Sr. Staff Software Development Engineer

Talanto

San Jose (CA)

Hybrid

USD 180,000 - 225,000

Full time

11 days ago
Application generator

A complete application in a minute — tailored resume and cover letter, ready to send.

Get past ATS filters

Benefits offered by this job

Health plans
Vacation and sick time
Parental leave options
Retirement options
Education reimbursement
In-office perks

Job summary

Talanto in San Jose, CA is seeking a Senior Staff Software Development Engineer to drive the evolution of our Client Connector Agent on Windows. You will own core service-layer components, including RPC, session handling, and data pipelines to ensure performance, scalability, and maintainability.

The role requires 8+ years of production C++ experience, strong Windows internals, and a track record of shipping enterprise desktop software.

Qualifications

  • 8+ years of production software engineering experience with strong C++ (C++14/17) expertise.
  • Solid grasp of Windows internals including services, user sessions, security tokens, IPC, and process/thread lifetime
  • Experience debugging multithreaded C++ including races, deadlocks, iterator invalidation, and use-after-free
  • Proficiency with diagnostic tools like WinDbg, ETW, Process Monitor, and crash dump analysis
  • Track record of shipping and maintaining an enterprise desktop or endpoint product

Responsibilities

  • Design and implement features across the CCA service, user-mode UI, and supporting subsystems including RPC server, session handler, data handler, and tunnel telemetry
  • Diagnose and fix complex production issues such as service crashes, race conditions, lifetime bugs, and cross-process synchronization problems
  • Improve reliability of long-running Windows service code including cleanup/shutdown paths and inter-process communication
  • Work on VDI-specific flows including ZCC VDI SMB tunnel traffic accounting and session lifecycle management
  • Review peers' code, raise the quality bar, and mentor other engineers on Windows systems programming

Skills

C++
Windows internals
Multithreading
WinDbg
RPC/IPC
Code review/mentoring

Tools

MS-RPC
Named Pipes
COM
Process Monitor
Crash dump analysis

Job description

C++

Important: if an employer asks you to log into their system via iCloud or Google, send a code, an SMS or Telegram password, run some code, or install software — refuse. These are signs of fraud.

accelerates digital transformation to ensure our customers can be more agile, efficient, resilient, and secure. As an AI-forward enterprise, we are constantly pushing the envelope, leveraging the world’s largest security data lake to power our cloud-native Zero Trust Exchange platform. This innovation protects our customers from cyberattacks and data loss by securely connecting users, devices, and applications in any location.

Here, impact in your role matters more than title and trust is built on results. We say, impact over activity. We seek innovators who actively use AI to amplify their impact and who thrive in an environment where we leverage intelligent systems to stay ahead of evolving threats. We believe in transparency and value constructive, honest debate—we’re focused on getting to the best ideas, faster. We build high-performing teams that can make an impact quickly and with high quality. To do this, we are building a culture of execution centered on customer obsession, collaboration, ownership, and accountability.

We value high-impact, high-accountability with a sense of urgency where you’re enabled to do your best work and embrace your potential. If you’re driven by purpose, thrive on solving complex challenges, and want to be part of the team that’s helping to secure the AI age, we invite you to bring your talents to and help shape the future of cybersecurity.

Role

We are looking for a Senior Staff Software Development Engineer to join our team. This is a San Jose, CA role, reporting to the Director, Software Development Engineering in the Zero Trust Exchange department. We are hiring a Senior Staff Software Development Engineer to drive the evolution of our Client Connector Agent (CCA), a critical Windows client that provides secure connectivity, tunneling, and session management across enterprise and VDI environments. In this role, you will own core service-layer components including RPC, user session handling, and data pipelines to ensure CCA remains performant, scalable, resilient, and maintainable.

What you’ll do (Role Expectations)
  • Design and implement features across the CCA service, user-mode UI, and supporting subsystems including the RPC server, session handler, data handler, and tunnel telemetry
  • Diagnose and fix complex production issues such as service crashes, race conditions, lifetime bugs, and cross-process synchronization problems
  • Improve reliability of long-running Windows service code including cleanup/shutdown paths and inter-process communication
  • Work on VDI-specific flows including ZCC VDI SMB tunnel traffic accounting and session lifecycle management
  • Review peers' code, raise the quality bar, and mentor other engineers on Windows systems programming
Who You Are (Success Profile)
  • You thrive in ambiguity and see dynamic, complex environments as an opportunity to build meaningful solutions.
  • You act like an owner, driving initiatives forward with passion, integrity, and a strong bias for action.
  • You are a high-trust collaborator who embraces a challenge culture with clear, respectful, and constructive feedback.
  • You are customer-obsessed, grounding engineering decisions in deep empathy to solve real-world problems.
  • You champion simplicity by distilling complex technical concepts into clear, actionable plans.
What We’re Looking for (Minimum Qualifications)
  • Foundational understanding of AI/ML technologies and experience leveraging, securing, or positioning AI-driven solutions to optimize outcomes within your functional domain
  • 8+ years of production software engineering experience with strong C++ (C++14/17) expertise
  • Solid grasp of Windows internals including services, user sessions, security tokens, IPC, and process/thread lifetime
  • Experience debugging multithreaded C++ including races, deadlocks, iterator invalidation, and use-after-free
  • Proficiency with diagnostic tools like WinDbg, ETW, Process Monitor, and crash dump analysis
  • Track record of shipping and maintaining an enterprise desktop or endpoint product
What Will Make You Stand Out (Preferred Qualifications)
  • Deep background in networking, VPN, ZTNA, or secure tunneling architectures
  • Experience with RPC (MS-RPC or custom), named pipes, or COM
  • Familiarity with VDI platforms (Citrix, VMware Horizon, AVD), installer/updater flows, or kernel-mode components

