Software Dev Principal Engineer — System Engineering (Network Security / Firewall OS)
Pune, Maharashtra, India · Hybrid
Senior+
SonicWall is a cybersecurity forerunner with more than 30 years of expertise and is recognized as a leading partner-first company, ensuring our partners and their customers are never alone in the fight against cybercrime…
Skills: C Systems Programming, DPDK, ODP, GDB, eBPF
SonicWall is a cybersecurity forerunner with more than 30 years of expertise and is recognized as a leading partner-first company, ensuring our partners and their customers are never alone in the fight against cybercrime…
Staff Software Engineer (Data Plane) - Go / Golang experience is a must - 6+Years
Pune, Maharashtra, India · Hybrid
Senior
SonicWall is a cybersecurity forerunner with more than 30 years of expertise and is recognized as a leading partner-first company, ensuring our partners and their customers are never alone in the fight against cybercrime…
Skills: Go, Rust, C, C++, Linux Networking Stack
Software Dev Principal Engineer — System Engineering (Network Security / Firewall OS)
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Full-time
bachelor degree, postgraduate degree
Posted 47d ago
~40 hrs/week
Responsibilities
Act as a technical leader and architect for a next-generation firewall OS, focusing on data-plane packet processing and kernel interfaces. Responsibilities include optimizing performance, analyzing production crashes, and defining system architecture across hardware and virtual platforms.
Requirements
Requires a degree in Computer Science or Electrical Engineering with over 15 years of systems engineering experience, including 5+ years in a leadership role. Must possess expert-level C programming skills and deep expertise in DPDK, networking protocols, and secure boot chains.
Full job description
SonicWall is a cybersecurity forerunner with more than 30 years of expertise and is recognized as a leading partner-first company, ensuring our partners and their customers are never alone in the fight against cybercrime. With the ability to build, scale and manage security across the cloud, hybrid and traditional environments in real-time, SonicWall provides relentless security against the most evasive cyberattacks across endless exposure points for increasingly remote, mobile and cloud-enabled users. With its own threat research center, SonicWall can quickly and economically provide purpose-built security solutions to enable any organization—enterprise, government agencies and SMBs—around the world. For more information, visit www.sonicwall.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.
About the Role
Technical leader and hands-on architect responsible for the deepest layers of a next-generation firewall operating system from data-plane packet processing and kernel interfaces to secure platform boot chains, crash diagnostics, and performance optimization across physical appliance and virtual firewall product
Key Responsibilities:
SystemArchitecture — Define and evolve the firewall OS architecture across multiple hardware generations and virtual platforms; OS interface design (A/B image lifecycle, secure boot, recovery mode)
DataPlanePerformance — Architect high-performance packet pipelines using DPDK/ODP; optimize throughput, connection rates, and DPI-SSL concurrency across multi-core, multi-queue environments
CrashAnalysis&SecurityHardening — Serve as senior escalation point for production crashes; drive ASan/eBPF adoption; triage and fix memory corruption, deadlocks, and watchdog failures
Hotfix&EscalationEngineering — Build and deliver targeted firmware fixes; analyze diagnostic logs from field deployments to resolve critical customer issues
TechnicalLeadership — Set architectural standards and design review processes; mentor engineers on systems debugging and performance analysis; drive modern development workflows
Required Qualifications:
Education: B.Tech/B.E. or M.Tech/M.S. in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field
Experience: 15+ years in systems/embedded software engineering, with 5+ years in a principal/staff-level technical leadership role. Proven track record shipping production firmware for network security appliances, routers, or embedded networking products.
Must-Have Skills
CSystemsProgramming — Expert-level C in large embedded codebases; POSIX threading, custom memory allocators, 32→64-bit migration, endianness handling
DataPlane — DPDK or ODP: poll-mode drivers, hugepages, RSS, SR-IOV, lockless data structures, per-core caching
Virtualization (VMware ESXi, KVM/QEMU, Hyper-V) and cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP)
Federal certifications (Common Criteria, FIPS 140-3, USGv6, CSfC)
CI/CD for multi-architecture firmware builds
Desired Attributes:
Systems thinker — reasons across hardware, kernel, data plane, and application layers simultaneously
Hands-on leader — writes code, reviews designs, and debugs production crashes alongside the team
Security-first mindset — treats every memory bug as a potential CVE
Cross-functional communicator — translates deep technical issues into actionable guidance for PM, QA, and field teams.
