Senior Hardware Engineer

Akamai Technologies, Inc.; Richmond (VA); On-site; USD 126,100 - 261,900; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Financial support

Family benefits

Job summary

Akamai Technologies, Inc. is seeking a specialized engineer focused on SmartNIC/DPU software and hardware integral to their compute and GPU servers. This role demands expertise in driving DPU integration, ensuring comprehensive validation, and engaging with various teams for successful implementations.

Qualified candidates will have 8 years of experience with data center technologies, excellent communication skills, and proficiency in both hardware and software domains.

Compensation ranges from $126,100 to $261,900 annually, based on experience and skills.

Qualifications

• 8 years of relevant experience required.
• Experience with data center SmartNICs/DPUs integration.
• Understanding of networking fundamentals.

Responsibilities

• Drive DPU hardware/software integration into server platforms.
• Plan and execute validation for DPU platforms.
• Implement and validate networking and offload features.

Skills

Data center SmartNICs or DPUs

PCIe, SR-IOV, virtualization concepts

NVIDIA DOCA/DPL, P4, DPDK

Linux skills

Scripting (Python, Bash)

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering or related field

Job description

You will focus on the SmartNIC/DPU software and hardware that underpins our compute and GPU servers. These DPUs offload CPU resources, improve isolation, and accelerate services across Akamai Cloud. You will help define and integrate host + DPU architectures, validate RoCE and virtualization capabilities, and drive platform offload and acceleration from early concepts through mass production and global deployment.

Responsibilities

• Driving DPU hardware and software integration into Akamai compute and GPU server platforms, including PCIe, networking, storage, and manageability interfaces.
• Planning and executing validation for DPU platforms, including functional, performance, interoperability, stress, and reliability testing for data-center scale use cases.
• Implementing and validating networking and offload features such as RDMA/RoCE, L2/L3/L4 Ethernet/IP forwarding, SR-IOV/virtio-net/vDPA, overlay networks, and congestion control behaviors.
• Developing automation, scripts, and test tooling to exercise DPUs, collect telemetry at scale, and turn results into requirements.
• Collaborating closely with cross-functional teams to translate workload and SLO requirements into configurations and test plans.
• Working with vendors to evaluate new DPU generations, firmware and feature updates, and trade‑offs between performance, efficiency, supply continuity, and TCO.

Qualifications

• Have 8 years of relevant experience and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering or a related field.
• Have experience with data center SmartNICs, or DPUs, including integration into x86/ARM servers and familiarity with PCIe, SR-IOV, and virtualization concepts.
• Have familiarity with DPU frameworks and languages such as NVIDIA DOCA/DPL, P4, DPDK, etc.
• Have an understanding of networking fundamentals, and familiarity with technologies such as congestion control and load balancing in data centers.
• Have experience with platform validation, PCIe/NVMe and networking qualification, and system‑level stress testing.
• Have Linux skills and proficiency with scripting languages such as Python and Bash for automation and data analysis.
• Be comfortable working across HW/FW/SW boundaries, collaborating with teams to debug issues in the data path, control plane, and management stack.
• Have excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to clearly communicate to both technical and non‑technical audiences.

Benefits

• Your health
• Your finances
• Your family
• Your time at work
• Your time pursuing other endeavors

Compensation

Akamai is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. For U.S. based candidates only – the base salary for this position ranges from $126,100 to $261,900 per year; salary is determined by various factors including, but not limited to, relevant work experience, skills, certifications and location. Compensation for candidates outside the U.S. will vary. The compensation package may also include incentive compensation opportunities in the form of annual bonus or incentives, equity awards and an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP). Eligibility requirements apply.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Akamai Technologies is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer that values the strength that diversity brings to the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, protected veteran status, disability, or other protected group status.