Network Routing & Switching Protocols Software Development- Principal Engineer at Arrcus Inc
San Jose, CA
$200,000–$225,000
Aug 6, 2026
San Jose, CA
Sep 24, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A hands-on Principal Engineer role at a San Jose networking startup, focused on designing and developing large-scale control plane routing and switching protocols for the Arrcus Connected Edge platform. The work spans BGP/OSPF/ISIS/LDP, L2 technologies, overlay and segment routing, and control plane infrastructure, with additional responsibilities including customer issue triage, architecture participation, mentoring, and standards/IP engagement. Best suited to a deep networking software specialist with 16+ years of C/C++ or Go development experience.
Senior level · 16+ years · San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA · Bachelor's required · Full-time
Pay in the description: $200,000–$225,000
Advertised as Principal, but the requirements read as Senior.
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How this req sits in the market our data
Roughly 65 people in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA area plausibly meet what this posting asks for (software developers). range 15–100
Applicant volume Moderate — A normal amount of company. The rare requirements below are what will separate a shortlisted application from the rest.
Rare in this occupation — lead with these, and say what you built with them.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $217,796 (middle half $177,469–$231,052). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Aug 8, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (3)
The title says 'Principal Engineer' but the requirements — deep individual-contributor networking software work with no indication of org-wide technical authority or cross-org scope — are consistent with a Senior-level role. The 16+ years figure is high but common for Senior networking engineers at established networking vendors and startups; it does not by itself elevate the band to Principal.
The skills list covers a broad set of networking domains (routing protocols, L2, overlay, segment routing, manageability). The JD frames all of them as experience areas within a single 16+ year requirement rather than gating on each individually, but they are all listed under the qualifications block and are treated as hard requirements collectively.
The role appears to be on-site at the San Jose office (weekly catered lunches, monthly happy hours at the San Jose office are mentioned); no remote option is stated.
Read the full posting
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