Staff Software Development Engineer

Zscaler, Inc.; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 152,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Time off plans

Parental leave options

Retirement options

In-office perks

Job summary

Zscaler, Inc. is recruiting a Staff Software Development Engineer in Santa Clara, CA. You will design and build scalable, secure control plane platform services for the Zero Trust Exchange, guiding architecture and technology choices across teams to elevate reliability and developer velocity.

Ideal candidates will have deep distributed systems expertise, strong leadership, and a pragmatic, execution-focused mindset, with hands-on mentorship and a drive to advance security-focused SaaS platforms.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of software engineering with distributed systems experience.
• Strong programming in Java, Go, or Python.
• Experience leading cross-team initiatives and determining architectural direction.
• Knowledge of cloud-native technologies, observability, and secure software development practices.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture, design, and delivery of large-scale control plane and platform services.
• Drive cross-team initiatives and align stakeholders on architecture and execution plans.
• Identify and resolve bottlenecks, reliability risks, and architectural gaps.
• Set a high technical bar through design/code reviews and mentorship of engineers.
• Evaluate AI-enabled workflows to improve developer productivity and product outcomes.

Skills

Distributed systems

Backend services

Architectural leadership

Java Go Python

Cross-team collaboration

Mentoring

Tools

Kubernetes

CI/CD

AWS

Job description

Zscaler (NASDAQ: ZS) accelerates digital transformation so customers can be more agile, efficient, resilient, and secure. The Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange platform protects thousands of customers from cyberattacks and data loss by securely connecting users, devices, and applications in any location. Distributed across 200+ public data centers globally and thousands of private sites at the edge, the SASE-based Zero Trust Exchange is the world’s largest in-line cloud security platform.

We believe the future of work is Human + AI and are building an AI-native enterprise where human potential is amplified by machine intelligence to solve the world’s hardest security challenges. Driven by deep customer obsession, we are committed to the mission, outcome, and to each other. We bring these commitments to life through three core behaviors: ownership and collaboration, trust through outcomes and impact, and a challenge culture with ongoing feedback. Ready to make an impact at the company pioneering security transformation in the AI era? Join us at Zscaler.

Role

We are looking for a Staff Software Development Engineer to join our team. This is a Santa Clara, CA role, reporting to the Senior Director, Software Development Engineering in the Zero Trust Exchange department. In this role, you will lead the design and development of highly scalable, resilient, and secure control plane platform services that power the Zero Trust Exchange. You will drive architecture, influence technical strategy across teams, and deliver platform capabilities that improve reliability, operability, and developer velocity. The ideal candidate pairs deep distributed systems expertise with strong cross-functional leadership and a pragmatic, execution-focused mindset.

What you’ll do (Role Expectations)

• Lead the architecture, design, and delivery of large-scale control plane and platform services with a strong focus on scalability, availability, security, and operational excellence
• Drive complex cross-team technical initiatives, align stakeholders on architecture and execution plans, and ensure high-quality delivery against business and engineering priorities
• Identify and resolve system bottlenecks, reliability risks, and architectural gaps across distributed systems, improving performance, observability, and long-term maintainability
• Set a high technical bar through design reviews, code reviews, engineering best practices, and hands-on mentorship of senior engineers across the organization
• Evaluate and apply emerging technologies, including Agentic AI, AI-assisted engineering workflows where appropriate, to improve developer productivity, system intelligence, and product delivery outcomes

Who You Are (Success Profile)

• You act like an owner. You have a deep passion for the mission and a natural bias for action, seamlessly navigating between high-level architectural strategy and hands-on execution to deliver high-integrity outcomes.
• You are a problem-solver. You are highly energized by complex challenges and focus on designing elegant, scalable solutions that deliver the greatest organizational impact.
• You are a high-trust collaborator. You are deeply committed to collective success, actively engaging in a constructive challenge culture by giving and receiving respect-driven, candid feedback.
• You are a learner. You possess a true growth mindset, continuously developing your skills and seeking out feedback to grow as a technical leader and supportive teammate.
• You champion simplicity. You excel at translating highly complex distributed systems problems and technical concepts into clear, simple, and actionable engineering plans.

What We’re Looking for (Minimum Qualifications)

• Demonstrated curiosity and active exploration of AI tools, with a proven history of integrating new technologies to enhance daily workflows and augment problem-solving
• 5+ years of software engineering experience, including significant experience designing and building large-scale distributed systems and backend platform services
• Deep expertise in system design, microservices architecture, API design, data modeling, and operating highly available, fault-tolerant services in production environments
• Strong proficiency in one or more modern programming languages such as Java, Go, or Python, with a track record of delivering production-grade software
• Experience leading complex technical initiatives across multiple teams, driving architectural decisions, and influencing engineering direction beyond immediate team boundaries
• Strong understanding of cloud-native technologies, observability, reliability engineering, and secure software development practices

What Will Make You Stand Out (Preferred Qualifications)

• Proven ability to leverage AI technologies and workflows to drive measurable operational efficiency
• Experience applying AI-forward engineering practices, such as developer copilots, intelligent automation, AI-assisted incident analysis, or ML/LLM-powered platform capabilities, to improve engineering productivity or product outcomes
• Experience building control plane, policy, identity, security, or other mission-critical platform systems in a SaaS or cybersecurity environment, with Kubernetes, PAM, IGA
• Experience mentoring senior engineers and serving as a recognized technical leader for architecture, operational excellence, and engineering standards across an organization

Zscaler’s salary ranges are 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

$152,000 - $190,000 USD

At Zscaler, 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. Zscaler proudly offers comprehensive and inclusive benefits to meet the diverse needs of our employees and their families throughout their life stages, including:

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

Learn more about Zscaler's hybrid working model and benefits here .

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

Zscaler 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. See more information by clicking on the Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal link.

Pay Transparency

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

Zscaler 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.