Software Engineer, Realtime

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, New York

About the role

You’ll be part of a team pushing the envelope of global realtime communication over the Internet. We are using the power of Cloudflare’s network to build and operate systems and services for realtime video, voice and data across the world, building on WebRTC, MoQ and whatever new technologies emerge. We’re a team of researchers, experimenters and makers, who are all passionate about working together to create high-performance, resilient systems running at massive scale. Does this sound like you? If so, come join us!

Responsibilities

Working with Product Management and customers to understand requirements.

Designing and implementing large-scale distributed systems.

Instrumenting global realtime services, creating dashboards, and analyzing data.

Monitoring and tuning system performance.

Researching and implementing Internet standards.

Effectively using all tools at your disposal, including AI.

Requirements

Solid computer science and software engineering fundamentals.

Experience working with large-scale distributed systems.

Curiosity, initiative and a desire to collaborate closely with others.

Knowledge of a modern systems programming language such as Rust or Go.

Bonus Points

Experience working with realtime protocols such as WebRTC or MoQ.

Experience working with streaming media.

Relevant personal projects.

Compensation

Compensation may be adjusted depending on work location.

For NYC based hires: estimated annual salary of $150,000 - 187,000.

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, including medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with company match, flexible paid time off, and fertility & family-forming benefits.

This role may require flexibility to be on-call outside of standard working hours to address technical issues as needed.

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 woul