#LI-DS9
#LI-Pune
#LI-Hybrid
#LI-LinuxKernal
#L-POSIX
#LI-DPDK
#LI-Dataplane
SonicWall is an equal opportunity employer.
We are committed to creating a diverse environment and are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.
At SonicWall, we pride ourselves on recruiting a diverse mix of talented people and providing active security solutions in 100+ countries.
Partner-first cybersecurity portfolio unifying network, endpoint, cloud, and threat response for SMBs and MSPs.
Industry
Computer and Network Security
Company size
1,001-5,000 employees
Founded
1991
Headquarters
Milpitas, CA
LinkedIn followers
127,823
For more than 30 years, SonicWall is a partner-first unified cybersecurity portfolio that helps SMBs, MSPs, and IT teams consolidate network, endpoint, cloud, and threat response across hybrid environments. Today, SonicWall delivers a unified cybersecurity portfolio that helps SMBs, MSPs, and IT teams consolidate network, endpoint, cloud, and threat response across hybrid environments, providing the protection, visibility and operational resilience that modern businesses demand.
Today, SonicWall delivers a unified cybersecurity portfolio that helps SMBs, MSPs, and IT teams consolidate network, endpoint, cloud, and threat response across hybrid environments, providing the protection, visibility and operational resilience that modern businesses demand.
SonicWall's approach is defined by outcomes, not features. Purpose-built technology, cloud-delivered security services, and real-time threat intelligence work together to prevent breaches, reduce risk, simplify security operations, and keep businesses running in the face of constantly evolving threats. Every product, program, and partnership is measured by a single standard: what it actually delivers for the organizations that depend on it.
At the center of SonicWall's go-to-market model is a global ecosystem of more than 17,000 MSPs, MSSPs, and resellers who bring SonicWall's security capabilities directly to the businesses that need them most. SonicWall partners are not simply resellers — they are the frontline of cybersecurity delivery for SMBs worldwide, and SonicWall is purpose-built to help them compete, grow, and succeed.
In a market crowded with feature announcements and shifting architectures, SonicWall remains focused on what matters: protecting the businesses others overlook, through the partners best positioned to serve them.
*U.S. Patents 7,310,815; 7,600,257; 7,738,380; 7,835,361; 7,991,723
Offices: 1033 McCarthy Boulevard, Milpitas, CA 95035, US
firewallngfwapplication intelligence and controlnetwork securitycybersecurityand cloud securityContentSoftwareSecurityNetwork Security
Partner-first cybersecurity portfolio unifying network, endpoint, cloud, and threat response for SMBs and MSPs.
Industry
Computer and Network Security
Company size
1,001-5,000 employees
Founded
1991
Headquarters
Milpitas, CA
LinkedIn followers
127,823
For more than 30 years, SonicWall is a partner-first unified cybersecurity portfolio that helps SMBs, MSPs, and IT teams consolidate network, endpoint, cloud, and threat response across hybrid environments. Today, SonicWall delivers a unified cybersecurity portfolio that helps SMBs, MSPs, and IT teams consolidate network, endpoint, cloud, and threat response across hybrid environments, providing the protection, visibility and operational resilience that modern businesses demand.
Today, SonicWall delivers a unified cybersecurity portfolio that helps SMBs, MSPs, and IT teams consolidate network, endpoint, cloud, and threat response across hybrid environments, providing the protection, visibility and operational resilience that modern businesses demand.
SonicWall's approach is defined by outcomes, not features. Purpose-built technology, cloud-delivered security services, and real-time threat intelligence work together to prevent breaches, reduce risk, simplify security operations, and keep businesses running in the face of constantly evolving threats. Every product, program, and partnership is measured by a single standard: what it actually delivers for the organizations that depend on it.
At the center of SonicWall's go-to-market model is a global ecosystem of more than 17,000 MSPs, MSSPs, and resellers who bring SonicWall's security capabilities directly to the businesses that need them most. SonicWall partners are not simply resellers — they are the frontline of cybersecurity delivery for SMBs worldwide, and SonicWall is purpose-built to help them compete, grow, and succeed.
In a market crowded with feature announcements and shifting architectures, SonicWall remains focused on what matters: protecting the businesses others overlook, through the partners best positioned to serve them.
*U.S. Patents 7,310,815; 7,600,257; 7,738,380; 7,835,361; 7,991,723
Offices: 1033 McCarthy Boulevard, Milpitas, CA 95035, US
firewallngfwapplication intelligence and controlnetwork securitycybersecurityand cloud securityContentSoftwareSecurityNetwork Security