Staff Software Engineer - Full Stack

Okta; United States; Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Okta Inc. is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to scale our backend platforms and distributed services with a focus on secure, reliable systems. You will collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver high-performance security-centric software.

Join us to drive excellence in architecture, mentorship, and modern web technologies while working in a hybrid environment with 3 days in the office each week.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience building and maintaining complex distributed systems.
• Backend experience with Node.js and TypeScript.
• Frontend familiarity with React enabling full-stack ownership.
• Strong knowledge of RESTful API design and microservices.
• Experience with relational and NoSQL databases.
• Solid CS fundamentals and scalable design patterns.
• Excellent collaboration across distributed teams.

Responsibilities

• Design and build high-quality backend services while collaborating with frontend developers to ensure seamless integration across the stack.
• Raise the bar on engineering excellence by improving standard methodologies, producing best-in-class code, documentation, testing, and monitoring.
• Collaborate with product and R&D engineers to translate product requirements into robust technical solutions.
• Identify and resolve technical issues and performance bottlenecks within the backend systems.
• Stay up to date with industry trends to improve backend services and overall performance.
• Be a mentor to colleagues and promote knowledge sharing within the team.

Skills

Node.js

TypeScript

React

RESTful APIs

Microservices

Event-driven

Relational DBs

NoSQL / Caching

CS Fundamentals

Distributed teams

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in CS/Engineering

Tools

NestJS

AWS

Containers/Kubernetes

Job description

Secure Every Identity, from AI to Human Identity is the key to unlocking the potential of AI. Okta secures AI by building the trusted, neutral infrastructure that enables organizations to safely embrace this new era. This work requires a relentless drive to solve complex challenges with real-world stakes. We are looking for builders and owners who operate with speed and urgency and execute with excellence. This is an opportunity to do career-defining work. We're all in on this mission. If you are too, let's talk.

Get to Know Okta

Okta is The World’s Identity Company. We free everyone to safely use any technology—anywhere, on any device or app. Our Workforce and Customer Identity Clouds enable secure yet flexible access, authentication, and automation that transforms how people move through the digital world, putting Identity at the heart of business security and growth.

At Okta, we celebrate a variety of perspectives and experiences. We are not looking for someone who checks every single box—we are looking for lifelong learners and people who can make us better with their unique experiences and backgrounds.

Join our team! We are building a world where Identity belongs to you.

Hybrid work - 3 days a week from the office.

Identity Security Pillar

Okta's Identity Security Pillar is at the forefront of defending modern enterprise environments against sophisticated identity-centric attacks. As enterprise attack surfaces expand across clouds, SaaS ecosystems, and hybrid networks, our pillar delivers unified, next-generation security capabilities that protect organizations across the entire threat lifecycle.

Joining our pillar gives you the unique opportunity to build and impact diverse, cutting-edge products across the security domain, including:

• Identity Security Posture Management (ISPM): Delivering continuous, contextual visibility into complex identity infrastructure, surfacing misconfigurations, eliminating toxic combinations of permissions, and reducing overall attack surfaces.
• Identity Threat Protection (ITP): ITP delivers real-time, surgical defense against the most sophisticated and rapidly evolving threats. By deeply integrating with existing security infrastructure, ITP relentlessly analyzes user behavior and system data to proactively hunt down and neutralize risks before they impact our customers.
• Identity Threat Detection & Response (ITDR): Detecting sophisticated credential compromise, privilege escalation, and lateral movement with speed and automated response capabilities.

What You’ll Be Doing

As a Staff Software Engineer on the team, you will play a pivotal, hands-on role in scaling our foundational platforms and web applications, with a primary emphasis on backend architecture and distributed services. You will partner closely with distributed teams to deliver robust, high-performance security solutions.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design and build high-quality backend services while collaborating with frontend developers to ensure seamless integration across the stack.
• Raise the bar on engineering excellence by improving standard methodologies, producing best-in-class code, documentation, testing, and monitoring.
• Collaborate with product and R&D engineers to translate product requirements into robust technical solutions.
• Identify and resolve technical issues and performance bottlenecks within the backend systems.
• Stay up to date with the latest industry trends and technologies to continuously improve our backend services and overall application performance.
• Be a mentor to colleagues and help promote knowledge sharing within the team.

What You’ll Bring to the Role

• Experience: 8+ years of professional software engineering experience building and maintaining complex, enterprise-grade distributed systems in high-growth environments.
• Backend Expertise: 6+ years of hands-on experience designing and implementing backend services using Node.js and modern TypeScript.
• Frontend Knowledge: Proven working familiarity with modern frontend frameworks, specifically React, enabling seamless collaboration and full-stack ownership.
• Architectural Mastery: Deep knowledge of RESTful API design, microservices architecture, asynchronous event-driven design, and data persistence patterns.
• Database & Storage Systems: Practical experience working with relational databases as well as NoSQL/caching stores.
• System Principles: Strong foundation in computer science fundamentals, data structures, algorithms, and scalable software design patterns.
• Collaboration & Mindset: Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, paired with strong communication abilities to collaborate across distributed, global engineering teams.
• Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical discipline (or equivalent practical experience).

Extra Credit: If You Have Experience In

• Frameworks such as NestJS or similar enterprise-grade Node.js server frameworks.
• Modern cloud platforms (particularly AWS) and container orchestration.
• Identity and security domains (IAM, OAuth, OIDC, SAML, posture management, threat detection, or cloud security).

The Okta Experience

• Supporting Your Well-Being
• Driving Social Impact
• Developing Talent and Fostering Connection + Community

We are intentional about connection. Our global community, spanning over 20 offices worldwide, is united by a drive to innovate. Your journey begins with an immersive, in-person onboarding experience designed to accelerate your impact and connect you to our mission and team from day one. Okta is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, marital status, age, physical or mental disability, or status as a protected veteran. We also consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and convictions records, consistent with applicable laws. If reasonable accommodation is needed to complete any part of the job application, interview process, or onboarding please use this Form to request an accommodation. Notice for New York City Applicants & Employees: Okta may use Automated Employment Decision Tools (AEDT), as defined by New York City Local Law 144, that use artificial intelligence, machine learning, or other automated processes to assist in our recruitment and hiring process. In accordance with NYC Local Law 144, if you are an applicant or employee residing in New York City, please click here to view our full NYC AEDT Notice.