Senior Software Engineer - Layer1
Company Description
Arista Networks pioneered data-driven, cognitive cloud networking for large-scale datacenter and campus environments. Arista's award-winning platforms, ranging in Ethernet speeds from 10 to 400 gigabits per second, redefine scalability, agility and resilience. Arista has shipped more than 20 million cloud networking ports worldwide with CloudVision and EOS, an advanced network operating system. Committed to open standards, Arista is a founding member of the 25/50G consortium. Arista Networks products are available worldwide directly and through partners.
Job Description
Who You’ll Work With
As a Layer1 software engineer, you will get to work on software that manages the physical layer, where packets meet the outside world. Stable and reliable physical connectivity is critical for any network and that is your challenge. You will get to write control software that brings to life everything from the ubiquitous 1GBASE-T connectors to 1.6T long reach optics that provide fiber connectivity across continents. Your software will need to work across a wide variety of forwarding engines, connectors and interface chips called gearboxes, which allow our hardware platforms to support diverse physical connectivity options within a product family. You will build instrumentation and telemetry tools that track physical link health parameters reported by the Layer1 components and enable operators to monitor and troubleshoot their links effectively. You will also work closely with our Optics teams to define standards for new media and bring them to market.
Arista Software Engineering roles demand a strong and broad software engineering background. While the primary focus area for this role is Layer1 software, the role will cover all aspects of software development spanning the addition of new features, debugging problems and fine tuning code for scalability and performance. You will own your projects from definition to deployment and customer interactions, and you will be responsible for the quality of everything you deliver.
Arista Software Engineering prides itself on a supportive and growth oriented culture. Over time, as your interests change, coupled with evolving business needs you will have the opportunity to switch from Layer1 to other areas, if you like.
What You’ll Do
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Interface with customers, product management and hardware engineers to come up with innovative new Layer1 features.
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Architect, design and manage the development of these features.
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Develop and maintain features using C, C++ and Python, review and contribute to functional and design specifications. Build automated tests and test infrastructure to test the features.
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Work with hardware and manufacturing teams to bring new Layer1 components like Phys and Transceivers to market.
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Collaborate with hardware engineers to design optimal software control interfaces for managing Layer1 components.
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Provide technical leadership across features, projects and tools.
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Work with Customer Support Engineers and customers to analyze, mitigate and fix problems in customer networks.
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Work with the System Test Engineers to analyze problems found in their tests and provide fixes for those problems.
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Mentor new and junior engineers to bring them up to speed in Arista's software development environment.
#LI-EO1
Qualifications
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BS Computer Science/Electrical Engineering/Computer Engineering + 8 years experience, or MS Computer Science/Electrical Engineering/Computer Engineering + 6 years experience, or Ph.D. in Computer Science/Electrical Engineering/Computer Engineering + 3 years experience, or equivalent work experience
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Expert knowledge of C or C++ and Python.
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Knowledge of UNIX or Linux
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Knowledge of digital communication technologies like modulation and signal encoding schemes is a plus.
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Understanding of IP networking and/or distributed systems is a plus
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Experience working with low level hardware components is a plus
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Applied understanding of software engineering principles
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Strong problem solving and software troubleshooting skills
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Ability to design a solution and implement features independently.
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Ability to work in small teams.
Compensation Information
The new hire base pay for this role has a pay range of $140,000 to $200,000.
Arista offers different pay ranges based on work location, so that we can offer consistent and competitive pay appropriate to the market. The actual base pay offered will be based on a wide range of factors, including skills, qualifications, relevant experience, and work location.
The pay range provided reflects base pay only and in addition certain roles may also be eligible for discretionary Arista bonuses and equity. Employees in Sales roles are eligible to participate in Arista’s Sales Incentive Plan, which pays commissions calculated as a percentage of eligible sales. US-based employees are also entitled to benefits including medical, dental, vision, wellbeing, tax savings and income protection. The recruiting team can share more details during the hiring process specific to the role and location
Additional Information
The working hours will be agreed in advance with the team manager.
View all remote jobs at Arista Networks →
FAQ
- Is the Senior Software Engineer - Layer1 position at Arista Networks remote?
- Yes. This role was posted on Remote Backend Jobs, a job board that lists exclusively fully remote positions.
- What is the salary for the Senior Software Engineer - Layer1 role?
- The posted salary range for this position is $140k - $200k per year.
- When was this Senior Software Engineer - Layer1 job posted?
- This listing was posted on August 28, 2026 and is still open for applications.
- How do I apply for the Senior Software Engineer - Layer1 position at Arista Networks?
- Use the apply button on this page — it takes you directly to the employer’s application page.
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