Software Engineer, Networking

Key Responsibilities

• Work as part of a team of engineers to design, build, test, and document core networking software components.
• Exhibit ownership over the running services that comprise Tailscale’s product by building for observability, participating in incident response, and fielding customer support escalations.
• Analyze and improve the efficiency, scalability, and stability of networking systems and resources.
• Bring a security-first mindset to both design and implementation, ensuring robust and secure networking components.

Requirements

• Proven experience implementing application-layer networking concepts and distributed components, such as proxies, connectors, and overlay routing, to enable seamless connectivity.
• Deep knowledge of operating system-level networking internals, including socket programming, routing tables, and packet filtering primitives.
• Professional experience with Go (Golang)
• Experience designing and maintaining distributed systems, with a solid understanding of concurrency (e.g., multithreading, race conditions, memory management, synchronization primitives) and scalability.
• Proficiency with relational databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL) and writing efficient SQL queries.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts clearly.
• Strong collaborative mindset—you actively give and process constructive feedback and work effectively both independently and as part of a team.
• Startup-ready flexibility, with the adaptability to pivot and thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

What We Offer

• Competitive total compensation package including base salary, equity incentive plan, and variable commission.
• Comprehensive group benefits with no waiting period (health, vision, dental).
• Remote-first company with annual company retreat and team off-sites.
• $1500 USD annually for professional development.
• Flexible paid time off.
• Build-your-own home office setup with company laptop, monthly home internet reimbursement, and $1000 USD workstation budget.
• Generous parental leave program with top-ups for up to 26 weeks.