Principal Engineer - Customer Identity Access Management (CIAM)

Fastly; Denver (CO); Hybrid; USD 246,550 - 295,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits package

Open vacation policy

401(k) with company match

Job summary

Fastly is seeking a Principal Software Engineer for its Customer Identity Access Management (CIAM) team in Denver, CO. This role involves leading the design and implementation of secure systems for user identities, requiring extensive experience in authentication and authorization technologies.

The ideal candidate will have a strong architectural background and significant expertise in standards like OIDC and OAuth. The position offers a hybrid work model aligned with Fastly's culture, and comes with a comprehensive benefits package.

Qualifications

• Significant experience designing authentication systems.
• Deep understanding of identity standards such as OIDC, OAuth, and SAML.
• Strong background in software architecture focusing on scalability and security.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical direction and architecture of CIAM systems.
• Design secure, scalable solutions for identity-related services.
• Mentor engineers and contribute to engineering best practices.

Skills

Authentication and authorization systems design

Identity and access standards

Software architecture and system design

Mentoring engineers

Strong communication skills

Education

10+ years of related experience

Tools

Keycloak

Go

Java

Ruby

Job description

Principal Software Engineer – Customer Identity Access Management (CIAM)

Join our dynamic Customer Identity Access Management (CIAM) team as a Principal Software Engineer and play a pivotal role in building cutting‑edge solutions that centralize and simplify how organizations manage user identities and profile data.

What You’ll Do

• Lead the technical direction, architecture, and evolution of Fastly’s CIAM systems and services.
• Design and build secure, scalable solutions for authentication, authorization, identity lifecycle, and related platform capabilities.
• Partner with engineering, product, and security teams to define roadmaps, align priorities, and address technical risks early.
• Drive adoption of modern, standards‑based identity patterns and best practices across teams and systems.
• Improve the reliability, security, and maintainability of identity‑related services through strong architectural decisions and operational rigor.
• Mentor engineers across the organization, helping raise the quality of technical design, implementation, and collaboration.
• Contribute to an inclusive engineering culture grounded in curiosity, pragmatism, and continuous improvement.
• Participate in on‑call support rotation as needed.

What We’re Looking For

• Significant experience designing and operating authentication and authorization systems in production environments; most Principals at Fastly have at least 10 years of related experience.
• Deep understanding of identity and access standards and technologies such as OIDC, OAuth, SAML, SCIM, JWT, and SSO.
• Experience with service‑to‑service authentication and secure communication patterns in distributed systems.
• Strong background in software architecture and system design, especially in areas of scalability, performance, reliability, and security.
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex technical initiatives across multiple teams and influence engineering direction at senior levels.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to produce clear technical documentation and align diverse stakeholders.
• Track record of mentoring and growing other engineers, both within your domain of expertise and more broadly across engineering.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Keycloak
• Production experience implementing role‑ and attribute‑based access control systems
• Experience with Go, Java, or Ruby

Work Hours

This position will require availability during core business hours and occasional nights and weekends as needed for on‑call support.

Work Location and Travel Requirements

The preferred hybrid locations for this position are: San Francisco, CA
Denver, CO
New York, NY Fastly currently embraces a largely hybrid model for most roles. We also consider highly qualified remote candidates within the United States. Travel is required as directed by your manager.

Salary

The estimated salary range for this position is $246,550 to $295,000, based on experience, skills, qualifications, and location. This role may be eligible for Fastly’s equity and discretionary bonus programs.

Benefits

Fastly offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, and vision insurance; family planning, mental health support, and employee assistance program; life, disability, and accident insurance; an open vacation policy; up to 18 days of accrued paid sick leave; 401(k) with company match; employee stock purchase program; and 11 paid local holidays with 12 paid company wellness days in 2026.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Fastly is committed to ensuring equal employment opportunity and to providing employees with a safe and welcoming work environment free of discrimination and harassment. Our employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, family or parental status, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances.

Consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and federal or state disability laws, Fastly will provide reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with disabilities. If a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact the Fastly Employee Relations team at [e-mail] or 501‑287‑4901.

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