Senior Software Engineer, Networking

Ditto; Washington, Northern (District of Columbia, KY); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Flexible time off

Optional Atlanta office access

Job summary

Ditto is seeking a Software Engineer – Networking to design and implement core components of our high-performance networking stack, spanning overlay networking and multiple transport protocols for edge environments.

You will drive architecture toward modularity, debug complex networked systems, and optimize throughput, latency, and reliability while collaborating with a distributed team and learning cutting-edge mesh networking technologies.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional experience building systems software, with at least 3 years focused on networking, transport protocols, or routing.
• Strong proficiency in Rust or C++, including ownership and borrowing semantics, async runtimes, concurrency primitives, and profiling / optimization techniques.
• Understanding of mesh networking topics such as TCP, UDP, and QUIC semantics and tradeoffs, including connection establishment, congestion and flow control, retransmission behavior, MTU/fragmentation, and practical implications for latency, throughput, and reliability in real-world systems.
• Exposure to or experience working with networked services and protocols. Demonstrated ability to debug complex behavior in networked and concurrent systems (race conditions, deadlocks, resource leaks, latency spikes).
• Experience designing modular APIs and abstractions that scale across multiple implementations and evolve safely over time.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills in a distributed, asynchronous team environment.
• A passion to learn new networking technologies, APIs, and approaches to build at the bleeding edge of mesh networking.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and own core components of Ditto’s networking and transport stack, spanning overlay networking (routing, virtual connections, channel lifecycle) and underlying physical transports and protocols (BLE, LAN, Wi‑Fi Aware, AWDL, etc.).
• Drive the re-architecture of the networking stack toward a more modular, scalable, and high-performance design, establishing clear interfaces and ownership boundaries between transport layers and mesh abstractions.
• Debug and systematically improve real-world connectivity issues including data transfer reliability, MTU negotiation, pairing instability, throughput ceilings, and cross-platform data sync behavior.
• Build and optimize transport mechanisms with explicit attention to flow control, backpressure, congestion handling, retries, connection lifecycle management, and failure recovery.
• Identify and eliminate performance bottlenecks across latency, memory footprint, CPU utilization, and tail behavior in highly concurrent, asynchronous systems.
• Design protocol state machines, wire formats, and transport abstractions that remain correct under unreliable networks, intermittent connectivity, and constrained environments.
• Establish meaningful observability through targeted logging, metrics, and diagnostics to enable rapid production debugging and root‑cause analysis.

Skills

Networking

Rust

C++

Async programming

Performance optimization

Distributed systems

Profiling

Debugging concurrent systems

Tools

Rust

C++

Job description

About Ditto:

Ditto is redefining how data moves at the edge. Our mission is to make it seamless for developers to build resilient, real-time applications, regardless of network conditions. Whether you're in a stadium, airplane, or remote military base, Ditto's peer-to-peer sync engine ensures devices stay connected and data stays consistent, even without internet. With more than $145 million in funding and trusted by organizations like Chick-fil-A, Delta Airlines, and the U.S. military, Ditto powers mission-critical experiences across aviation, retail, travel, hospitality, defense, and more. As a globally distributed, fast-growing startup, we’re committed to building a diverse and inclusive team that reflects the wide range of perspectives needed to solve the world’s hardest connectivity problems.

About the position:

Ready to shape the future of mesh networking? Join a team at the forefront of next-generation network technology at Ditto. We're expanding our core network stack and building high-performance solutions in next-generation networking, including routing protocols, end-to-end connectivity, transport mechanisms, and edge platforms for mesh systems. Work remotely, set your own schedule, and solve complex, meaningful problems. At Ditto, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer with a diverse, global team. We believe that inclusive teams drive innovation, and we’re committed to fostering a workplace that values a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives, and talents.

As a Software Engineer – Networking, you will:

• Design, implement, and own core components of Ditto’s networking and transport stack, spanning overlay networking (routing, virtual connections, channel lifecycle) and underlying physical transports and protocols (BLE, LAN, Wi‑Fi Aware, AWDL, etc.).

• Drive the re-architecture of the networking stack toward a more modular, scalable, and high-performance design, establishing clear interfaces and ownership boundaries between transport layers and mesh abstractions.

• Debug and systematically improve real-world connectivity issues including data transfer reliability, MTU negotiation, pairing instability, throughput ceilings, and cross-platform data sync behavior.

• Build and optimize transport mechanisms with explicit attention to flow control, backpressure, congestion handling, retries, connection lifecycle management, and failure recovery.

• Identify and eliminate performance bottlenecks across latency, memory footprint, CPU utilization, and tail behavior in highly concurrent, asynchronous systems.

• Design protocol state machines, wire formats, and transport abstractions that remain correct under unreliable networks, intermittent connectivity, and constrained environments.

• Establish meaningful observability through targeted logging, metrics, and diagnostics to enable rapid production debugging and root‑cause analysis.

This role is ideal for engineers passionate about networking, distributed systems, and building low-level infrastructure that operates at scale and in constrained environments.

What You’ll Need

• 5+ years of professional experience building systems software, with at least 3 years focused on networking, transport protocols, or or routing.

• Strong proficiency in Rust or C++, including ownership and borrowing semantics, async runtimes, concurrency primitives, and profiling / optimization techniques.

• An understanding of some of key mesh networking topics such as TCP, UDP, and QUIC semantics and tradeoffs, including connection establishment, congestion and flow control, retransmission behavior, MTU/fragmentation, and practical implications for latency, throughput, and reliability in real-world systems.

• Exposure to or experience working with networked services and protocols. Demonstrated ability to debug complex behavior in networked and concurrent systems (race conditions, deadlocks, resource leaks, latency spikes).

• Experience designing modular APIs and abstractions that scale across multiple implementations and evolve safely over time.

• Clear written and verbal communication skills in a distributed, asynchronous team environment.

• A passion to learn new networking technologies, APIs, and approaches to build at the bleeding edge of mesh networking.

Nice to Haves

• Experience with mesh networking protocols, routing algorithms, or gossip protocols.

• Understanding of mobile platform constraints including background execution models, battery optimization, OS suspension/resume cycles, and their impact on persistent connections.

• Experience with Apple Core Bluetooth or Android WiFi Aware APIs.

• Experience with Linux networking, sockets, async I/O, or low-level systems programming.

• Willingness to travel once per quarter for in-person team gatherings.

The Benefits of Building with Us

We offer competitive salaries and meaningful equity. We believe everyone on the team should have a stake in what we’re building. Benefits vary by region to make sure you're covered in the ways that matter most. In the US, that includes health, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance, plus a 401(k) and flexible spending accounts.

Regardless of where you live, everyone at Ditto can utilize flexible time off. And while we work remotely, our Atlanta office is always open if you ever want a place to work or meet up with teammates.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Ditto is proud to be an equal‑opportunity employer. We do not discriminate in hiring or any employment decision based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. Ditto is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please let us know.