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CrowdStrike, Inc.

Principal Engineer, OpenStack (Remote)

CrowdStrike, Inc., Sunnyvale, California, United States, 94087

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CrowdStrike, Inc.

Full time

R25239

As a global leader in cybersecurity, CrowdStrike protects the people, processes and technologies that drive modern organizations. Since 2011, our mission hasn't changed — we're here to stop breaches, and we've redefined modern security with the world's most advanced AI‑native platform. We work on large‑scale distributed systems, processing almost 3 trillion events per day and this traffic is growing daily. Our customers span all industries, and they count on CrowdStrike to keep their businesses running, their communities safe and their lives moving forward. We're also a mission‑driven company. We cultivate a culture that gives every CrowdStriker both the flexibility and autonomy to own their careers. We're always looking to add talented CrowdStrikers to the team who have limitless passion, a relentless focus on innovation and a fanatical commitment to our customers, our community and each other. Ready to join a mission that matters? The future of cybersecurity starts with you.

About the Role: CrowdStrike is seeking a Principal Engineer to lead the technical strategy and execution of our most transformative infrastructure initiative: the design, architecture, and implementation of OpenStack as a unified platform to innovate in our environments. This role will set the technical direction for our entire data centre strategy, impacting over 100,000 compute nodes across a global deployment.

As the highest‑ranking individual contributor in this domain, you will serve as the architect and technical authority for our on‑premises infrastructure transformation, bridging virtualization, storage, and bare‑metal orchestration disciplines. You will provide strategic technical leadership across multiple engineering teams while remaining deeply hands‑on in solving our most complex technical challenges.

What You’ll Do:

Define and drive the multi‑year technical roadmap for OpenStack deployment, replacing existing infrastructure across our global data centre 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 centre 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

What You’ll Need:

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 and organizations

Expert‑level knowledge of hypervisor technologies (KVM/QEMU, VMware ESXi, libvirt) and bare‑metal provisioning systems (Canonical MaaS, Ironic, Foreman)

Strong understanding of data centre design including power/cooling, rack topology, and physical infrastructure

Deep knowledge of storage architectures including SAN, NAS, distributed storage (Ceph), and object storage at scale (100+ PB)

Extensive experience with software‑defined networking, overlay networks, and network virtualization

Expert‑level Linux engineering skills with deep knowledge of kernel optimisation, performance tuning, and troubleshooting at scale

Expert‑level infrastructure‑as‑code experience with configuration management and orchestration tools

Demonstrated ability to influence technical direction and drive consensus across stakeholders

Exceptional communication skills with ability to articulate complex technical concepts to both technical and non‑technical audiences

Tech Stack / What You’ll Use:

OpenStack (Nova, Neutron, Ironic, Cinder, Keystone, Horizon)

KVM/QEMU, libvirt, VMware ESXi

Canonical MaaS

Python (Pandas, NumPy, SQLAlchemy, Flask/FastAPI)

Go (Golang)

Bash/Shell scripting

PowerShell

Ansible, Chef, Terraform, Salt, Puppet

Docker, Kubernetes

Software‑defined networking

S3‑compatible object storage

Ceph (distributed storage)

SAN, NAS, NFS, iSCSI

Block and object storage at 100+ PB scale

Prometheus, Grafana, ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana), Zabbix, OpenTracing

Bonus Points:

Direct experience leading OpenStack migrations or deployments at hyper‑scale

Active contributions to OpenStack or other open‑source infrastructure projects

Experience with public cloud platforms (AWS, OCI, GCP) and hybrid cloud architectures

Familiarity with OpenStack Kolla, TripleO, or other deployment frameworks

Experience with AI/ML infrastructure requirements and GPU computing platforms

Knowledge of composable infrastructure and disaggregated server architectures

Experience with object storage at exabyte scale

Background in cybersecurity, threat intelligence, or security‑focused infrastructure

Deep experience with compliance automation and audit frameworks

Security architecture and zero‑trust networking experience

Benefits of Working at CrowdStrike:

Remote‑friendly and flexible work culture

Market leader in compensation and equity awards

Comprehensive physical and mental wellness programs

Competitive vacation and holidays for recharge

Paid parental and adoption leaves

Professional development opportunities for all employees regardless of level or role

Employee Networks, geographic neighbourhood groups, and volunteer opportunities to build connections

Vibrant office culture with world‑class amenities

Great Place to Work Certified™ across the globe

This role will require the candidate to periodically undergo and pass additional background and fingerprint check(s) consistent with government customer requirements.

Benefits of Working at CrowdStrike:

Remote‑friendly and flexible work culture

Market leader in compensation and equity awards

Comprehensive physical and mental wellness programs

Competitive vacation and holidays for recharge

Paid parental and adoption leaves

Professional development opportunities for all employees regardless of level or role

Employee Networks, geographic neighbourhood groups, and volunteer opportunities to build connections

Vibrant office culture with world‑class amenities

Great Place to Work Certified™ across the globe

CrowdStrike is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to fostering a culture of belonging where everyone is valued for who they are and empowered to succeed. We support veterans and individuals with disabilities through our affirmative action program.

CrowdStrike is committed to providing equal employment opportunity for all employees and applicants for employment. The Company does not discriminate in employment opportunities or practices on the basis of race, color, creed, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy or pregnancy‑related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or family status, veteran status, age, national origin, ancestry, physical disability (including HIV and AIDS), mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, membership or activity in a local human rights commission, status with regard to public assistance, or any other characteristic protected by law. We base all employment decisions— including recruitment, selection, training, compensation, benefits, discipline, promotions, transfers, lay‑offs, return from lay‑off, terminations and social/recreational programs—on valid job requirements.

If you need assistance accessing or reviewing the information on this website or need help submitting an application for employment or requesting an accommodation, please contact us at recruiting@crowdstrike.com for further assistance.

Find out more about your rights as an applicant.

CrowdStrike participates in the E‑Verify program.

Notice of E‑Verify Participation

Right to Work

CrowdStrike, Inc. is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. Placement within the pay range is dependent on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, relevant work experience, skills, certifications, job level, supervisory status, and location. The base salary range for this position for all U.S. candidates is $195,000 – $290,000 per year, with eligibility for bonuses, equity grants and a comprehensive benefits package that includes health insurance, 401k and paid time off.

For detailed information about the U.S. benefits package, please click here.

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