Principal Engineer, OpenStack (Remote) at Crowdstrike

California, United States

Crowdstrike Logo
Not SpecifiedCompensation
Senior (5 to 8 years), Expert & Leadership (9+ years)Experience Level
Full TimeJob Type
UnknownVisa
Cybersecurity, TechnologyIndustries

Requirements

  • 15+ years of engineering experience in production infrastructure roles
  • 10+ years of hands-on experience with large-scale virtualization platforms in production environments
  • Deep expertise with OpenStack components (Nova, Neutron, Ironic, Cinder, Keystone, Horizon) at scale (100,000+ nodes)
  • Proven experience migrating from legacy virtualization platforms to OpenStack or similar cloud platforms
  • Production operations experience managing mission-critical 24x7 environments at massive scale
  • Experience leading large-scale technical initiatives spanning multiple teams

Responsibilities

  • Define and drive the multi-year technical roadmap for OpenStack deployment, replacing existing infrastructure across global data center footprint (100,000+ nodes)
  • Architect end-to-end solutions spanning compute (Nova), storage (Cinder, Swift integration with MinIO and VAST), networking (Neutron), and bare metal provisioning (Ironic)
  • Establish technical standards and best practices for infrastructure-as-code, automation frameworks, and operational excellence
  • Lead architectural reviews and provide decisive technical guidance on the most complex infrastructure challenges
  • Drive technology evaluation and make critical build-vs-buy decisions for platform components
  • Serve as the definitive technical authority on OpenStack, virtualization, and data center infrastructure strategy
  • Partner extensively with Virtualization, Object Storage, Systems Engineering, SRE, Hardware Development, and Software Development teams to ensure cohesive platform integration
  • Collaborate with Product and Engineering leadership to align technical strategy with business objectives
  • Interface with vendor partners (Canonical, ODM/OEMs, storage vendors) on technology roadmaps and integration strategies
  • Bridge technical and operational requirements across Development, TechOps, Security, and Compliance teams
  • Design and implement critical components of the OpenStack platform, including automation tooling, integration layers, and operational frameworks
  • Develop reference architectures for compute, storage, and network topologies supporting large-scale deployments

Skills

Key technologies and capabilities for this role

OpenStackDistributed SystemsVirtualizationStorageBare Metal OrchestrationInfrastructure ArchitectureData Center ManagementTechnical Leadership

Questions & Answers

Common questions about this position

Is this Principal Engineer role remote?

Yes, the role is remote as indicated by the job title.

What is the salary or compensation for this position?

This information is not specified in the job description.

What key skills and expertise are required for this Principal Engineer role?

The role requires deep expertise in OpenStack components including compute (Nova), storage (Cinder, Swift with MinIO and VAST), networking (Neutron), and bare metal provisioning (Ironic), along with experience in infrastructure-as-code, automation, virtualization, and data center strategy.

What is the company culture like at CrowdStrike?

CrowdStrike cultivates a culture that gives every employee flexibility and autonomy to own their careers, with a focus on limitless passion, relentless innovation, and commitment to customers, community, and each other.

What makes a strong candidate for this Principal Engineer position?

A strong candidate will have proven ability to lead technical strategy for large-scale infrastructure like OpenStack across 100,000+ nodes, serve as a hands-on technical authority bridging multiple engineering disciplines, and drive innovation in data center transformations.

Crowdstrike

Cloud-native endpoint security solutions provider

About Crowdstrike

CrowdStrike specializes in cybersecurity, focusing on protecting businesses from cyber threats through cloud-native endpoint security solutions. Their main product, the Falcon platform, includes services like Falcon Pro, which replaces traditional antivirus with next-generation antivirus that integrates threat intelligence, Falcon Insight for endpoint detection and response, and Falcon Device Control to manage connected devices. Unlike many competitors, CrowdStrike's services are subscription-based, allowing clients to choose different levels of protection based on their needs. The company serves a diverse clientele, including many Fortune 100 companies, and is recognized as a leader in the cybersecurity field, known for its effectiveness in threat detection and response.

Austin, TexasHeadquarters
2011Year Founded
$468MTotal Funding
IPOCompany Stage
Enterprise Software, CybersecurityIndustries
5,001-10,000Employees

Benefits

Competitive Employee Stock Purchase Plan
Remote-friendly culture
Market leader in compensation and equity awards
Competitive vacation and flexible working arrangements
Comprehensive health benefits + 401k plan
Paid Parental Leave, including adoption
Wellness programs
Professional development and mentorship opportunities
Open offices have stocked kitchens, coffee, soda and treats

Risks

Increased competition from companies like Lumos could challenge CrowdStrike's market share.
Recovery from last year's outage may still affect customer trust and future sales.
Pressure to demonstrate ROI by 2025 could challenge CrowdStrike's financial transparency.

Differentiation

CrowdStrike's Falcon platform offers cloud-native endpoint security solutions, a key differentiator.
The company serves 44 of the Fortune 100, showcasing its strong market presence.
CrowdStrike's proactive threat hunting sets it apart in cybersecurity threat detection.

Upsides

Partnership with SonicWall opens new SMB market segment for CrowdStrike.
Recognition as a leader in ransomware prevention boosts CrowdStrike's market credibility.
Gamified learning initiatives help address cybersecurity skills gap, benefiting future talent pipeline.

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