Hardware Systems Engineer

Cloudflare; Broughton in Furness; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Cloudflare is seeking a Hardware Systems Engineer to help shape infrastructure choices that affect a large portion of the Internet. You will work with the Hardware Engineering and Sourcing teams to troubleshoot and maintain Cloudflare’s fleet of storage and compute servers, across a global footprint.

The role emphasizes collaboration with vendors, automation, and scalable fleet operations, with opportunities to influence hardware strategy and improve reliability at scale.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or Computer Science.
• Desire to learn about the Cloudflare hardware used by 20% of all web sites.
• Desire to learn how a diverse server fleet is managed at scale.
• Desire to learn the tools Cloudflare uses to maintain and monitor our hardware.
• Knowledge of bash and python and basic Linux task automation.
• Knowledge of x86 server hardware including motherboards, CPUs, memory, storage and firmware updates. Knowledge of other platforms such as arm is a bonus.
• Knowledge of configuration management principals, in particular we use salt to manage our fleet.
• Knowledge of Redfish, IPMI and server remote management protocols.
• Knowledge of running production mission critical systems.

Responsibilities

• Work with software teams to validate bug fixes and assess performance of new firmware revisions.
• Validate and deploy firmware updates to the fleet, monitoring the progress of the rollout for compliance and reliability.
• Work with server and component vendors to obtain, debug, and maintain the latest updates.
• Work with our Site Reliability Engineering teams to triage hardware problem reports.
• Support our Data Centre Engineering teams in resolving hardware issues.
• Develop and maintain automation tools to update firmware on servers and components in Cloudflare’s fleet.
• Communicate your results and updates through blog posts, internal talks, and tickets.

Skills

Bash

Python

Linux scripting

Firmware updates

Server troubleshooting

SRE collaboration

Debugging hardware faults

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or Computer Science

Tools

Salt

Redfish

IPMI

Prometheus

Grafana

Git

Bitbucket

TeamCity

Jira

Job description

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: Bengaluru

About the department

Cloudflare’s Infrastructure group is responsible for building our global network. Our Hardware Engineering team helps research, develop, test, and deploy new equipment enabling 20% of the world’s internet traffic to be served smoothly. Deployed across 330 cities in 120+ countries, the hardware we select helps improve the security, reliability, and performance of the Internet.

About the Role

We need to make thoughtful infrastructure choices affecting a significant portion of the Internet. Hardware we work with includes servers and components, as well as PDUs and network hardware. . As a Hardware Systems Engineer, you will work with colleagues on the Hardware Engineering, Product teams, and Hardware Sourcing teams to troubleshoot and maintain Cloudflare’s worldwide fleet of storage and compute servers.

What you’ll do

Exp: 3-5yrs

• Work with software teams to validate bug fixes and assess performance of new firmware revisions
• Validate and deploy firmware updates to the fleet, monitoring the progress of the rollout for compliance and reliability
• Work with server and component vendors to obtain, debug, and maintain the latest updates
• Work with our Site Reliability Engineering teams to triage hardware problem reports
• Support our Data Centre Engineering teams in resolving hardware issues
• Develop and maintain automation tools to update firmware on servers and components in Cloudflare’s fleet
• Communicate your results and updates through blog posts, internal talks, and tickets

Examples of desirable skills, knowledge and experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or Computer Science
• Desire to learn about the Cloudflare hardware used by 20% of all web sites
• Desire to learn how a diverse server fleet is managed at scale
• Desire to learn the tools Cloudflare uses to maintain and monitor our hardware
• Knowledge of bash and python and basic Linux task automation
• Knowledge of x86 server hardware including motherboards, CPUs, memory, storage and firmware updates. Knowledge of other platforms such as arm is a bonus.
• Knowledge of configuration management principals, in particular we use salt to manage our fleet
• Knowledge of Redfish, IPMI and server remote management protocols
• Knowledge of running production mission critical systems

Bonus Points

• Familiarity with server hardware architecture
• Knowledge of debugging server hardware faults and the ability to engage with our sourcing team and vendors to improve quality
• Experience of managing large fleets comprising of thousands of servers
• Experience of observability and monitoring tools such as Prometheus and Grafana, and the ability to observe trends over time
• Experience with software development tools and processes such as git, Bitbucket and TeamCity and Jira

Fraud Alert:Do not fall victim to recruitment fraud. Cloudflare never charges application fees or requires candidates to purchase third-party certifications or training as a condition of employment. All official communication comes strictly from @cloudflare.comemail addresses.

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 would otherwise censor their work, technology already used by Cloudflare’s enterprise customers–at no cost.

Athenian Project: In 2017, we created the Athenian Project to ensure that state and local governments have the highest level of protection and reliability for free, so that their constituents have access to election information and voter registration. Since the project, we’ve provided services to more than 425 local government election websites in 33 states.

1.1.1.1: We released1.1.1.1 to help fix the foundation of the Internet by building a faster, more secure and privacy-centric public DNS resolver. This is available publicly for everyone to use - it is the first consumer-focused service Cloudflare has ever released. Here’s the deal - we don’t store client IP addresses never, ever. We will continue to abide by ourprivacy commitment and ensure that no user data is sold to advertisers or used to target consumers.

Sound like something you’d like to be a part of? We’d love to hear from you!

Please note that applicants who progress to the offer stage of the interview process may be asked to attend an in-person interview within one of the Cloudflare Offices or Cloudflare Hubs. More details about this will be available at that stage of the interview process.

This position may require access to information protected under U.S. export control laws, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations. Please note that any offer of employment may be conditioned on your authorization to receive software or technology controlled under these U.S. export laws without sponsorship for an export license.

Cloudflare is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunity for all people and place great value in both diversity and inclusiveness. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to their, or any other person’s, perceived or actual race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care status, or any other basis protected by law. We are an AA/Veterans/Disabled Employer.

Cloudflare provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job. Examples of reasonable accommodations include, but are not limited to, changing the application process, providing documents in an alternate format, using a sign language interpreter, or using specialized equipment. If you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job, please contact us via e-mail at [e-mail] or via mail at 101 Townsend St. San Francisco, CA 94107.