Sr. Backend Engineer - Access Management

Cerby; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Cerby is seeking a senior software engineer to help design and scale SaaS products in a security-first, remote-first environment. You will craft scalable backend services, implement robust authentication and authorization patterns, and mentor peers while driving engineering excellence.

Join a team that embraces AI-enabled tooling and modern development workflows across time zones, delivering high-impact security solutions for connected enterprise applications.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience building and scaling SaaS applications.
• 3+ years hands-on experience with authentication and authorization systems.
• Experience mentoring junior developers and conducting security-first code reviews.
• Prior experience in distributed applications and high-growth SaaS startups.

Responsibilities

• Design and Develop scalable SaaS solutions aligning with business goals and user needs.
• Collaborate with product managers, engineers, and UX designers to deliver features.
• Write clean, maintainable, and secure code and promote best practices.
• Engage in code reviews and continuously improve development processes.
• Explore AI integrations to boost efficiency and product evolution.
• Contribute to security-first development and robust threat mitigation.
• Collaborate effectively in a remote-first environment across time zones.
• Mentor engineers and share knowledge across the org.

Skills

Software engineering

SaaS applications

Authentication & Authorization

Mentoring teammates

Tools

Python

Go

Cloud platforms

SQS

MySQL

PostgreSQL

Redis

DynamoDB

OpenTelemetry

Datadog

Job description

About Cerby

At Cerby, security is everyone's business.

Cerby extends your security perimeter to include your disconnected applications, providing identity automation and eliminating manual processes. It's one of the biggest blind spots in enterprise security, and we're the team closing it. If you want to work alongside the team solving one of the hardest, most overlooked problems in security, you're in the right place.

Founded in 2020, Cerby is backed by leading investors and trusted by enterprises across the globe.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and Develop: Build scalable, high-performance software solutions that align with business goals and user needs, leveraging AI-assisted tools and techniques as part of your engineering practice.
• Collaborate: Work closely with product managers, engineering managers, UX designers, and other engineers to deliver high-quality features and functionality.
• Code Excellence: Write clean, maintainable, and efficient code, adhering to best practices and coding standards. Help define and promote best practices across the engineering org, including how AI tools can be responsibly and effectively integrated into development workflows.
• Continuous Improvement: Participate in code reviews, share knowledge with team members, and continuously improve development processes.
• Innovation and Curiosity: Champion new technologies, frameworks, and methodologies that drive innovation and product evolution, while continuously exploring ways to leverage AI in your day-to-day work to boost personal efficiency and empower those around you to do the same.
• Security Mindset: Actively contribute to our security-first approach by proactively identifying vulnerabilities and implementing robust solutions, including applying a critical eye toward how AI tools are used in secure development contexts.
• Remote Collaboration: Collaborate effectively in a remote-first environment, ensuring seamless communication and teamwork across time zones.
• Culture: Demonstrates leadership and lives Cerby’s core values to achieve positive outcomes. Help cultivate an environment where experimenting with AI is encouraged, learnings are shared openly, and the team grows together.
• Problem-Solving: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a focus on delivering high-quality solutions.
• Communication Skills: Ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly and concisely both in written and verbal form
• Team Collaboration: Collaborate and thrive in agile teams, actively mentoring engineers, sharing knowledge across the org, and leveraging AI to accelerate documentation (runbooks, ADRs, onboarding guides, post-mortems) to free more time for the deep technical conversations that actually transfer expertise.

Qualifications & Required Skills

Experience:

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience, with a focus on building and scaling SaaS applications.
• 3+ years of hands-on experience with authentication and authorization systems
• Prior experience developing and maintaining Distributed Applications
• Previous experience mentoring junior developers and conducting security-first code reviews

Technical Expertise:

• Experience with designing, developing, and maintaining scalable SaaS applications in a high performance startup environment (prior experience in high growth venture funded SaaS startups preferred)
• Deep understanding of authentication and authorization protocols: OIDC (OpenID Connect), SAML, and SCIM
• Strong knowledge of identity and access management (IAM) concepts including RBAC and ABAC
• REST API design and development experience, especially from a security aspect
• Solid understanding of web security vulnerabilities and mitigation strategies (CORS, XSS, CSRF, etc.)
• Knowledge of token-based authentication systems including JWT implementation and security considerations
• Experience with session management and secure authentication flows
• Prior experience in cyber security is a plus.

Proficiency in:

• Backend programming languages: Python, Go, or equivalent.
• Cloud platforms and prior experience building scalable cloud-based systems.
• Queuing, Messaging and Streaming platforms such as SQS.
• Distributed data stores (S3), plus relational databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL), and key/value databases (Redis, DynamoDB, or similar).
• Software engineering practices such as Agile and Scrum, CI/CD, Collective Code Ownership.
• Architecting and designing distributed, fault-tolerant, high-availability, and resilient systems.
• Proven ability to instrument distributed systems with well-designed telemetry and observability code, including metrics, traces, and log management (prior experience with OpenTelemetry and Datadog a plus).
• Ability to own and drive the software development from design through development, testing, delivery and production release. Writes maintainable code, high quality, scalable, and secure code.

Nice to have:

• Experience working with security compliance frameworks (SOC 2, GDPR, HIPPA, etc.)
• Proven track record of integrating with Identity Providers (IdPs) such as Okta, EntraID, or similar platforms
• Experience implementing Single Sign-On (SSO) and federated identity management solutions
• Prior experience in a venture funded high-growth SaaS startup preferred.
• Familiarity with encryption processes and key management is a plus.

Desired Qualities

• Resourceful Achiever: Self-motivated, proactive, and adaptable in solving complex technical challenges.
• Product Minded: Strong ability to understand customer value, to translate customer needs into software products that deliver tangible customer value.
• Precision Executor: Focused on optimizing performance, scalability, and reliability in software delivery.
• Team Player: Strong interpersonal skills, fostering a culture of collaboration and shared success. Actively mentor other engineers.
• Lifelong Learner: A continuous curiosity to learn and explore emerging technologies and industry trends.
• Innovative Thinker: Open to creative solutions, and comfortable navigating ambiguity.