Network Software Engineer - (HAL)

Role & responsibilities

Key Responsibilities • SAI & HAL Development: Design, implement, and extend the Switch Abstraction Interface (SAI) and Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) to expose hardware capabilities to the SONiC control plane (Syncd, Orchagent). • ASIC SDK Integration: Act as the primary software expert for integrating, upgrading, and troubleshooting silicon vendor SDKs (e.g., Broadcom SDKLT/OFA, Marvell, etc.) into our networking software stack. • Feature Enablement: Implement advanced forwarding and hardware-accelerated network features (such as L2/L3 routing, ACLs, QoS, VxLAN, and telemetry) at the driver and abstraction layers. • Performance Optimization: Profile and debug silicon-level software issues, resolving complex pipeline bottlenecks, packet drops, and memory leaks between the SDK and system software. • Community Co-existence: Collaborate with the open-source SONiC community and semiconductor vendors to upstream extensions, implement new SAI APIs, and resolve architectural issues. • Cross-Functional Execution: Work closely with on-site hardware engineering, platform validation, and QA teams in San Jose to bring up new hardware platforms from scratch. Required Qualifications & Criteria • ASIC SDK Experience: 6+ years of experience working directly with low-level networking ASIC SDKs (e.g., Broadcom, Marvell/Cavium, Barefoot/Intel). • SAI & HAL Mastery: Proven, hands-on experience developing or extending the Switch Abstraction Interface (SAI) or custom Hardware Abstraction Layers (HAL). • Advanced Systems Programming: Expert-level proficiency in C and C++ within a Linux development environment. • Network OS Architecture: Deep understanding of data-plane forwarding architectures, open networking software, and specifically how SONiC/SAI architectures manage underlying silicon states. • Low-Level Debugging: Mastery of debugging tools such as GDB, Valgrind, Wireshark, and hardware network testers (e.g., Ixia, Spirent). • L2/L3 Networking Protocols: Strong conceptual and implementation knowledge of switching/routing mechanics (BGP, ECMP, EVPN, VLANs, LACP). Preferred Qualifications (Nice to Have) • Direct experience with the inner workings of SONiC daemons like syncd, orchagent, and Redis database states. • Experience with Linux kernel network stack development or custom kernel drivers. • Active contribution or working knowledge within open hardware/software forums (OCP, Linux Foundation).