Senior Site Reliability Engineer

Proofpoint; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 113,000 - 177,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation

Comprehensive benefits

Flexible work environment

Wellbeing days and community outreach

Job summary

Proofpoint is seeking a Senior Site Reliability Engineer in Boston, MA to design, deploy, and scale production services across data centers and AWS. You will help improve scalability, operability, and performance while maintaining high availability and security.

The role emphasizes ownership, automation, and collaboration across Product, Engineering and Operations. The ideal candidate has 7+ years in systems, networking and cloud environments, with IaC experience and strong scripting skills.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in troubleshooting and tuning systems, networks, and cloud services.
• Experience with Infrastructure-as-Code tools (Terraform, Ansible, CloudFormation).
• Experience scripting in Node.js or Python for automation.

Responsibilities

• Build partnerships across Product, Engineering and Operations teams.
• Participate in 24x7 multi-site production infrastructure management.
• Root-cause complex problems involving network, hardware and software impacting scale and performance.
• Ensure monitoring, alerting, capacity planning, and reporting in production.
• Contribute to design and architecture of reliable, scalable infrastructure.
• Be first line of defense during working hours for alerts or incidents.
• Collaborate with product engineering to align Operations standards with deployments.
• Participate in on-call rotations and escalation handling.

Skills

Troubleshooting & tuning

Infrastructure-as-Code

Automation (Node.js/Python)

Networking fundamentals

Public cloud (AWS)

Distributed systems

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

BS/MS in CS, Engineering or related

Tools

Terraform

Ansible

CloudFormation

KVM

VMware vSphere

OpenStack

Job description

About Us:

Proofpoint is a global leader in human- and agent-centric cybersecurity. We protect how people, data, and AI agents connect across email, cloud, and collaboration tools. Over 80 of the Fortune 100, 10,000 large enterprises, and millions of smaller organizations trust Proofpoint to stop threats, prevent data loss, and build resilience across their people and AI workflows. Our mission is simple: safeguard the digital world and empower people to work securely and confidently. Join us in our pursuit to defend data and protect people.

How We Work:

At Proofpoint you’ll be part of a global team that breaks barriers to redefine cybersecurity guided by our BRAVE core values: Bold in how we dream and innovate Responsive to feedback, challenges and opportunities Accountable for results and best in class outcomes Visionary in future focused problem-solving Exceptional in execution and impact.

The Role

As a Senior Site Reliability Engineer at Proofpoint you will develop a deep understanding of the various services and applications that come together to deliver Proofpoint’s next generation security products. You will contribute to the architecture to improve scalability, operability, service reliability, capacity, and performance. You will be responsible for provisioning, maintaining, and scaling our production services within server farms across multiple, world-wide data centers as well as AWS. We are looking for passion, curiosity, attention to details, taking pride in one’s work, taking ownership, and having ideas and opinions. If you’re an enthusiastic team player who cares about the infrastructure, remains calm in crisis, collaborates cross functionally, loves automation, then we want to talk to you.

Your day-to-day

• Build long lasting, effective partnerships across the organization to foster collaboration between Product, Engineering and Operations teams.
• Participate in a 24x7, multi-site production infrastructure powering the Proofpoint services, including deployment, maintenance, troubleshooting, performance tuning, and security.
• Root-cause complex problems and involve multiple stakeholders, network, hardware and software that relate to scaling and performance.
• Ensure proper monitoring, alerting, capacity planning and reporting in the production environment.
• Contribute to the evolving design and architecture of reliable and scalable infrastructure.
• First line of defense during working hours should any alerts or incidents arise.
• Collaborate with product engineering teams to ensure Operations standards are observed, determine resource impacts for upcoming product deployments, and ensure successful product rollouts.
• Participate in an on-call rotation and be willing to jump on escalated issues as needed.

