Principal Software Engineer - Dataplane Software (VPP)

Calix is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to join our dynamic team and contribute to the development of cutting-edge network solutions and Security solutions for Calix high end carrier access switching products for Internet infrastructure. If you're well-versed in networking technologies, DPDK (Data Plane Development Kit), VPP (Vector Packet Processing), Switch Dataplane, NAT, Firewall (stateful and stateless), DPI, IPSec and ODP (Open DataPlane), we want to hear from you.

Responsibilities & Duties:

• Design, develop, and maintain network systems software and Security software for high-performance and low-latency environments.
• Optimize network data processing by leveraging DPDK and VPP.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to define and implement networking protocols (L2, L3, MPLS, NAT, tunnelling - VPN, IPSec, GRE, VxLAN etc) and features.
• Develop and maintain software libraries, applications, and tools related to network systems and network security systems.
• Expert in Linux kernel internals, debugging and troubleshooting, with strong knowledge of networking and protocols. Good Knowledge of different data plane architecture like OpenDP, DPDK, Openflow, VPP, etc. Good understanding of processor architectures like MIPS, ARM and iX86 architectures and their software dependencies in Linux is necessary.
• Ensure the reliability and scalability of network solutions.
• Draft high level and detailed design documentation for new features and capabilities.
• Propose and implement tools to accelerate software system development and debug environments.
• Participate in Design/Code reviews, Architecture discussions, and drive execution with a goal to continuous Software Development process improvements.
• Propose and implement built in diagnostics and test scripts to help reliability and supportability.
• Work with product management and solutions engineering to write software functional specification and integration documents.
• Participate and support in fixing issues arising from customer sites.
• Analyse system scalability, interworking issues and perform root cause analysis of system issues.
• Mentor junior engineers within the team.
• Keep abreast of the latest technologies within our product area.
• The candidate is expected to demonstrate a deep sense of product ownership with a strong focus on customer satisfaction.

Qualifications:

• 14+ years of relevant experience in the areas below
• Bachelor's or master's degree in computer science, Electronics and Communication Engineering, or a related field.
• Proven expertise in C. C++ programming for systems-level software development.
• Strong understanding of the Data Path Concepts, including various packet processing models, Firewall solutions, including IPSec and VPN.
• Strong experience with networking technologies and protocols (L2, L3, MPLS, NAT, VPN, IPSec, DPI etc).
• Strong experience in IPSec, Firewall solutions (stateless, stateful, DPI and Open Source), VPN and NAT.
• Good understanding and hold on Packet Buffer Management, Mempools, Poll Mode Drivers, Flow and Session Mgmt.
• VPP plugins architecture, experience in adding new plugins
• Good understanding of the Cache Utilizations mechanism for both Instruction and Data Cache.
• In-depth knowledge of Linux operating systems, including kernel-level programming.
• Excellent programming skills C, C++, Data structures, Algorithms, Design Concepts
• Good understanding of multi-threading, IPC, sockets, memory management and other OS level concepts.
• Familiarity with ODP (OpenDataPlane) is a plus.
• Experience in programmable packet pipelines is an added plus
• Work experience on Marvel Octeon or similar NPU, SAI abstraction is an added plus
• Excellent analytical, integration, problem-solving skills, hands-on software development and the ability to work in a collaborative, fast-paced environment.
• Very Good oral and written communication and multitasking skills are expected.