Staff Engineer, Edge Systems Efficiency

<div class="content-intro"><p>Fastly helps people stay better connected with the things they love. Fastly’s edge cloud platform enables customers to create great digital experiences quickly, securely, and reliably by processing, serving, and securing our customers’ applications as close to their end-users as possible — at the edge of the Internet. The platform is designed to take advantage of the modern internet, to be programmable, and to support agile software development. Fastly’s customers include many of the world’s most prominent companies, including GitHub, Yelp, Paramount, and JetBlue.</p> <p>We're building a more trustworthy Internet. Come join us.</p></div><p><strong>Posting date: </strong>April 21, 2026</p> <p><strong>Anticipated Posting Close Date*</strong>: May 1, 2026</p> <p><em>*Job posting may close early due to the volume of applicants.</em></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Staff Software Engineer - Edge Systems</strong></p> <p>The Edge Systems Team develops software that interacts with the full systems stack of Fastly’s infrastructure, from the kernel up to core systems software. Projects range from implementing new protocols, optimizing existing systems, routing among the edge nodes, designing distributed systems, and more. We expect this position to focus on enhancing the overall efficiency of our edge platform. We are looking for a Staff Software Engineer passionate about applying their talents to make the Internet fast and reliable.</p> <p><strong>What You'll Do</strong></p> <ul> <li>Work across layers from the Linux kernel to core edge systems such as Varnish and WebAssembly.</li> <li>Use a data-driven approach to identify and implement performance and efficiency improvements across the Fastly platform.</li> <li>Write, test, and deploy C, Rust, and Go code.</li> <li>Enhance, maintain and optimize network protocols such as TCP and QUIC for performance and efficiency.</li> <li>Lead full lifecycle projects from design to deployment in support of Fastly’s edge systems.</li> <li>Collaborate with cross-functional teams and stakeholders to shape a clear technical roadmap - prioritizing key initiatives and proactively identifying and mitigating risks - to deploy, support, troubleshoot, and deliver performance and efficiency improvements.</li> <li>Mentor and support the professional growth of engineers, fostering a culture of respect, knowledge sharing, innovation, and collaboration within the team.</li> </ul> <p><strong>What We're Looking For</strong></p> <ul> <li>Proven ability to design &amp; implement reliable, scalable, low latency systems. Most Staff Engineers at Fastly have <strong>at least 7 years</strong> of domain relevant engineering experience.&nbsp;</li> <li>Significant production experience with coding in C, C++, and/or Rust&nbsp;</li> <li>Experience with Linux systems and network programming</li> <li>Hands-on experience in building distributed infrastructure and maintaining it over time</li> <li>Advanced knowledge of Linux as a development environment: git, compilers</li> <li>Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to produce clear and comprehensive documentation</li> <li>A collaborative mindset with experience working across cross-functional teams, fostering a culture of respect, knowledge sharing and innovation</li> <li>Proven ability to mentor and support the growth of engineers, both within a specific area of expertise and more broadly</li> </ul> <p><strong>We’ll be super impressed if you have experience in any of these:&nbsp;</strong></p> <ul> <li>Web/Internet protocols such as TCP, HTTP, TLS, DNS, QUIC</li> <li>Linux kernel</li> <li>Ability to systematically profile and benchmark complex cross-layer distributed systems</li> <li>Comfortable working in a geographically distributed team and highly available environments</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Work Hours:</strong></p> <p>This position will require you to be available during core business hours and occasionally nights and weekends as required for on call support.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Work Location(s) &amp; Travel Requirements:&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>This position is open to the following preferred office locations:</p> <ul> <li>San Francisco, CA</li> <li>Denver, CO</li> <li>New York, NY</li> </u