Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE)

<div class="content-intro"><div><strong>About Us</strong></div> <div> <p>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.&nbsp;</p> <p>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.</p> </div></div><p><strong>Locations: </strong>Austin/TX, Dallas/TX or Atlanta/GA</p> <p><strong>Role Summary</strong></p> <p>As a Resident Consultant at Cloudflare, you will serve as a dedicated, on-site strategic advisor for one of our high-growth enterprise accounts in Minneapolis. You will act as the primary technical bridge between the customer’s operational needs and Cloudflare’s expansive security suite, ensuring their migration from legacy systems is seamless and high-performing. We are looking for a proactive expert who thrives on building deep technical relationships, optimizing complex configurations, and championing our mission to help build a better internet.</p> <p><strong>Role Responsibilities</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>Act as a Trusted Advisor:</strong> Serve as the day-to-day technical lead and Cloudflare subject matter expert, providing proactive guidance on operational best practices and industry security standards.</li> <li><strong>Optimize Application Services:</strong> Take full ownership of tuning, configuration, and policy creation for Application Services to ensure maximum performance and security posture.</li> <li><strong>Manage Network Security:</strong> Oversee the ongoing health of Network Services, including Magic Transit and DDoS protection, ensuring "set and forget" stability while remaining ready for rapid incident response.</li> <li><strong>Drive Migration Excellence:</strong> Leverage your deep understanding of Akamai architectures to translate legacy workflows into modern, efficient Cloudflare configurations.</li> <li><strong>Strategic Roadmap Alignment:</strong> Collaborate closely with the customer to prepare their environment for future expansions into our Developer Platform (Workers) and Zero Trust architecture.</li> <li><strong>Technical Documentation:</strong> Maintain comprehensive documentation of the customer’s unique environment, policy changes, and operational procedures to ensure long-term continuity.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Role Requirements</strong></p> <p><strong>Must-Have Skills</strong></p> <ul> <li>10+ years of experience in a technical customer-facing role such as Solutions Architect, Resident Engineer, Professional Services Consultant or similar, ideally in cloud networking, security, or web infrastructure.</li> <li><strong>Cloudflare Transition:</strong> At least 3+ years of hands-on experience managing other environments, with a proven ability to map legacy CDN and security features to Cloudflare’s ecosystem.</li> <li><strong>Application Security Expertise:</strong> Deep technical proficiency in configuring WAF policies, Bot Management, and Page Shield to protect complex web applications.</li> <li><strong>Network Infrastructure Knowledge:</strong> Strong foundational knowledge of BGP, GRE/IPsec tunneling, and DDoS mitigation strategies (specifically relating to services like Magic Transit).&l