What you bring to the team

• Demonstrable skills and 7+ years’ experience in troubleshooting, and tuning in systems, networking, and cloud services.
• A friendly and collaborative demeanor, working well with cross functional teams.
• Experience with Infrastructure-as-Code using Terraform, Ansible, Cloudformation, etc.
• Experience automating management and operational tasks using Node.Js, Python, or scripting languages.
• Experience with industry-standard foundation technologies such as TCP/IP, HTTP, DNS, and LDAP.
• Experience in management of a large distributed computing environment.
• Experience in management of cloud infrastructure.
• Experience with virtualization - KVM, VMware vSphere, and OpenStack
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Experience with monitoring and alerting systems.
• Experience with industry-standard operational practices such as change management, incident management, and working in colocation datacenters.
• Experience with public cloud providers such as Amazon EC2 or Microsoft Azure.
• BS or MS in Computer Science, Engineering or related technical discipline, or equivalent experience required.
• US citizenship required

Why Proofpoint?

At Proofpoint, we believe that an exceptional career experience includes a comprehensive compensation and benefits package. Here are just a few reasons you’ll love working with us:

• Competitive compensation
• Comprehensive benefits
• Career success on your terms
• Flexible work environment
• Annual wellness and community outreach days
• Always on recognition for your contributions
• Global collaboration and networking opportunities

Our Culture: Our culture is rooted in values that inspire belonging, empower purpose and drive success-every day, for everyone. We encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. If you need accommodation during the application or interview process, please reach out to [e-mail].

Our BRAVE Values:

At Proofpoint, we are BRAVE in everything we do, and our values aren’t just words- they shape how we work, collaborate, and grow. We seek people who are bold enough to challenge the status quo, responsive in the face of ever-evolving threats, and accountable for delivering real impact. We value those with a visionary mindset who anticipate what’s next and push cybersecurity forward, and we celebrate exceptional execution that ensures we continue to defend data and protect people.

Proofpoint has been honored with six Best Places to Work Awards in 2024 by workplace culture leader Comparably, including Best Company Career Growth, Best Company Outlook, Best Global Culture, Best Engineering Teams, Best Sales Teams, and Best HR Teams.

We’re driven by a mission to stay ahead of bad actors and safeguard the digital world. Join us in our pursuit to defend data and protect people.

Consistent with Proofpoint values and applicable law, we provide the following information to promote pay transparency and equity.

Our compensation reflects the cost of labor across several U.S. geographic markets, and we pay differently based on those defined markets as set out below. Pay within these ranges varies and depends on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The actual offer will be based on the individual candidate. The range provided may represent a candidate range and may not reflect the full range for an individual tenured employee. This role may be eligible for variable compensation and/or equity. We offer a competitive benefits package, including flexible time off, a comprehensive well-being program with two paid Wellbeing Days and two paid Volunteer Days per year, plus a three-week Work from Anywhere option.

Base Pay Ranges:

SF Bay Area, New York City Metro Area: Base Pay Range: 136,200.00 - 214,005.00 USD

California (excludes SF Bay Area), Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Washington DC Metro, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Texas, Washington, Virginia, and Alaska: Base Pay Range: 112,700.00 - 177,100.00 USD

All other cities and states excluding those listed above: Base Pay Range: 101,600.00 - 159,720.00 USD

Proofpoint is an equal opportunity employer, we hire without consideration to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status or disability.

Find your network, your allies, and your biggest fans. We know that work is simply better when you’re surrounded by people who inspire you- who share ideas, cheer you on, and genuinely want to see you succeed. That’s why we offer social circles, sponsored networks, and connection points across teams and time zones- to help you find your people, build your community, and thrive together. This isn’t just a job- it’s a mission to protect people and defend data in a world that never slows down. We’re building the future of human-centric cybersecurity, and that future belongs to all of us. We take ownership, move fast, and hold ourselves accountable- because that’s what it takes to stay ahead. And we do it together, winning as one. Be empowered to reach your full potential through meaningful challenges and personalized support- designed around you and your goals. Whether you're growing as a leader or leveling up from great to exceptional as an individual contributor, we’re here to help you get there.