Staff Hardware Design Engineer

Posting Open Date: April 21, 2026

Anticipated Posting Close Date*: May 21, 2026

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

 

Staff Hardware Design Engineer

As a member of the Hardware Engineering team you will be responsible for designing and implementing the hardware infrastructure which runs Fastly's stack. You and the team will work with internal teams and external vendors on the design, testing and rollout of the hardware to ensure a highly performant, available and scalable infrastructure. 

We’re looking for a talented Staff Hardware Design Engineer with experience in hardware systems, networking, and systems engineering for distributed systems that are scalable, fault-tolerant, and cost-effective. You’ll be joining a team responsible for the design of Fastly’s underlying hardware infrastructure and ensuring its stability and performance.  You’ll collaborate with the various software development teams, supply chain, operations, and external vendors/partners.  Your key insights and data will drive the architecture and implementation of Fastly’s POPs. 

What You'll Do:

• Collaborate with software engineering teams, supply chain, vendors, and other leaders or groups to evolve the Fastly hardware infrastructure based on new requirements, constraints, and/or changing technology.
• Develop specifications, RFPs, and other related requirements documentation showcasing the Fastly requirements and design principles for the overall life cycle of the platform and infrastructure.
• Play an active role in the hardware selection process by guiding vendors to understand our requirements, test early engineering samples of next-gen hardware (on and offsite).
• Identify and drive development for off the shelf, semi-custom, and custom SKUs where required from partners or vendors to maximize CAPEX efficiency/TCO while balancing system performance.
• Contribute to the hardware engineering team in the implementation of hardware, testing, firmware, and BIOS changes, including working with operations on keeping the fleet current 
• Collaborate on the testing of hardware - components and system in the lab, pre-production environment, and in production to make data driven decisions on the hardware architecture and vendors
• Work cross functionally to troubleshoot and triage hardware throughout the full life cycle of the hardware platforms
• Engage application development teams to ensure compatibility and assist in performance evaluation to meet platform requirements and expectations
• Mentor junior engineering developers, operations, and infrastructure staff
• Assist in vendor quality activities not limited to:  First Article Inspections (FAI), site audit, and root cause analysis

What We're Looking For (required): 

• 8+ years of experience with hardware system architecture and associated tradeoffs that include software, hardware, operational cost, and mechanical aspects 
• Experience collaborating with a broad range of roles, senior leadership, stakeholders and vendors/partners 
• You are obsessed with detailed and timely documentation on all aspects involved with the hardware and tooling 
• Strong foundation of management platforms and tools:  console servers, IPMI, SSH, PXE, and telemetry systems
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills for both internal and external facing situations

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

• Extensive knowledge and experience of storage and memory subsystems 

Experience with firmware development, programming, bash scripting, tooling creation and maintenance

• Experience with CDN hardware and software architecture 
• Knowledge in open source operating systems, hypervisors, and orchestration frameworks
• Background in test automation
• Deep understanding of various CPU architectures

Work Hours:

• This position will require you to be available during core business hours. 

Work Location(s) & Travel Requirements:

The preferred hybrid locations for this position are:

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

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 well qualified remote candidates within the US & Canada.

This position may require travel as required by your role or requested by your manager.

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 $195,720 to $234,864

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.