Vectra® is the leader in AI-driven threat detection and response for hybrid and multi-cloud enterprises.
The Vectra AI Platform delivers integrated signal across public cloud, SaaS, identity, and data center networks in a single platform. Powered by patented Attack Signal Intelligence, it empowers security teams to rapidly prioritize, investigate and respond to the most advanced cyber-attacks. With 35 patents in AI-driven threat detection and the most vendor references in MITRE D3FEND, organizations worldwide rely on the Vectra AI to move at the speed and scale of hybrid attackers. For more information, visit www.vectra.ai.
At Vectra, our mission is to make the internet a safer and fairer place for everyone. Our AI Platform helps organizations find the things that matter and protect themselves and their clients - people like you and me - from cybersecurity attacks. We operate in some of the largest and most demanding environments across healthcare, finance, media, entertainment, retail, and more.
We’re looking for a talented and hands-on Staff Software Engineer to help lead the technical direction and evolution of our Data Plane. The Data Plane is responsible for ingesting, processing, and transporting high-volume network data that powers our detection platform. As customer environments grow in size and complexity, performance, scalability, and reliability of this path are becoming first-order concerns.
This role is focused on raising scale ceilings, identifying and removing systemic bottlenecks, and ensuring our core sensor-to-brain data path can operate reliably at the highest customer tiers. You will operate in ambiguous problem spaces, help define what work matters, and enable teams to execute against that direction.
You will work closely with Product Management and Engineering leadership to translate scale requirements into measurable technical outcomes. On any given day, you could be designing a change to improve throughput, instrumenting a critical subsystem to better understand performance characteristics, troubleshooting a complex production issue, reviewing high-impact C++ changes, or mentoring other engineers on systems design and performance engineering.
We expect to be successful in this role you will need…
Strong passion for building highly performant, highly reliable systems
10+ years of experience building and operating distributed systems in production
Expert-level C++ experience in production environments
Strong Python coding and debugging experience, including code review
Extensive experience developing software on Debian-based Linux systems
Deep understanding of software design principles and systems architecture
Proven experience in diagnosing and resolving performance bottlenecks across CPU, memory, storage, and network
Experience working on high-throughput, telemetry-heavy, or real-time systems
Ability to design experiments and use measurements to guide architectural decisions
Strong communication skills and the ability to influence technical direction across teams
Bonus points for things like:
Experience with networking concepts and protocols (L3–L7)
Experience tuning or designing storage engines, metadata systems, or replication pipelines
Familiarity with Linux internals, cgroups, NUMA, or resource isolation
Experience building or maintaining performance and load-testing frameworks
Experience operating services in Kubernetes or containerized environments
Prior Staff+ level ownership of a critical production system
At the Staff level, we expect engineers to:
Define what problems should be solved, not just how to solve them
Operate with a high degree of autonomy in ambiguous technical spaces
Drive alignment across multiple teams without direct authority
Balance short-term delivery with long-term system health and scalability
Elevate the technical bar for the broader Data Plane organization
Vectra provides a comprehensive total rewards package that supports the financial, physical, mental and overall health of our employees and their families. Compensation includes competitive base pay, incentive plan eligibility, and participation in the employee equity plan (stock options). Specific benefits offered varies by location, but commonly include health care insurance, income protection / life insurance, access to retirement savings plans, behavioral & emotional wellness services, generous time away from work, and a comprehensive employee recognition program.
Vectra is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.
We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.