Architect, Office of the CTO

About the role

The Office of the CTO at Fastly is seeking a technical leader to shape the future of our edge cloud platform. You will work on high-level architectural strategy, influencing the development of our network, compute, and security services. In this capacity, you will own the long-term technical vision that balances innovation with operational reliability. Your work will directly define how we evolve our platform to meet the demands of a global internet-scale audience. You will act as a trusted advisor to both engineering and executive stakeholders on matters of strategic technical importance. This position requires a deep commitment to rigorous analysis and the ability to see complex systems as a unified whole. You will be responsible for ensuring that architectural decisions today do not create constraints for tomorrow's opportunities. Your leadership will set the standard for technical excellence across the entire edge computing stack.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Conduct comprehensive evaluations of emerging distributed systems patterns to identify strategic advantages for the Fastly platform.
• Architect the foundational standards that govern our network, compute, and security services to ensure consistency and interoperability.
• Synthesize complex business initiatives into robust technical roadmaps that align with long-term product visions.
• Analyze global internet traffic trends to inform decisions on infrastructure expansion and performance optimization.
• Challenge existing paradigms by assessing the viability of novel technologies within our production edge environment.
• Translate ambiguous strategic goals into concrete architectural requirements that engineering teams can execute against.
• Serve as the primary authority on web performance and internet protocols, guiding enhancements across the entire stack.
• Partner with security specialists to architect zero-trust principles and resilient defenses into every layer of the platform.
• Facilitate cross-functional design reviews to ensure architectural integrity is maintained as the system scales.
• Provide executive-level briefings that clarify technical trade-offs and the implications of major infrastructure investments.
• Mentor senior engineers by providing technical direction that elevates the overall quality of our engineering output.
• Drive the adoption of cloud-native practices and serverless paradigms to maximize efficiency and developer velocity.

Requirements

• Demonstrate extensive experience designing and scaling distributed systems that operate at global internet scale.
• Show a proven track record of translating ambiguous business requirements into clear and executable technical architecture.
• Exhibit strong communication skills necessary to influence and align cross-functional engineering teams without direct authority.
• Possess a deep and practical understanding of internet protocols, routing, and web performance optimization techniques.
• Maintain a history of successful delivery in highly complex technical environments where failure is not an option.
• Hold a strong belief in the importance of operational excellence and maintainability in every architectural decision.
• Bring a background of leadership where your technical judgment has directly impacted the success of critical products.
• Commit to a mindset of continuous learning to keep pace with the rapid evolution of edge computing and security technologies.

Skills & tools

• Apply expertise in edge computing, CDN architecture, and the unique challenges of distributing logic globally.
• Leverage deep familiarity with modern web security practices to architect systems that defend against evolving threats.
• Utilize proficiency in observability and monitoring to ensure architectural assumptions are validated with real-world data.
• Master serverless technologies and compute orchestration to build event-driven and scalable edge functions.
• Excel in high-performance networking, ensuring low latency and high throughput across all points of presence.
• Harness advanced distributed systems design principles to manage state, consistency, and resilience effectively.
• Employ cloud-native platforms to build flexible and infrastructure-agnostic solutions that adapt to changing needs.

Practical notes

• This role is based in San Francisco. Please ensure your application reflects your relevant experience in architectural leadership and distributed systems.
• Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship for this position.
• The selected candidate will be required to work from the San Francisco office on a full-time basis.
• This engagement is classified as full-time, requiring a commitment to the standard operational schedule of the business.
• Travel may be required occasionally for strategic meetings, industry conferences, or customer visits.
• Applications will be reviewed continuously until the position is filled, so early submission is strongly encouraged.
• The successful candidate must pass all standard background checks and employment eligibility verification as required by law.