Principal DDOS Software Engineer
Oracle · United States
- Hybrid
- Full-time
- $223,000 / year
- United States
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Job highlights
- Lead DDoS protection architecture and delivery for OCI.
- Design low-latency backend detection and mitigation systems.
- Drive automation, operational excellence, and technical direction.
- Deep expertise in Linux kernel networking required.
- Collaborate with product, SRE, and network teams.
About the role
Principal Engineer, OCI Edge Security
Join OCI’s Edge Security team as a Principal Engineer to architect and deliver cloud-scale DDoS protection. You’ll lead design for high-performance detection and mitigation systems, drive automation and operational excellence, and set the technical direction for customer-facing DDoS capabilities across OCI’s global edge.
This role requires deep expertise in Linux networking data path and kernel-level networking (such as XDP, eBPF, DPDK, iptables, nftables), in addition to strong systems and DevOps engineering experience.
What you’ll do
- Lead architecture and delivery of low-latency backend services for DDoS detection, classification, and mitigation.
- Define and evolve scalable data/control planes (policy, signaling, telemetry, orchestration) with strong fault isolation, resiliency, and compliance-by-design.
- Own traffic engineering strategy (anycast, BGP policy, routing integration) and partner with networking, DNS, and edge platform teams.
- Set operational standards: SLOs/SLAs, on-call health, incident response (including incident commander duties), runbooks, and post-incident learning.
- Drive automation at scale: CI/CD strategy, test frameworks, progressive delivery (canary/blue-green), and infrastructure-as-code.
- Establish robust observability (metrics, logs, traces) and capacity/scale models for high-throughput, highly available services.
- Lead threat modeling, architecture reviews, and audit readiness for Tier 0 services; ensure security and privacy are embedded through the lifecycle.
- Mentor engineers, influence cross-org roadmaps, and collaborate with Product, SRE, and Network Engineering from concept to GA.
Qualifications
- 7–10 years building production backend systems, including 3–5 years in high-scale and/or low-latency environments.
- Deep expertise in Linux networking data path and kernel-level networking (e.g., XDP, eBPF, dpdk, iptables, nftables) for traffic processing, filtering, and observability.
- Proficiency in one or more: Java/Python/C++/Rust/Go (strong preference for Java for control-plane/services).
- Deep systems design expertise: concurrency, memory management, performance tuning, API design, consistency models, and distributed systems fundamentals.
- Proven DevOps leadership at scale: CI/CD, automated testing, canarying, rollout/rollback, configuration management.
- Strong IaC experience (e.g., Terraform) and solid cloud infrastructure fundamentals.
- Domain experience in DDoS or network security services and common attack/defense patterns.
- Advanced networking knowledge: TCP/IP, IPv4/IPv6, BGP, routing policy; DNS fundamentals.
- Demonstrated operational excellence and observability practices (metrics, tracing, alerting).
Preferred Qualifications
- Expertise with anycast routing, global traffic steering, and multi-region service readiness.
- Experience with SDN, programmable data planes, or hardware mitigation platforms.
- Building high-rate telemetry/streaming pipelines for near-real-time detection (packet/flow analytics).
- Background in resilience engineering, chaos testing, disaster recovery, and capacity planning at hyperscale.
- Containerization/orchestration (e.g., Kubernetes) and secure service-to-service communication (mTLS, policy enforcement).
- Familiarity with zero trust, segmentation, and modern security architectures; exposure to compliance frameworks and audit preparation.
How you’ll have impact
- Deliver core DDoS detection/mitigation that protects OCI’s infrastructure availability and customer trust.
- Launch customer-facing DDoS offerings with self-service policy, visibility, and strong defaults.
- Raise engineering quality, automation, and compliance maturity across the stack; mentor and grow the team’s technical bar.
Ways of working
- Security and privacy by design with auditable controls and policy adherence from day one.
- Data-driven delivery with clear KPIs, SLOs, and stage gates from prototype to GA.
- Collaborative, inclusive culture emphasizing design docs, code reviews, and knowledge sharing.
Key skills/competency
- Principal DDoS Software Engineer
- Linux Networking
- Kernel Networking
- XDP
- eBPF
- DPDK
- iptables
- nftables
- DevOps
- DDoS Protection
Skills & topics
- Principal DDoS Software Engineer
- DDoS Protection
- Network Security
- Linux Networking
- Kernel Networking
- XDP
- eBPF
- DPDK
- Cloud Security
- Backend Systems
- DevOps
- OCI
- Oracle
How to get hired
- Tailor your resume: Highlight your experience with Linux kernel networking, DDoS, and large-scale backend systems.
- Showcase impact: Quantify achievements in system design, automation, and operational excellence using metrics.
- Prepare for technical deep dives: Be ready to discuss your experience with XDP, eBPF, DPDK, and distributed systems.
- Demonstrate DevOps skills: Emphasize your CI/CD, IaC, and observability practices in your application.
- Research Oracle's culture: Understand their focus on cloud solutions, AI, and empowering employees.
Technical preparation
Master Linux kernel networking (XDP, eBPF, DPDK).,Deeply understand distributed systems and concurrency.,Practice IaC with Terraform and CI/CD pipelines.,Build and analyze high-throughput backend services.
Behavioral questions
Describe a complex system design you led.,How do you handle critical incident response duties?,Share an experience mentoring junior engineers.,Explain your approach to driving automation at scale.
Frequently asked questions
- What specific kernel-level networking technologies are essential for the Principal DDoS Software Engineer role at Oracle?
- For the Principal DDoS Software Engineer position at Oracle, deep expertise in Linux networking data path and kernel-level networking is crucial. This includes technologies like XDP, eBPF, DPDK, iptables, and nftables, which are vital for high-performance traffic processing, filtering, and observability in DDoS detection and mitigation systems.
- What programming languages does Oracle prefer for the Principal DDoS Software Engineer role?
- Oracle has a preference for proficiency in one or more of the following languages: Java, Python, C++, Rust, or Go. Specifically, Java is strongly preferred for control-plane/services development within this Principal DDoS Software Engineer role.
- Can you explain the career level IC4 for the Principal DDoS Software Engineer role at Oracle?
- The Career Level IC4 designation for the Principal DDoS Software Engineer role at Oracle typically signifies an individual contributor role with significant technical expertise and leadership responsibilities. It suggests a level of experience and impact commensurate with senior or principal engineers who are expected to drive architectural decisions and mentor other engineers.
- What are the key responsibilities of a Principal DDoS Software Engineer at Oracle regarding operational excellence?
- The Principal DDoS Software Engineer at Oracle is responsible for setting operational standards, including defining SLOs/SLAs, managing on-call responsibilities, leading incident response (acting as incident commander), developing runbooks, and driving post-incident learning. This ensures the high availability and reliability of critical DDoS protection services.
- How does Oracle approach security and privacy in the Principal DDoS Software Engineer role?
- Security and privacy are embedded throughout the lifecycle for this role at Oracle. The Principal DDoS Software Engineer is expected to lead threat modeling, conduct architecture reviews, ensure audit readiness for Tier 0 services, and implement security and privacy by design principles with auditable controls and policy adherence.
- What is the typical salary range for a Principal DDoS Software Engineer at Oracle in the US?
- The hiring range for this Principal DDoS Software Engineer role in the US is from $96,800 to $223,400 per year. The actual salary offered will depend on factors such as knowledge, skills, experience, market conditions, and location. This role may also be eligible for bonus and equity.