Distributed Systems Engineer, Cloudflare
Analytical Database Platform
Web performance and security platform
Be an early applicant
Web performance and security platform
1001+ employees
Be an early applicant
1001+ employees
Company mission
To help build a better Internet that is bold and ambitious.
Role
Who you are
- 3+ years of experience working in software development covering distributed systems, and databases
- Strong programming skills (Golang, python, C++ are preferable), as well as a deep understanding of software development best practices and principles
- Strong knowledge of SQL and database internals, including experience with database design, optimization, and performance tuning
- A solid foundation in computer science, including algorithms, data structures, distributed systems, and concurrency
- Ability to work collaboratively in a team environment, as well as communicate effectively with other teams across Cloudflare
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, as well as the ability to work independently and proactively identify and solve issues
- Experience with ClickHouse is a plus
- Experience with SALT or Terraform is a plus
- Experience with Linux container technologies, such as Docker and Kubernetes, is a plus
- If you're passionate about building scalable and performant databases using cutting-edge technologies, and want to work with a world-class team of engineers, then we want to hear from you! Join us in our mission to help build a better internet for everyone!
What the job involves
- We are looking for an experienced and highly motivated engineer to join our team and contribute to our analytical database platform
- The platform is a critical component of Cloudflare Analytics which provides real-time visibility into the health and performance of Cloudflare customers' online properties
- The team builds and maintains a high-performance, scalable database platform powered by ClickHouse, optimized for analytical workloads
- We help our customers, both internal and external, to gain a deeper understanding of their online properties, identify trends and patterns, and make informed decisions about how to optimize their web performance, security, and other key metrics
- Our mission is to empower customers to leverage their data to drive better outcomes for their business
- Develop and implement new platform components for the Cloudflare Analytical Database Platform to improve functionality and performance
- Add more database clusters to accommodate the growing volume of data generated by Cloudflare products and services
- Monitor and maintain the performance and reliability of existing database platform clusters, and identify and troubleshoot any issues that may arise
- Work to identify and remove bottlenecks within the analytics database platform, including optimizing query performance and streamlining data ingestion processes
- Collaborate with the ClickHouse open-source community to add new features and functionality to the database, as well as contribute to the development of the upstream codebase
- Collaborate with other teams across Cloudflare to understand their data needs and build solutions that empower them to make data-driven decisions
- Participate in the development of the next generation of the database platform engine, including researching and evaluating new technologies and approaches that can improve the database's performance and scalability
- This role may require flexibility to be on-call outside of standard working hours to address technical issues as needed
Our take
Cloudflare is a multi-service global network that provides web security and infrastructure, DDoS mitigation services, and a content delivery network. Founded in 2009, Cloudflare has risen to become an industry giant, with over 25 million global internet properties on its network.
Cloudflare has been responsible for a number of admirable initiatives, offering free web protection to human rights groups, journalists, artists, and US election websites. This goes some way to counteracting the flak Cloudflare has received in some circles for the controversial groups and users who use its services. This chequered history, however, has not affected its over 80% market share in the content delivery network field.
This is perhaps in part because it has proven sharp at staying abreast of the rapidly morphing tech and digital space and customer demands. For example, Cloudflare is shifting to 100% renewable energy usage to create a zero-emissions internet, and in 2020 released a feature that would help users navigate data privacy regulations by selecting where their data is stored.
And impressive third-quarter 2025 results show strong momentum, with revenue rising to $562 million from $430 million a year earlier. The company also raised its full-year guidance, underscoring confidence in continued growth. As demand for secure, cloud-based infrastructure keeps growing, Cloudflare's expanding platform and improving efficiency leave it well positioned to capture further gains in a rapidly growing market.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
16% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Company benefits
- Competitive pay: We offer a competitive total rewards package, where every employee is an owner of our stock.
- Take-what-you-need vacation: We encourage employees to find a comfortable work-life balance by taking as many days off as they need while still being able to perform their jobs satisfactorily. (We really mean it!)
- Paid maternity & paternity leave: Our global parental leave policy allows up to sixteen paid weeks of bonding leave time for all qualifying new parents.
- Employee benefits: We offer a comprehensive benefits package including healthcare, life insurance, short- and long-term disability, pension plans in accordance with the market practice in our locations.
- Commuter program: We are flexible about where we work and value connecting at the office. Our commuter benefits program is in place to support team members' commute to work via public transportation without the extra cost burden.
- Wellbeing: Global offerings that provide mental health, childcare and family forming support to our employees across our offices.
Company HQ
China Basin, San Francisco, CA
Leadership
Lee Holloway
(Co-Founder & Lead Engineer)Lee began their career as an Engineer at Homewarehouse for a year before working at Unspam Technologies for 4 years. They co-created Project Honey Pot in 2004 and Cloudflare in March 2009, serving as Lead Engineer of both to present.
Michelle Zatlyn
(Co-Founder, President & Co-Chair)Having worked for Investor Economics and I Love Rewards for a combined 4 years, Michelle worked at Toshiba for 3 years as a Product Manager. She then co-founded Cloudflare in 2009 as COO, and has served as President since 2020. She is also a Board Member at Atlassian.
Matthew Prince
(Co-Founder & CEO)Matthew studied for an MBA at Harvard Business School before co-founding Unspam Technologies in December 2001, and Cloudflare in 2009, where he has served as CEO ever since.
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