Senior Software Engineer II, Network Datapath

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

📋 Description

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

• Create and refine packet-processing and forwarding systems with a focus on throughput, latency, CPU efficiency, scalability, and reliability.

• Implement networking features across the host, kernel, user space, and hardware-accelerated datapath.

• Examine packet-processing paths and resolve bottlenecks.

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

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

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

• Develop automated testing and benchmarking frameworks.

• Investigate production networking challenges such as packet drops, latency, throughput degradation, CPU utilization, and unforeseen traffic behavior.

• Collaborate with teams in Network Infrastructure, Compute, Availability, hardware, Security, and other engineering departments.

• 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 provide technical guidance.

• Mentor engineers and enhance software engineering and networking practices.

⛳️ Requirements

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

• In-depth 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 kernel networking stack, network namespaces, sockets, queues, interrupts, and NIC drivers.

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

• Proficient in multithreaded and concurrent software development.

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

• Capability to reason about complex systems encompassing hardware, operating systems, networking, and applications.

• Ability to independently lead projects from technical design to implementation and production deployment.

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

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

• Experience with hardware-accelerated networking is highly desirable, including DPUs, SmartNICs, IPUs, programmable NICs, P4, PCIe, DMA, queues, interrupts, RSS, offloads, and NIC hardware architecture.

• Take ownership of significant technical components and guide them from design through to production.

• Address complex performance and reliability challenges in the network datapath.

• Make informed technical decisions based on measurable performance and operational requirements.

• Develop scalable solutions instead of one-off fixes.

• Proactively identify architectural and performance bottlenecks.

• Collaborate effectively with teams across Network Infrastructure, Compute, Security, and other engineering divisions.

• Produce clear RFCs and technical documentation.

• Mentor fellow engineers and elevate the technical standard.

• Utilize AI and modern engineering tools to enhance leverage and speed up delivery.

🏝️ Benefits

• Reimbursement for relevant conferences, training, and education.

• 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 compensation, including equity grants upon hiring.

• Option to take part in the Employee Stock Purchase Program.