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Senior Software Engineer, Zero Trust Client

Join Cloudflare as a Senior Software Engineer to develop a Zero Trust desktop client using Rust and other languages for high-performance networking.

Location
Hybrid
Compensation
$185k–$254k/yr
Level
senior
Type
full time · Hybrid

Posted by employer 4 days ago

First seen on Joblaze 3 days ago

Last verified on the company career page 9 hours ago

What you'll build

  • Implement high-performance networking code
  • Improve code quality
  • Build solid, testable, and well-documented foundations
  • Make contributions to design and implementation of projects
  • Interact with other languages and APIs

Must have

  • In-depth knowledge of Windows internals
  • Experience in low-level Windows driver development
  • Excellent programming skills
  • Strong experience writing easily-testable code
  • Great experience using lower-level languages
  • Strong experience with debugging network-related problems

Nice to have

  • Understanding of VPN technologies
  • Experience mentoring engineers
  • Experience owning technical designs end-to-end
  • Empathetic communication skills
  • Experience with security protocols
  • Track record of debugging complex issues

Not disclosed in this posting: years of experience, visa sponsorship.

Benefits

401k Retirement Savings Plan Flexible Paid Time Off Life & Accident Insurance Equity/Stock Options Short and Long Term Disability Insurance Health Insurance

Joblaze summary

In the role of Senior Software Engineer for the Zero Trust team, the individual will focus on developing a desktop client that enhances device security by routing traffic through Cloudflare's network. Proficiency in Rust and a strong grasp of Windows internals, networking protocols, and low-level programming are essential for success. This position is ideal for experienced engineers who have a background in driver development and a track record of mentoring others. The team emphasizes collaboration and innovation, aiming to tackle complex challenges in a fast-paced environment.

Joblaze insights

  • Listed 3 days ago — first seen on Joblaze September 23, 2026. Last confirmed on Cloudflare's careers page September 26, 2026.
  • Salary band is in line with the typical range for Backend roles (median ~$180,000).
  • Starts above 59% of 148 comparable senior backend roles in United States that list Python we track (median $173,958 across 64 companies). See Python salary trends
  • Python appears in 42.2% of 486 comparable senior backend roles in United States; QUIC appears in 0.2% of 486 comparable senior backend roles in United States.

Quick facts

Is the Senior Software Engineer, Zero Trust Client role remote?
It's hybrid — Cloudflare expects some on-site time in Hybrid.
What's the salary range?
Cloudflare lists $185,000–$254,000 for this role.
Where is the role based?
Cloudflare is hiring for this position in Hybrid.
What's the tech stack?
Joblaze extracted these technologies from the posting: C++, DNS, H/3, Python, QUIC, Rust.
What seniority level is this role?
Cloudflare targets senior candidates for this position.
Is this full-time or contract?
Full-time for this Senior Software Engineer, Zero Trust Client role at Cloudflare.

From the original posting

About Us

Available Locations: Austin, Seattle

About the role

We’re looking for a Senior Windows Software Engineer to join our Zero Trust team. You will be working on the Zero Trust desktop client, which protects corporate devices by securely and privately sending traffic from those devices to Cloudflare’s global network, which can apply advanced web filtering and advanced Zero Trust policies.

What you'll do

In your role, you will predominantly be using Rust along platform-native languages & APIs to implement high-performance networking code that runs on multiple desktop platforms. You’ll be expected to improve the code quality and to build solid, testable, and well-documented foundations. You will be most successful in this role if you have a good understanding of Windows internals (virtual memory, multi-threading, process lifecycle, kernel programing, system APIs, etc.) and networking protocols (TCP/IP, UDP, DNS, QUIC, H/3, proxying, etc.). You will also have to interact with other languages, such as Swift, C#, C, and python.

As a Senior Software Engineer, you will be expected to make significant contributions to the design and implementation of major development projects, working closely with our product managers and other teams to implement customer-impacting features. You will work on stimulating problems born out of the scale of our deployment, and the stringent quality, performance, and security requirements of our product.

Desirable Skills, Knowledge, and Experience:

  • In-depth knowledge of Windows internals, kernel-mode programming, and network protocols
  • Experience in low-level Windows driver development, ideally network drivers
  • Excellent programming skills, with experience writing very high-quality and low-complexity code with thorough documentation.
  • Strong experience writing easily-testable and thoroughly-tested code (e.g. using dependency injection with the right abstractions)
  • Great experience using lower-level languages, such as Rust, C, C++
  • Very comfortable writing multithreaded, asynchronous code
  • Strong experience with debugging network-related problems
  • An understanding of how VPN technologies work, and the trade-offs between privacy, security, and anonymity
  • Good understanding of, and experience with, security protocols and standards
  • Experience mentoring engineers and raising a team's technical bar through code review and knowledge sharing
  • Experience owning technical designs end-to-end, writing specs and design docs that coordinate work across engineers and teams
  • A track record of debugging and resolving complex issues that span team and system boundaries
  • Empathetic, proactive, and constructive communication skills, verbal and written

Compensation

Compensation may be adjusted depending on work location.

  • For Seattle-based hires: Estimated annual salary of $185,000 -$254,000

Equity

This role is eligible to participate in Cloudflare’s equity plan.

Benefits

Cloudflare offers a complete package of benefits and programs to support you and your family. Our benefits programs can help you pay health care expenses, support caregiving, build capital for the future and make life a little easier and fun! The below is a description of our benefits for employees in the United States, and benefits may vary for employees based outside the U.S.

Health & Welfare Benefits

  • Medical/Rx Insurance
  • Dental Insurance
  • Vision Insurance
  • Flexible Spending Accounts
  • Commuter Spending Accounts
  • Fertility & Family Forming Benefits
  • On-demand mental health support and Employee Assistance Program
  • Global Travel Medical Insurance

Financial Benefits

  • Short and Long Term Disability Insurance
  • Life & Accident Insurance
  • 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan
  • Employee Stock Participation Plan

Time Off

  • Flexible paid time off covering vacation and sick leave
  • Leave programs, including parental, pregnancy health, medical, and bereavement leave

What Makes Cloudflare Special?

Standard company text repeated across Cloudflare's postings is omitted here.

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