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# Principal Software Engineer: Distributed Systems (Config, Test, & Deployment)

- **Company:** CloudFlare
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA, United States
- **Experience:** Expert
- **Salary:** $79,040.0 - $93,600.0
- **Contract:** Temporary contract
- **Skills:** Artificial Intelligence, Software Applications, Architectural Patterns, Configuration Management, Data Stores, Distributed Systems, Open Source Technology, Software Engineering, Large Language Models, Kubernetes, Cloudflare, Api Design, Programming Languages
- **Published:** October 16, 2026
- **Apply:** https://www.jofdav.com/jobs/60126068-principal-software-engineer-distributed-systems-config-test-deployment

## About the Role

* 10+ years of software engineering experience with a demonstrated history of leading complex, organization-wide technical initiatives that delivered measurable improvements to system performance, reliability, security, developer productivity, or engineering culture.
 * Strong track record of technical leadership and influence without direct authority, including driving consensus on technical decisions across multiple teams, mentoring senior engineers, and establishing architectural patterns that are widely adopted across an organization.

 * Experience designing, building and managing high volume, global scale software applications.
 * Expert in at least one modern strongly-typed programming language
 * Knowledge of API design standards, patterns and best practices
 * Experience working with top tier LLMs to plan, write, test, and deploy software

Bonus Points

 * Strong interpersonal and communication skills with a bias towards action
 * Experience with scaling and simplifying high scale Configuration Management systems
 * Familiarity with Googles Prodspec and Annealing systems
 * Experience with Kubernetes
 * Experience with RocksDB or similar data stores
 * Experience with health checking and probe platforms at significant scale
 * Public evidence of technical leadership such as conference talks on distributed systems or security, widely-read technical blog posts, significant open source contributions, or published architectural patterns that have been adopted by the broader engineering community.

## Description

At Cloudflare, were not looking for people who wait for a polished roadmap; were 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 youre 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, youll fit right in.