Senior Software Engineer II, Network Datapath

DigitalOcean

. Design, develop, and optimize high-performance network datapath software for DigitalOcean's cloud infrastructure .

Posted 9/22/2026full-timeSeattle • Washington • United StatesSenior💰 $167,200 - $209,000 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates expertise in designing and developing high-performance network datapath software, with a strong focus on packet processing, performance optimization, and integration with advanced hardware technologies. Proficient in technical documentation and collaboration across engineering teams to drive projects from design to production.

Highest-signal resume keywords

C/C++ Software DevelopmentLinux Networking SystemsPacket Processing and ForwardingDPDK, XDP, eBPF ExperiencePerformance Analysis and Optimization

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

C ProgrammingC++ ProgrammingGo ProgrammingLinux Networking InternalsTCP/IPRouting and SwitchingLoad BalancingNetwork VirtualizationMultithreaded Software DevelopmentPerformance Benchmarking

Soft Skills

Technical WritingCommunication SkillsMentoring

Tools & Technologies

DPDKXDPEBPFSmartNICsProgrammable NICsNetwork Observability ToolsPerformance Monitoring Tools

Industry Keywords

Cloud InfrastructurePacket FilteringTraffic SteeringNetwork DatapathHyperscale Networking

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

CloudLinuxSwitchingTCP/IPC++Go

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Design, develop, and optimize high-performance network datapath software for DigitalOcean's cloud infrastructure
Build and improve packet-processing and forwarding systems focused on throughput, latency, CPU efficiency, scalability, and reliability
Develop networking functionality across the host, kernel, user space, and hardware-accelerated datapath
Analyze packet-processing paths and eliminate bottlenecks
Develop routing, packet filtering, encapsulation, tunneling, load balancing, traffic steering, and network virtualization software
Build datapath observability, telemetry, debugging, and performance monitoring
Integrate software with DPUs, SmartNICs, programmable NICs, and other hardware acceleration technologies
Develop automated testing and benchmarking frameworks
Investigate production networking issues including packet drops, latency, throughput degradation, CPU utilization, and unexpected traffic behavior
Collaborate with Network Infrastructure, Compute, Availability, Security, and hardware teams
Contribute to next-generation network architecture design and implementation
Author RFCs, architecture documents, technical proposals, design documents, and implementation plans
Document technical decisions, tradeoffs, performance characteristics, dependencies, and operational considerations
Participate in design reviews and provide technical guidance
Mentor engineers and improve software engineering and networking practices

Requirements

What you’ll need

Strong experience designing and developing production software in C, C++, or Go
Strong understanding of networking and packet processing
Experience developing software for Linux-based networking systems
Solid understanding of TCP/IP, routing, switching, VLANs, VXLAN, BGP, ECMP, NAT, load balancing, and network virtualization
Experience debugging and optimizing performance-sensitive systems
Understanding of Linux networking internals, including the Linux kernel networking stack, network namespaces, sockets, queues, interrupts, and NIC drivers
Experience with DPDK, XDP, eBPF, AF_XDP, or SR-IOV
Experience with multithreaded and concurrent software
Strong understanding of performance analysis, profiling, benchmarking, and troubleshooting
Ability to reason about complex systems across hardware, operating systems, networking, and applications
Ability to independently drive projects from technical design through implementation and production deployment
Strong technical writing skills for RFCs, architecture/design documents, technical proposals, and other engineering documentation
Strong communication skills and ability to work effectively across engineering teams
Highly valuable: experience developing software for DPUs, SmartNICs, IPUs, or programmable NICs
Highly valuable: understanding of functionality distributed between host CPUs, NICs, DPUs, and switches
Highly valuable: experience with DPU-based networking, security, storage, virtualization, or packet processing
Highly valuable: experience with programmable datapaths such as P4, eBPF, or other programmable data-plane technologies
Highly valuable: understanding of PCIe, DMA, queues, interrupts, RSS, offloads, and NIC hardware architecture
Nice to have: cloud networking or hyperscale infrastructure experience
Nice to have: Linux kernel networking code or NIC driver experience
Nice to have: production experience with DPDK, XDP, eBPF, AF_XDP, or DPU-based datapaths
Nice to have: 400G+ networking experience
Nice to have: high-performance packet processing at 10/25/40/100/200/400G+ speeds
Nice to have: network virtualization and overlay technologies such as VXLAN/EVPN
Nice to have: programmable switches
Nice to have: performance analysis using perf, eBPF tooling, flame graphs, or hardware performance counters
Nice to have: network datapath testing and benchmarking infrastructure
Nice to have: contributions to Linux, DPDK, eBPF, OVS, or other networking/open-source projects

Benefits

Comp & perks

Reimbursement for relevant conferences, training, and education
Access to LinkedIn Learning's 10,000+ courses
Employee Assistance Program
Local Employee Meetups
Flexible time off policy
Bonus eligibility based on company and individual performance
Equity compensation, including equity grants upon hire
Option to participate in the Employee Stock Purchase Program