**Who this is for** This role is for experienced systems engineers with a focus on distributed, high-performance systems and expert proficiency in Rust. If you
Work type: hybrid
Location: Hybrid
Type: Full-time
**Who this is for** This role is for experienced systems engineers with a focus on distributed, high-performance systems and expert proficiency in Rust. If you have a deep understanding of networking protocols, experience scaling infrastructure, and are energized by foundational infrastructure problems related to AI at the edge, this is an exciting opportunity. **Key highlights** You will design and build the core infrastructure for AI inference across Cloudflare's global network, supporting real-time voice, LLMs, and customer-deployed models. Working with cross-functional teams, you'll solve complex challenges in distributed systems and high-performance computing to create a novel AI inference platform embedded in the internet's fabric. **You might be a good fit if you...** - Have experience in systems engineering, with a focus on distributed, high-performance systems. - Possess expert proficiency in Rust programming, particularly in an asynchronous environment. - Have a deep understanding of relevant networking and application protocols (e.g., TCP, HTTP, WebSocket). - Are adept at scaling and optimizing systems for performance and reliability.
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, TX or London, UK (Hybrid)
### About the role
You'll design and build the core infrastructure that powers AI inference across Cloudflare's global network — real-time voice, frontier open LLMs, and customer-deployed models running on a heterogeneous fleet of GPUs and next-generation accelerators in hundreds of cities worldwide. Working alongside AI/ML engineers, hardware partners, and Cloudflare product teams, you'll solve hard problems in distributed systems and high-performance computing: sub-second model cold starts, multi-accelerator workload scheduling, efficient KV cache management, and a model deployment platform serving both Cloudflare and customers bringing their own models. We're building an AI inference platform embedded in the fabric of the internet — something that doesn't exist yet — and this role puts you at the center of it. We're looking for high-agency systems engineers who are energized by foundational infrastructure problems and want to define how AI runs at the edge of the network.
### Role Responsibilities
Must-Have Skills
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](https://blog.cloudflare.com/protecting-free-expression-online/): 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](https://1.1.1.1/): We released[ 1.1.1.1](https://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](https://developers.cloudflare.com/1.1.1.1/privacy/public-dns-resolver) 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!
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.