Senior Manager, Research

Available Locations: Austin, TX About the department
The Cloudflare Research team stands at the nexus of academic inquiry and real-world implementation, operating with a clear mandate: to advance the company's mission to help build a better Internet. We translate public values into tangible, globally-scaled technologies, ensuring the Internet remains secure, private, and accessible.
Cloudflare Research is unique because we don't just publish papers; we build the protocols and systems that power a significant portion of the web. Our current focus areas include Artificial Intelligence, Cryptography, Privacy, Network Protocols, Measurement and Performance Evaluation, and Distributed Systems. More information about our vision can be found at research.cloudflare.com.
What you'll do
As a Research Manager, you will lead a world-class group of researchers - ranging from Junior to Mid, to Senior and Principal Researchers - covering the entire Cloudflare research portfolio. Unlike a traditional engineering manager role, your success is measured by the impact and rigor of scientific output as well as its successful integration into our global network.
You will act as a bridge between deep academic exploration and product reality. You will foster an environment where "moonshot" ideas are balanced with the practical constraints of a global edge network. Your leadership will ensure that Cloudflare remains a leader in the IETF, W3C, and other standards bodies, while simultaneously delivering code that improves the lives of millions of users.
Examples of desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• Proven Leadership: A minimum of 10 years of experience managing high-performing technical or research teams. Experience managing principle-level individual contributors is highly preferred.
• Academic and Industry Fluency: An advanced degree or equivalent industry experience in Computer Science, focusing on one of our core areas (Cryptography, AI, Systems, or Networking).
• Publication Record: Familiarity with the academic lifecycle - understanding how to guide a project from a hypothesis to a peer-reviewed publication or a standard proposal.
• Operational Excellence: Ability to manage "research uncertainty." You can help researchers navigate blockers and pivot when a hypothesis isn't panning out, while still meeting organizational milestones.
• Recruitment: A track record of identifying and hiring top-tier research talent from both academia and industry.
• Communication: Exceptional ability to translate complex theoretical concepts into business value for non-technical stakeholders.
• Technology: Experience working with/for a hyperscaler or SAAS provider on high impact projects

Responsibilities

• Multigenerational Leadership: Manage and mentor a diverse team of Junior, Mid, Senior, and Principal Researchers. You will tailor your management style to support early-career growth while providing high-level strategic partnership to industry-leading Principal scientists.
• Research Strategy & Roadmap: Help define and execute the long-term research agenda for your domain. This will include aligning research initiatives with Cloudflare's product roadmap, to ensure that today's experiments become tomorrow's core features - as well as leading initiatives that define tomorrow and help build a better internet.
• Standards & External Impact: Support the team in contributing to global internet standards (e.g., IETF, W3C, NIST) and maintaining Cloudflare's presence in top-tier academic conferences.
• Cross-Functional Integration: Partner with Product and Engineering leaders to identify "research-shaped" problems within their stacks and deploy research-led solutions to production.
• Scientific Rigor & Ethics: Ensure all research is conducted with the highest standards of integrity, particularly regarding data privacy and the ethical implications of AI and cryptography.
• Evangelism: Help the team communicate their work to both internal and external audiences, such as through the Cloudflare Blog, white papers, and industry talks to maintain our status as a thought leader in the research community.