Staff Engineer, Network Infrastructure

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

📋 Description

• Design and develop network automation and orchestration systems for DigitalOcean's worldwide network infrastructure.

• Create software for network provisioning, configuration management, device lifecycle management, validation, monitoring, and automated remediation.

• Develop software that integrates with DPUs, SmartNICs, and programmable network infrastructure.

• Implement automation for extensive datacenter and Point of Presence deployments, including hardware, network fabrics, routing infrastructure, and vendor integrations.

• Abstract the variations among network vendors and hardware implementations while ensuring operational safety and reliability.

• Create diagnostic tools and automate operational workflows.

• Convert intricate networking and hardware requirements into maintainable software architectures.

• Set engineering standards for infrastructure software development, testing, observability, and operational readiness.

• Oversee projects from the technical design phase through implementation, deployment, and long-term operation.

• Define technical direction and make architectural choices for network and infrastructure software.

• Produce RFCs, architecture/design documents, technical proposals, project plans, and other technical documentation.

• Guide engineers and provide technical leadership throughout the engineering organization.

• Assess emerging hardware and software technologies to identify opportunities for hardware acceleration.

• Collaborate with teams across Network Infrastructure, Compute, Storage, Availability, Security, and Hardware/Platform Engineering.

⛳️ Requirements

• Extensive experience in designing and constructing production software systems at scale.

• Solid software engineering fundamentals, encompassing distributed systems, API design, concurrency, testing, observability, and system reliability.

• Proficient programming experience in one or more languages such as Go, Python, or C++.

• Experience in developing automation, orchestration, or infrastructure platforms.

• Strong grasp of TCP/IP, BGP, EVPN/VXLAN, VLANs, routing, switching, and network telemetry.

• Experience with network devices, network automation frameworks, APIs, or vendor SDKs.

• Familiarity with designing systems for highly available production environments.

• Capability to distill complex infrastructure challenges into scalable software architectures.

• Excellent technical writing skills and the ability to produce RFCs, architecture/design documents, technical proposals, project plans, and related documentation.

• Skill in transforming ambiguous problems into technical proposals, documented requirements, architectural decisions, and implementation plans.

• Strong communication skills and the ability to influence technical decisions across engineering teams.

• Proven ability to function as a technical leader without relying on organizational authority.

• Particularly valuable: experience with DPUs, SmartNICs, programmable data planes, eBPF, P4, or DPU/SmartNIC integration.

• Nice to have: experience with hyperscale/cloud infrastructure, SONiC, white-box networking, 400G+ datacenter networks, OpenConfig, gNMI, NETCONF, YANG, streaming telemetry, Kubernetes, open-source infrastructure, and automated network validation/testing/remediation.

• Ability to actively utilize AI tools while upholding production-quality standards.

🏝️ Benefits

• Reimbursement for relevant conferences, training, and education.

• Access to LinkedIn Learning's library of over 10,000 courses.

• Employee Assistance Program.

• Local Employee Meetups.

• Flexible time-off policy.

• Bonus opportunities based on both company and individual performance.

• Equity compensation, including equity grants upon hire.

• Option to enroll in the Employee Stock Purchase Program.