You will architect and build the networking foundation of the first AI-native cloud from the ground up. This role involves designing an SDN fabric optimized for agentic AI workloads, utilizing Rust and Go to create a high-performance VPC that surpasses traditional clouds in throughput, latency, and security enforcement.
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San Francisco, United States$250K – $300K + 0.1% – 0.5% Equity
Network Software Engineer at First Round-backed AI cloud startup
Most cloud networking teams spend their days maintaining legacy stacks—at this First Round-backed startup, you'll build a global SDN from scratch. We are architecting the first AI-native cloud, optimized specifically for the stateful, ultra-low-latency demands of agentic AI. If you are a systems-focused engineer with deep expertise in Rust, Go, and low-level networking primitives like eBPF and DPDK, this is your chance to outpace the major clouds. Join a founding team that has already built and sold a major cloud platform as we scale to billions of requests. $250k-$300k + significant equity.
Overview
Role overview
Company
Blaxel
Software
$7.3M Seed AI cloud infrastructure startup backed by First Round Capital
Responsibilities
What you will do
- Architect and implement a high-performance dataplane for a custom VPC using VPP, DPDK, eBPF, XDP, and Rust.
- Build distributed control-plane systems in Go and Rust for IPAM, L2/L3 routing, topology services, and ACL engines.
- Operate networking workloads on bare-metal clusters with large-scale IPv6-only addressing while maintaining sub-millisecond latency requirements.
Candidate profile
Who this is a fit for
- Has 3+ years of experience in systems engineering or distributed systems with strong proficiency in Rust and Go.
- Deeply understands networking internals, including IPv6, BGP/ECMP, and overlay technologies like VXLAN or Geneve.
- Possesses hands-on experience with low-level technologies such as DPDK, VPP, or eBPF to optimize cycles and cache locality.
What makes it remarkable
Why this role is remarkable
- You will design an entire networking architecture from scratch—including overlay networks and distributed routing—rather than simply maintaining legacy systems at a major provider.
- The company is backed by First Round Capital and led by founders who previously built and sold Europe's largest cloud infrastructure platform to OVHcloud.
- You will be building the infrastructure that already processes billions of requests for top AI startups, directly impacting the performance of the next generation of AI agents.
Jack & Jill
How Jack & Jill work together
I get to know what you’re great at, then find roles you’d never find yourself.Ok, I'll go first. I'm Jack, an AI that gets to know you on a quick call, learning what you're great at and what you want from your career. Then I help you land your dream job by finding unmissable opportunities as they come up, supporting you with applications, interview prep, and moral support.
I recruit from Jack’s network and make the intro when I spot a great match.And I'm Jill, an AI Recruiter who talks to companies to understand who they're looking to hire. Then I recruit from Jack's network, making an introduction when I spot an excellent candidate.
Meet Jack
Jack gets to know what you're great at and what you want next, then searches 14 million jobs daily and introduces you directly to hiring managers.
How does this work?
Jack's an AI agent for job searching and career coaching. He works for you.
Jill is the AI recruiter working for the company. She recruits from Jack's network.
If it's a match and the company wants to meet you, they'll make the intro. In the meantime, if you'd like, Jack will send you excellent alternatives.
Jack