is benchmarked and are determined by role and level. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations and could be higher or lower based on a multitude of factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

The base salary range listed for this full-time position excludes commission/ bonus/ equity (if applicable) + benefits.

Base Pay Range$180,000—$225,000 USD

At , we are committed to building a team that reflects the communities we serve and the customers we work with. We foster an inclusive environment that values all backgrounds and perspectives, emphasizing collaboration and belonging. Join us in our mission to make doing business seamless and secure.

Our Benefits program is one of the most important ways we support our employees. offers comprehensive and inclusive benefits to meet the diverse needs of our employees and their families throughout their life stages, including:

  • Various health plans
  • Time off plans for vacation and sick time
  • Parental leave options
  • Retirement options
  • Education reimbursement
  • In-office perks, and more!

Learn more about 's hybrid working model and benefitshere .

By applying for this role, you adhere to applicable laws, regulations, and policies, including those related to security and privacy standards and guidelines.

is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all individuals. We strive to create a workplace where employees are treated with respect and have the chance to succeed. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy or related medical conditions), age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

Pay Transparency

complies with all applicable federal, state, and local pay transparency rules.

is committed to providing reasonable support (called accommodations or adjustments) in our recruiting processes for candidates who are differently abled, have long term conditions, mental health conditions or sincerely held religious beliefs, or who are neurodivergent or require pregnancy-related support.

Get your free, confidential resume review.
or drag and drop your file here.
Similar jobs

Similar jobs worth comparing

Sr. Staff Software Development Engineer
Sr. Staff Software Development Engineer

Zscaler • San Jose (CA)

On-site
USD 180,000 - 225,000
Health plans
Time off plans for vacation and sick
Parental leave options
+3
Sr. Software Development Engineer (Controlplane)
Sr. Software Development Engineer (Controlplane)

Socket.dev • San Jose (CA)

Hybrid
USD 116,000 - 165,000
Health plans
Parental leave
Education reimbursement
+1
Sr. Software Development Engineer (Controlplane)
Sr. Software Development Engineer (Controlplane)

Zscaler • San Jose (CA)

Hybrid
USD 116,000 - 165,000
Health plans
Vacation and sick time
Parental leave
+3
Senior Staff Software Engineer (C / Networking / Dataplane)
Senior Staff Software Engineer (C / Networking / Dataplane)

Zscaler • San Jose (CA)

On-site
USD 157,500 - 225,000
Various health plans
Time off plans
Parental leave options
+3
Principal Software Development Engineer
Principal Software Development Engineer

Zscaler • San Jose (CA)

Hybrid
USD 186,000 - 265,000
Health plans
Vacation & sick time
Parental leave
+3
Sr. Staff Software Engineer (Full-Stack)
Sr. Staff Software Engineer (Full-Stack)

Socket.dev • San Jose (CA)

Hybrid
USD 157,000 - 225,000
Health plans
Time off plans
Parental leave options
+3
Staff Software Engineer (C / Dataplane)
Staff Software Engineer (C / Dataplane)

Zscaler • San Jose (CA)

On-site
USD 129,000 - 185,000
Various health plans
Time off plans
Parental leave options
+2
Staff Software Development Engineer (Microservices)
Staff Software Development Engineer (Microservices)

Zscaler • San Jose (CA)

On-site
USD 129,500 - 185,000
Various health plans
Parental leave options
Education reimbursement
+1
Sr. Staff Software Development Engineer-AI Security
Sr. Staff Software Development Engineer-AI Security

Zscaler • Bellevue (WA), San Jose (CA)

Hybrid
USD 154,000 - 220,000
Time off plans
Parental leave
Retirement options
+1
Principal Software Engineer (C / Networking / Dataplane)
Principal Software Engineer (C / Networking / Dataplane)

Zscaler • San Jose (CA)

Hybrid
USD 186,000 - 265,000