Staff Software Engineer - Edge Protocols

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.

We're building a more trustworthy Internet. Come join us.

Posting date: April 21, 2026

Anticipated Posting Close Date*: May 21, 2026

• Job posting may close early due to the volume of applicants.

Staff Software Engineer - Edge Protocols

The Edge Protocols Team develops software that interacts with both sides of Fastly, front and back - handling every incoming client request to Fastly and talking to customers’ websites. Projects range from implementing new protocols, efficient load balancing, routing among the edge nodes, defending customers from attacks, security enhancements, privacy products and more. We are looking for a Staff Software Engineer passionate about applying their talents to make the Internet fast and secure.

What You'll Do

• Write, test, and deploy both C and Rust code.
• Enhance, maintain and optimize network software that implements protocols including TLS, HTTP, QUIC, etc.
• 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 features to customers
• Contribute to open source projects such as h2o and picotls
• Mentor and support the professional growth of engineers, fostering a culture of knowledge sharing, innovation, and collaboration within the team

What We're Looking For

• Proven ability to design & implement reliable, scalable, low latency systems. Most Staff Engineers at Fastly have at least 7 years of domain relevant engineering experience.
• A collaborative mindset with experience working across cross-functional teams, fostering a culture of knowledge sharing and innovation
• Significant production experience with coding in C, C++, and/or Rust.
• Proven ability to mentor and support the growth of engineers, both within a specific area of expertise and more broadly
• Experience with Linux systems and network programming
• Hands-on experience in building distributed infrastructure and maintaining it over time
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to produce clear and comprehensive documentation

We’ll be super impressed if you have experience in any of these:

• Web/Internet protocols such as HTTP, TLS, DNS, TCP/IP, UDP, QUIC
• Understanding of how customers will interact with features you develop
• Comfortable working in a geographically distributed team and highly available environments
• Proficient in Perl, Go, or similar high level languages

Work Hours

This position will require you to be available during core business hours and occasionally nights and weekends as required for on call support.

Work Location(s) & Travel Requirements:

The preferred office locations for this position are:

• San Francisco, CA
• Denver, CO
• New York, NY

Fastly currently embraces a largely hybrid model for most roles which allows employees flexibility to split their time between the office and home.

There is a strong preference for Hybrid near a local office. However, we may be willing to consider exceptionally qualified remote candidates within the US and Canada.

SF / LA Fair Chance Ordinance Statement

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Salary

The estimated salary range for this position in the US is $211,370 to $253,644.

Starting salary may vary based on permissible, non-discriminatory factors such as experience, skills, qualifications, and location.

This role may be eligible to participate in Fastly’s equity and discretionary bonus programs.

Benefits

We care about you. Fastly works hard to create a positive environment for our employees, and we think your life outside of work is important too. We support our teams with great benefits that start on the first day of your employment with Fastly. Curious about our offerings?

We offer a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, and vision insurance. Family planning, mental health support along with Employee Assistance Program, Insurance (Life, Disability, and Accident), a Flexible Vacation policy and up to 18 days of accrued paid sick leave are there to help support our employees. We also offer 401(k) (including company match) and an Employee Stock Purchase Program. For 2026, we offer 11 paid local holidays, 12 paid company wellness days.

Why Fastly?

• We have a huge impact. Fastly is a small company with a big reach. Not only do our customers have a tremendous user base, but we also support a growing number of open source projects and initiatives. Outside of code, employees are encouraged to share causes close to their heart with others so we can help lend a supportive hand.
• We value diversity. Growing and maintaining our inclusive and diverse team matters to us. We are committed to being a company where our employees feel comfortable bringing their authentic selves to work and have the ability to be successful -- every day.
• We are passionate. Fastly is chock full of passionate people and we’re not ‘one size fits all’. Fastly employs authors, pilots, skiers, parents (of humans and animals), makeup geeks, coffee connoisseurs, and more. We love employees for who they are and what they are passionate about.

We’re always looking for humble, sharp, and creative folks to join the Fastly team. If you think you might be a fit please apply! A fully completed application and resume or CV are required when applying.

All job applications must be submitted through our official careers site at www.fastly.com/about/careers. We will never request sensitive information, such as your Social Security number, bank account or credit card information during the application process. All official communication will come from an @fastly.com or @recruiting.fastly.com email address.

Fastly is committed to ensuring equal employment opportunity and to providing employees with a safe and welcoming work environment free of discrimination and harassment. Our employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, family or parental status, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances.

Consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and federal or state disability laws, Fastly will provide reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with disabilities. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact your Recruiter, or the Fastly Employee Relations team at [email protected] or 501-287-4901.

Fastly collects and processes personal data submitted by job applicants in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Please see our privacy notice for job applicants.