Senior Staff Software Development Engineer (C/C++/ Linux / Automation / Networking)

About Zscaler

Zscaler 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 Zscaler and help shape the future of cybersecurity.

Role

We are looking for a Senior Staff Software Engineer to lead the architecture, design, and development across the ZPA Segmentation, Policy Engine, Micro Tenant, and Datapath teams. In this highly impactful role, you will own critical components of the Central Authority—including policy evaluation, orchestration, and distribution—alongside datapath enforcement.

The ideal candidate brings a deep mastery of C/C++, Linux systems, networking, and high-performance execution. As a technical leader, you will drive architectural vision, mentor engineers, and collaborate across control plane and data plane teams to deliver ultra-low-latency, resilient, and secure access decisions at a global scale.

What You'll Do (Key Responsibilities)

Architect & Evolve Core Engines: Lead the architectural design and evolution of core policy engine components tasked with evaluating identity- and context-aware policies and orchestrating seamless distribution to global enforcement points

High-Performance Implementation: Design and implement high-performance, resource-efficient datapath enforcement in C/C++ on Linux, aggressively optimizing for ultra-low latency and maximum throughput

Scalable Distribution: Develop highly resilient, scalable policy and configuration distribution mechanisms and protocols capable of supporting millions of concurrent endpoints and broker instances

Drive Production-Grade Quality: Ensure operational excellence through SLO-aware designs, comprehensive observability (metrics, logs, traces), automated testing, canary/gradual rollouts, and serving as an escalation point for complex distributed incidents

Cross-Functional Leadership: Partner closely with platform, control-plane, and security engineering teams to align on APIs, schemas, and telemetry; lead critical design reviews and drive cross-functional initiatives

Who You Are (Success Profile)

You Think at Scale: You connect your day-to-day work to the larger company mission and think globally. You build solutions, processes, and architectures that are not just effective today, but are built to last and support a high-growth organization

You are Driven by Innovation: You possess a deep curiosity for how things work and are energized by solving complex technical hurdles. You believe in the power of technology to accelerate transformation and consistently hunt for more secure, scalable methods

You are a Problem-Solver: You actively seek out engineering challenges because you are energized by finding solutions, knowing that solving the hardest problems delivers the biggest business and customer impact

You are Data-Driven: You lean on data and analytics to uncover engineering truths, measure what matters, and guide informed architectural decisions—replacing "I think" with "I know."

You are a Learner: You have a true growth mindset and never stop developing your technical or leadership skills. You actively seek and implement feedback to become an exceptional collaborator and teammate

What We're Looking For (Minimum Qualifications)

Experience: 7+ years of professional software development experience specializing in modern C/C++, Linux systems, and low-level performance engineering

Systems & Architecture: Proven track record of designing, building, and operating highly available, consistent, and partition-tolerant distributed systems (including expertise in replication and rollout strategies)

Networking Mastery: Solid core networking fundamentals including TCP/UDP, TLS/mTLS, DNS, socket I/O, connection management, and L4–L7 policy concepts

Security & Zero Trust: Deep understanding of security principles: authentication/authorization frameworks, identity management, certificates/PKI, least privilege models, and micro-segmentation

Automation & Tooling: High proficiency in Python for building automated test harnesses, CI/CD orchestration, benchmarking, and operational/release tooling

AI Tool Integration: Demonstrated curiosity and active integration of AI/LLM tools into your daily workflow to augment problem-solving and boost productivity

What Will Make You Stand Out (Preferred Qualifications)

Deep, practical experience building policy engines, rule evaluators, or custom policy Domain Specific Languages (DSLs) for authorization/segmentation at massive scale

Direct experience implementing robust reliability controls (such as rate limiting, admission control, and backpressure) along with advanced observability setups

Practical AI/ML skills applied directly to production engineering, such as automated telemetry/log analysis, anomaly detection, or advanced incident triage automation

#LI-SK3 

#LI-HYBRID 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:

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 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.