Distributed Systems Engineer - Data Platform (Delivery, Database, Retrieval)

Cloudflare; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical/Rx Insurance

401(k) Retirement Savings Plan

Flexible paid time off

Job summary

Cloudflare is seeking experienced engineers to join their DATA Org in Austin, Texas, focused on developing and maintaining systems handling over a billion events per second.

The role involves working on distributed systems, collaboration with cross-functional teams, and contributing to analytics platforms. Candidates should have strong programming skills, ideally in Golang, and experience with observability tools like Prometheus.

This position offers competitive benefits, equity participation, and flexible work arrangements.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in software development covering distributed systems and databases.
• Strong programming skills, preferably in Golang.
• Hands-on experience with modern observability stacks such as Prometheus and Grafana.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain scalable and reliable distributed systems across the data lifecycle.
• Build and optimise key components of the data delivery platform.
• Collaborate with other teams to understand data needs and build solutions.

Skills

Distributed systems and databases

Golang programming

SQL and database optimization

Prometheus and Grafana

Analytical problem-solving

Tools

ClickHouse

Kafka

Docker

Kubernetes

Job description

About Us

At Cloudflare, we are on a mission to help build a better Internet. We run 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.

Location

Austin (US)

About Role

We are looking for experienced and highly motivated engineers to join our DATA Org and help build the future of data at Cloudflare.

Our organisation is responsible for the entire data lifecycle – from ingestion and processing to storage and retrieval – powering the critical logs and analytics that provide our customers with real‑time visibility into the health and performance of their online properties.

Our mission is to empower customers to leverage their data to drive better outcomes for their business. We build and maintain a suite of high‑performance, scalable systems that handle more than a billion events in a second. As an engineer in our organisation, you will work on complex distributed systems challenges across different parts of our data stack.

Teams You Could Contribute To

• Data Delivery – Build and operate a distributed data delivery pipeline written in Go.
• Analytical Database Platform – Contribute to a high‑performance ClickHouse‑based platform.
• Data Retrieval – Build customer‑facing products, including a public GraphQL API, log delivery solutions, and alerting products.

Key Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in software development covering distributed systems and databases.
• Strong programming skills, preferably in Golang.
• Hands‑on experience with modern observability stacks such as Prometheus and Grafana.
• Strong knowledge of SQL and database internals, including design, optimisation, and performance tuning.
• Solid foundation in computer science: algorithms, data structures, distributed systems, and concurrency.
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively and communicate effectively across teams.
• Experience with ClickHouse, Kafka, Flink, GraphQL, SALT or Terraform, Docker and Kubernetes is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain scalable and reliable distributed systems across the data lifecycle.
• Build and optimise key components of the data delivery platform.
• Develop and improve components for the analytical platform.
• Scale, monitor, and maintain large‑scale database clusters.
• Enhance customer‑facing GraphQL APIs, log delivery, and alerting solutions.
• Identify and remove bottlenecks across data platforms.
• Collaborate with other teams to understand data needs and build solutions.
• Contribute to the ClickHouse open‑source community.
• Research and evaluate new technologies for the next generation of data platforms.

On‑Call

This role requires flexibility to be on‑call outside of standard working hours.

Equity

This role is eligible to participate in Cloudflare’s equity plan.

Benefits

Health & Welfare Benefits

• Medical/Rx Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• Commuter Spending Accounts
• Fertility & Family Forming Benefits
• On‑demand mental health support and Employee Assistance Program
• Global Travel Medical Insurance

Financial Benefits

• Short and Long Term Disability Insurance
• Life & Accident Insurance
• 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan
• Employee Stock Participation Plan

Time Off

• Flexible paid time off covering vacation and sick leave.
• Leave programs, including parental, pregnancy health, medical, and bereavement leave.

Export Control Notice

This position may require access to information protected under U.S. export control laws, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations. 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.

Equal Opportunity

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 diversity and inclusiveness. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to 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. If you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job, please contact us at [e-mail].