Senior Manager - Staff Engineer

About The Company

Tata Communications Redefines Connectivity with Innovation and IntelligenceDriving the next level of intelligence powered by Cloud, Mobility, Internet of Things, Collaboration, Security, Media services and Network services, we at Tata Communications are envisaging a New World of Communications

The Role

We are seeking a Senior Software Engineer to join our Data Plane team, the engine room of our entire platform. This role is for a systems-level engineer who is passionate about performance and virtualization. You will be responsible for building the high-performance Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) that act as our multi-cloud gateways, focusing on raw packet processing speed, low-latency, and rock-solid stability. This is a deep, technical role where you will work close to the metal, leveraging cutting-edge technologies to build a data plane that can handle massive throughput with maximum efficiency.

Responsibilities

High-Performance VNF Development: Design, develop, and maintain the core data plane software for our multi-cloud gateways in C/C++ and Go, with a relentless focus on performance and reliability.Packet Processing Optimization: Implement and optimize high-speed packet processing pipelines using modern data plane frameworks like DPDK and VPP to achieve line-rate throughput.Linux Networking Internals: Dive deep into the Linux kernel and networking stack to troubleshoot complex performance issues, tune system parameters, and build highly efficient networking components.Virtualization and Stability: Ensure the performance and stability of our data plane VNFs running on virtualization platforms like KVM. You will be responsible for the entire lifecycle of the gateway, from development to deployment.Data Plane Integration: Collaborate closely with the control plane team to integrate routing logic, security policies, and tunneling protocols (IPsec, VXLAN) into the data plane.Mentorship and Technical Excellence: Mentor junior engineers and contribute to a culture of technical excellence, robust design, and high-quality code.

Required Qualifications

5+ years of experience in systems-level software development, with a focus on networking or building high-performance data planes.Expert-level proficiency in C/C++ and/or Go for building low-latency, multi-threaded applications.Hands-on, production-level experience with high-performance packet processing technologies such as DPDK or VPP.Deep, practical knowledge of Linux networking internals (kernel stack, sockets, Netfilter, etc.).Experience with virtualization technologies, particularly KVM, and running network functions in a virtualized environment.Strong understanding of L2/L3 networking protocols (e.g., TCP/IP, Ethernet, VXLAN, Routing).

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with network security protocols such as IPsec.Familiarity with container networking (CNI) and cloud-native technologies like Kubernetes.Experience with low-level performance analysis and optimization tools (e.g., eBPF, bpftrace, SystemTap, gdb).Contributions to relevant open-source projects (DPDK, VPP, OVS, FRR, etc.).Experience working in a fast-paced environment.