Hardware Systems Engineer, Hardware Tools / Firmware

Cloudflare, Inc.; Austin (TX); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) plan

Employee stock participation

Equity plan

Flexible paid time off

Job summary

Cloudflare, Inc. is seeking a Hardware Systems Engineer with a firmware focus to advance OpenBMC firmware and security for its global hardware fleet. You will collaborate with the Hardware Team to deliver secure, observable server firmware and provisioning solutions, engaging vendors as needed and driving internal roadmaps.

The role emphasizes hands-on development, cross-team coordination, and delivering robust firmware features while growing expertise in server hardware security and standards.

Qualifications

• Experience developing firmware or embedded software.
• Knowledge of servers, enterprise systems, and hardware interfaces.
• Understanding of hardware security for servers.
• Familiarity with Redfish standards.
• Curious and eager to learn.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
• Ability to build firmwares from open source code and run demos/POCs.

Responsibilities

• Maintain and improve OpenBMC firmware and design features per industry standards.
• Engage with vendors and guide them through requirements.
• Design observability and configuration solutions for server subsystems.
• Partner with internal teams to define hardware security requirements and roadmap.
• Contribute to HW provisioning in the HW Lab, BIOS, FW, and tool settings.
• Draft and review requirements, code, tests, and design docs.
• Own future firmware or HW security tasks and deliver on time with quality.
• Create simple, adaptable plans with minimal complexity.

Skills

Firmware development

Embedded software

Hardware security

Redfish standards

Python scripting

Bash scripting

OpenBMC

BIOS/FW tooling

Tools

Yocto

Buildroot

UEFI

Job description

Hardware Systems Engineer, Hardware Tools / Firmware

Hybrid

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, Texas | Lisbon, Portugal

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. Deployd across 330 cities in 120+ countries, the hardware we select helps improve the security, reliability, and performance of the Internet.

About the Role

Cloudflare’s Hardware Team is hiring a Systems Engineer, with a firmware focus, in the U.S. to help deliver the Hardware team’s security goals and projects in 2027 & beyond.

What You'll Do

• Maintain and improve OpenBMC firmware Design and develop features based on various industry standards such as OCP and DMTF Standards
• Be able to engage with vendors & guide them through our requirements
• Design solutions for observability and configurations appropriate for various server subsystems e.g. DIMMs, NICs etc.
• Be able to partner with teams internally to understand HW security reqs and build a set of features / roadmap for Cloudflare
• Able to contribute in building/improving the HW provisioning in HW Lab, especially the steps related to BIOS, FW, settings, and HW tools.
• Developing and reviewing requirements/code/tests/design documents
• Own some of their team’s Future FW or HW security tasks / goals and are responsible for delivering these goals on time with a high standard of quality
• Build simple, well-defined plans that are easily adapted without accruing additional complexity over time
• Expected to engage internally as domain experts in server hardware; collaborate with other teams on defining new server requirements, explain new technologies thru Wiki’s and spec sheets, and be the liaison between vendor & internal customers

Examples Of Desirable Skills, Knowledge And Experience

• Experience developing firmware and/or embedded SW
• Knowledgeable about servers, enterprise systems and hardware interfaces
• A good understanding of hardware security for servers
• Familiarity with Redfish standards
• Curious and very eager to learn
• Great communication, collaboration and detail oriented
• Can build firmwares from open source codes, build demos & POCs, setup systems & run synthetic tests, and debug complex firmware problems as needed
• Can create python/bash scripts and edit firmware/driver source code

Bonus Points

• Experience with Yocto or Buildroot is desirable
• Experience with UEFI development desirable

Compensation

Compensation may be adjusted depending on work location.

• For Lisbon based hires: Estimated annual salary of €54,000 - 68,000

Equity

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

Cloudflare offers a complete package of benefits and programs to support you and your family. Our benefits programs can help you pay health care expenses, support caregiving, build capital for the future and make life a little easier and fun! The below is a description of our benefits for employees in the United States, and benefits may vary for employees based outside the U.S.

Health & Welfare Benefits

• Medical/Rx 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
• Short and Long Term Disability 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

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 released 1.1.1.1 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 our privacy 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.

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