Staff Software Engineer-Sunnyvale, CA

Alibaba Cloud; Sunnyvale (CA); On-site; USD 133,200 - 219,600; Full time

Job summary

Alibaba Cloud is seeking experienced networking engineers to design and implement next‑generation datacenter and wide‑area networking platforms. You will tackle Ethernet switching, IP networking, and high‑performance protocols in a fast‑paced environment, contributing to NIC/DPU/IPU accelerated solutions and SDN deployments.

The team emphasizes collaboration, strong communication, and the ability to independently design robust features for Alibaba's scale.

Qualifications

• Experience in design and development of Ethernet switching or routing software or distributed systems.
• Understanding of IP networking and large-scale datacenter/backbone architecture.
• Familiar with NIC/switch ASIC hardware and related software development.
• Knowledge of C/C++ and Python; experience with Linux kernel networking or device drivers.
• Experience in high‑performance networking protocols such as RDMA.
• Ability to design a solution and implement features independently.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement networking technologies for Alibaba's datacenter and WAN.
• Develop white-box switches, NIC/DPU/IPU acceleration, high‑performance packet processing, and SDN solutions.
• Collaborate with teams and communicate clearly to influence network architecture.

Skills

Ethernet switching

IP networking

C/C++

Python

Linux kernel networking

RDMA

SONiC

NIC/ASIC hardware

Job description

Alibaba operates hyper-scale networks that serve hundreds of millions of users around the world. Alibaba Infrastructure Service (AIS) Networking Team is responsible for keeping the network running reliably, efficiently and at scale. We are looking for experienced and passionate engineers to build the next generation platform for our datacenter and wide‑area networks. Candidates should be passionate about solving challenging networking problems, enjoy working in a collaborative environment and have excellent communication skill.

You will be part of a fast‑paced team that designs and implements networking technologies and solutions for Alibaba's explosive business needs. This includes white box switches that are specially designed for Alibaba's datacenter network, hardware acceleration based on smart NIC/DPU/IPU, high‑performance network packet processing platform, networking protocol design and optimization, and datacenter and backbone network SDN solutions.

Job Requirements

• Experience in the design and development of Ethernet switching or routing related software or distributed systems software, familiar with open source networking software such as SONiC.
• Understanding of IP networking, familiar with large‑scale datacenter and backbone architecture, and related networking protocols such as EVPN/VXLAN/BGP/SRv6.
• Familiar with networking hardware (NIC and switch ASIC), and related software development.
• Knowledge of one or more of C/C++, Python. Experience in developing and optimizing Linux kernel networking stack or networking device drivers.
• Experience in high‑performance networking protocols such as RDMA.
• Ability to design a solution and implement features independently.

The ideal candidate should have at least one of the skills listed above. People with people‑management or project‑leader experience is preferred.

The pay range for this position at commencement of employment is expected to be between $133,200 and $219,600 per year. However, base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job‑related knowledge, skills, and experience.

If hired, employee will be in an “at‑will position” and the company reserves the right to modify base salary (as well as any other discretionary payment or compensation program) at any time, including for reasons related to individual performance, company or individual department/team performance, and market factors.