for eligible employees upon hire.

• Employee Stock Purchase Program available for eligible employees.

• Opportunities for remote work.