Principal Software Developer, Platform Security

Salesforce; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 197,300 - 313,700; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Time off programs

Medical, dental, vision insurance

Mental health support

Paid parental leave

401(k)

Employee stock purchasing program

Job summary

Salesforce is seeking an experienced Software Engineer to lead complex security data projects. The role entails full lifecycle software development, security architecture, and mentoring junior engineers.

The ideal candidate has over 10 years of experience, a strong foundation in database and API development, and is adept in diverse programming languages. The position offers competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of core software development experience in multiple programming languages.
• Strong foundation in database engineering and API development.
• Ability to design systems at scale and deliver large projects.
• Experience with infrastructure hardening for operational reliability.
• Ability to guide technical architecture and team mentorship.

Responsibilities

• Ensure security of company and customer data across various disciplines.
• Audit and align Salesforce cloud infrastructure with security standards.
• Collaborate with teams to design and protect against security threats.
• Serve as a technical specialist for enhanced cloud security.
• Create innovative solutions for complex security problems.

Skills

Core software development experience

Database engineering

API development

Event-driven architectures

Distributed systems

Infrastructure hardening

Operational reliability

System design at scale

Agile/Scrum methodologies

Mentorship

Education

Related technical degree

Tools

Unix/Linux system administration

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

Microsoft Azure

Programming languages: Python, Ruby

Job description

Software Engineering

What You'll Do

• Lead end-to-end software development across complex security data pipelines from ingestion to canonical data stores and downstream consumers.
• Own system architecture for vulnerability scanning and endpoint protection platforms, including authoring System Design Records (SDRs) and Architecture Decision Records (ADRs).
• Drive platform reliability through availability monitoring strategies, alerting frameworks, and infrastructure hardening.
• Design and build APIs and services including REST API optimization, policy evaluation engines, integration adapter registries, and projection/aggregation services.
• Set engineering standards across the team for code quality, design consistency, and documentation practices.
• Mentor and guide Lead and Senior Engineers through PR reviews, sprint planning, and technical deep dives.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with security architects, platform teams, and partner engineering orgs to ensure clean system integration and dependency alignment.
• Workload split is approximately 75% new feature development and 25% maintenance, on‑call, and bug remediation.
• Support on‑call operations on a rotating schedule, including flexibility for major incidents across time zones.
• Leverage AI-assisted development tools to accelerate delivery, enforce engineering rigor, and support multi‑language development.

What We're Looking For

• 10+ years of core software development experience with mastery in multiple programming languages and platforms.
• Strong foundation in database engineering, API development, and data pipeline construction, including experience with event‑driven architectures, and distributed systems.
• Demonstrated ability to craft and deliver large, sophisticated projects across the full software lifecycle, including experience with products released for public consumption across multiple releases.
• Proven experience with infrastructure hardening and operational reliability (alerting, availability monitoring, MTTR reduction).
• Ability to design systems at scale including experience with architecture reviews, design documentation, and cross‑team alignment; experience working with engineering teams, architects, and executive leadership to craft architectural vision and roadmap.
• Develops technical performance architecture that solves the most complex performance and scalability challenges, with the ability to drive long‑term design strategies spanning multiple complex projects.
• Strong engineering process discipline: PR reviews, design reviews, sprint execution, and documentation; experience with Agile/Scrum methodologies and short release cycles.
• Ability to provide mentorship to team members, supporting their understanding of architecture and aiding in their technical growth.
• Skilled at fostering cross‑functional technical collaboration to surface, elevate, and resolve critical issues effectively.
• Ability to deliver technical reports and performance presentations to customers and at industry events.
• A related technical degree required.

Responsibilities

• Ensure company and customer data remains secure, utilizing knowledge of a wide variety of security disciplines, including network, application and infrastructure security.
• Audit Salesforce cloud infrastructure against industry and company security standards, develop uplift plan, and execute on plan to align cloud infrastructure with those standards.
• Collaborate with various internal teams, including infrastructure, engineering, operations, and product development to design and architect infrastructure (i.e. network, operating system, databases) and applications to protect against attackers.
• Serve as a hands‑on technical specialist, responsible for handling the complex and detailed technical work necessary to establish and maintain enhanced cloud security.
• Architect, configure, manage, and deploy technologies to improve Salesforce’s ability to prevent intrusions. Track down targeted vulnerabilities and defend against active adversaries. Research, gather threat intelligence and build, optimize, and automate systems to consume threat feeds and track adversaries.
• Create innovative solutions to complex security problems, including the design and use of software to identify security issues, deploy security solutions, and perform reporting activities.
• Utilize graduate‑level research/analytical skills to understand the latest threats and methodologies for effectively designing advanced controls in prevention, detection, and reaction to threats to the environments.
• Mentor and guide engineering teams to achieve team deliverables.
• Communicate clearly to both Engineering and Executive audiences.

Desired Qualifications

• You have 5+ years experience in a computer network‑related occupation.
• You have 2+ years experience in each of the following skills:
• Unix/Linux system administration, including working with Windows environments and hardening guidelines.
• Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Microsoft Azure and other public and private cloud infrastructure (EC2, VPC, ELB, S3, EMR, IAM).
• Building and operating secure infrastructures.
• You have some experience in each of the following skills:
• Security disciplines including security engineering, vulnerability analysis, firewalls, and encryption technologies.
• Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) networking, such as Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) stack, TCP, and Software‑Defined Networking (SDN).
• Writing code in programming languages such as Python, and Ruby to automate software/systems.
• Utilizing knowledge of core protocols and cryptographic standards to guide secure implementations.
• Security technologies, including host and network‑based protection and detection technologies.
• Network, host and application security practices.

Posting Statement

Salesforce is an equal opportunity employer and maintains a policy of non‑discrimination with all employees and applicants for employment. What does that mean exactly? It means that at Salesforce, we believe in equality for all. And we believe we can lead the path to equality in part by creating a workplace that’s inclusive, and free from discrimination. Know your rights: workplace discrimination is illegal. Any employee or potential employee will be assessed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications – without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, transgender status, age, disability, veteran or marital status, political viewpoint, or other classifications protected by law. This policy applies to current and prospective employees, no matter where they are in their Salesforce employment journey. It also applies to recruiting, hiring, job assignment, compensation, promotion, benefits, training, assessment of job performance, discipline, termination, and everything in between. Recruiting, hiring, and promotion decisions at Salesforce are fair and based on merit. The same goes for compensation, benefits, promotions, transfers, reduction in workforce, recall, training, and education.

In the United States, compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, job level, job‑related knowledge, skills, and experience. Certain roles may be eligible for incentive compensation, equity, and benefits. Salesforce offers a variety of benefits to help you live well including: time off programs, medical, dental, vision, mental health support, paid parental leave, life and disability insurance, 401(k), and an employee stock purchasing program. More details about company benefits can be found at https://www.salesforcebenefits.com. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring, Salesforce will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

At Salesforce, we believe in equitable compensation practices that reflect the dynamic nature of labor markets across various regions. The typical base salary range for this position is $197,300 – $313,700 annually. In select cities within the San Francisco and New York City metropolitan area, the base salary range for this role is $237,700 – $344,700 annually. The range represents base salary only, and does not include company bonus, incentive for sales roles, equity or benefits, as applicable.