Fastly helps people stay better connected with the things they love. Fastly’s edge cloud platform enables customers to create great digital experiences quickly, securely, and reliably by processing, serving, and securing our customers’ applications as close to their end-users as possible — at the edge of the Internet. The platform is designed to take advantage of the modern internet, to be programmable, and to support agile software development. Fastly’s customers include many of the world’s most prominent companies, including GitHub, Yelp, Paramount, and JetBlue.
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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.
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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.
Why Fastly?
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We have a huge impact. Fastly is a small company with a big reach. Not only do our customers have a tremendous user base, but we also support a growing number of open source projects and initiatives. Outside of code, employees are encouraged to share causes close to their heart with others so we can help lend a supportive hand.
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We value diversity. Growing and maintaining our inclusive and diverse team matters to us. We are committed to being a company where our employees feel comfortable bringing their authentic selves to work and have the ability to be successful -- every day.
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We are passionate. Fastly is chock full of passionate people and we’re not ‘one size fits all’. Fastly employs authors, pilots, skiers, parents (of humans and animals), makeup geeks, coffee connoisseurs, and more. We love employees for who they are and what they are passionate about.
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
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