Principal Software Engineer, Distributed Systems

Cloudflare, Inc

Confirmed live today High trust
Hybrid

Quick summary

Work type
Hybrid
Location
Washington, DCAustin, TXNew York, NYSan Francisco, CA
Salary
$230,000–$288,000 / yr
Posted
118 days ago
Freshness
Confirmed live today

Market check

Salary context

Above market

How this pay compares to similar roles

Similar $192k
This role $259k
$125k $305k
below market most similar roles pay here above market

This role pays more than 91% of similar roles. Most pay $169,550–$215,112 — the blue band above. At the midpoint, this role pays about $259k versus about $192k for comparable roles.

Based on 240 similar postings.

Employer

About Cloudflare, Inc

Cloudflare is a prominent cloud services and security company that provides content delivery network (CDN), DDoS mitigation, and Zero Trust security services to millions of internet properties.

Cloudflare, Inc currently has 110 open roles on FindRole.

Listed pay typically runs $194,000–$266,000 across 56 roles with salary data.

Most-posted roles

View all roles at Cloudflare, Inc

At a glance

TL;DR · Principal Software Engineer, Distributed Systems

The Principal Software Engineer: Distributed Systems (Config, Test, & Deployment) joins the Intent Management organization within the Foundational Engineering team. As the most senior individual contributor, you will own the technical coherence of a platform encompassing globally distributed key-value storage, progressive release, and configuration delivery. Your daily work involves writing production code, designing new systems, and reviewing proposals to ensure safe change across Edge and control-plane platforms. You will build health-mediation systems and integrate LLMs into internal processes. Required expertise includes at least one modern strongly-typed programming language, API design standards, and experience with high-volume, global-scale software applications. You will solve the critical business problem of preventing unsafe changes by creating primitives that make safe deployment the easy button for the entire engineering organization.

What does a Software Engineer earn in District Of Columbia?

Median $215000 from 45 postings across 11 companies.

See salary data

What you'll do

  • Own the technical coherence of a platform spanning globally distributed key-value storage and configuration delivery.
  • Design and build systems for progressive release, testing, and health-mediation to ensure safe change.
  • Translate Edge and control-plane platform requirements into buildable technical primitives.
  • Write production code and design new systems for high-growth products.
  • Review technical proposals submitted by other senior engineers.
  • Integrate Large Language Models (LLMs) into internal processes and systems.
  • Deliver on key Health Mediated Deployment projects tracked by senior leadership.

What we're looking for

  • 10+ years of software engineering experience with a history of leading complex, organization-wide technical initiatives (preferred).
  • Strong track record of technical leadership and influence without direct authority (preferred).
  • Experience designing, building, and managing high-volume, global-scale software applications (preferred).
  • Expert in at least one modern strongly-typed programming language (preferred).
  • Knowledge of API design standards, patterns, and best practices (preferred).
  • Experience working with top-tier LLMs to plan, write, test, and deploy software (preferred).
  • Experience with Kubernetes, RocksDB, or health checking platforms at scale (preferred).
  • Export control laws, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations.

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