Posting Open Date: April 23, 2026
Anticipated Posting Close Date*: May 7, 2026
*Job posting may close early due to the volume of applicants.
Director SW Engineering - Edge Linux NetworkingIn this role, you will manage Fastly's Kernel engineering team that is critical to the operational excellence of Fastly. You will be responsible for continuing to optimize performance and stability for the low latency data path of Fastly's edge which runs through the Linux kernel and XDP. This team is the engine of the whole business of Fastly as all of our customer traffic traverses this data path.
At Fastly we keep our kernel up to date with the latest upstream releases to ensure we are leveraging and contributing to cutting edge Linux technologies. Finally the team supports the hardware platform it runs on while also supporting the life cycle of OCI containers and Linux Operating System Distributions. The Fastly kernel team is the center of the company's Edge stack and you will be playing a critical role in ensuring stability for our customers
What You'll Do- Define and drive the long-term strategy for Edge Linux Networking ensuring it aligns seamlessly with the company's broader business goals and long-term vision.
- Lead, mentor and coach your team - a diverse array of kernel developers, architects, network and site reliability engineers - to deliver new systems and support existing ones
- Co-Develop new solutions across kernel, XDP and user agents to support the Linux Operating System
- Prioritize the team's roadmap based on cross-functional and product needs and help unblock your team
- Collaborate with Eng and Ops teams to improve performance, automation and efficiency
- Cultivate a positive and productive engineering culture - attracting and retaining exceptional engineering talent and nourishing their professional growth within the team.
- Support teams during times of rapid growth and organizational maturation by utilizing change management techniques and ensuring technical and operational alignment among teams and team members.
- Set the right balance between urgency and quality by implementing clear repeatable engineering processes & best practices
What We're Looking For: - 5+ years leading engineering teams & managing engineers at all career levels.
- 10+ years of domain relevant software engineering experience with a focus on low-level systems
- 5+ years of experience in Linux kernel development, linux kernel subsystems maintenance (e.g., resolving kernel rebase issues).
- Expertise in network data path and deployment methodologies.
- Linux x86-64 and AMD64 Kernel Development, rebasing and troubleshooting
- Experience maintaining Linux Distributions (Ubuntu, Red Hat, etc)
- Experience with OCI Containers (i.e. Docker)
- Large scale Fleet management and Release techniques
- Strong product and business orientation, with the ability to connect technical investments directly to revenue and growth outcomes
- Excellent communication and cross-functional leadership skills, with executive presence to influence at the C-suite level
- Experience fostering inclusive, collaborative, and high-accountability engineering cultures
We'll be super impressed if you have experience in any of these:- Scaling engineering organizations through rapid growth and transformation phases
- Experience with acute incident response including addressing security vulnerabilities.
- Implementing IETF RFC specifications particularly transport protocols
- Experience in distributed systems and highly available environments
Work Hours:This position will require you to be available during core business hours and occasional nights and weekends as required for on-call rotation.
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 preference for Hybrid near a local office. However, we may be willing to consider exceptionally qualified remote candidates within the US and Canada.
This position will require travel as required by your role or requested by your manager, usually to San Francisco, CA or other office locations.
Salary:If hired in the US, the estimated salary range for this position in the US is $246,550 to $295,860.
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 designed to meet your needs. Our offerings may vary depending on the country where you work and are subject to change.
If hired in the US, 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.
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.
