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 Staff Software Development Engineer to join our Emerging Tech team.This role is hybrid and based in our San Jose, CA office three days a week, reporting to the VP, Software Engineering- AI Security.
You are going to engineer the high-performance backbone of our AI platform, enabling secure access to all AI applications. The primary focus for this role is to develop a secure, low-latency infrastructure service optimized for both sub-millisecond speeds and extreme resilience. You will build an intelligent security intermediary, designed to inspect and secure AI traffic flows between users and LLMs at scale.
What you’ll do (Role Expectations)
- Design, implement, and optimize high-performance web proxy services and build and maintain low-latency, high-throughput networked systems
- Develop robust services using Go, with the option to utilize Rust or C where appropriate
- Work extensively with socket programming, HTTP/1.1 through HTTP/3, and TLS / mTLS
- Optimize performance related to concurrency, memory management, CPU usage, network I/O, and connection handling while ensuring system reliability, fault tolerance, and security
- Collaborate with AI/ML, platform, and infrastructure teams to review code, mentor engineers, and contribute to architectural decisions
Who You Are (Success Profile)
- You thrive in ambiguity, comfortable building the path as you walk it and seeing ambiguity as raw material to build something meaningful.
- You act like an owner, operating with integrity and navigating seamlessly between high-level strategy and hands-on execution.
- You are a problem-solver who seeks out challenges because you are energized by finding solutions that deliver the biggest impact.
- You are customer-obsessed, building deep empathy for internal and external customers and championing their needs from start to finish.
- You operate with urgency, understanding that speed and quality are not mutually exclusive and maintaining a bias for action to deliver high-impact results.
What We’re Looking for (Minimum Qualifications)
- 5+ years of professional software engineering experience
- Strong proficiency in Golang is preferred, though Rust or C experience is acceptable
- Deep understanding of network programming including sockets, TCP/UDP, and connection pooling
- Strong knowledge of HTTP and TLS internals with experience building high-performance, low-latency systems
- Solid understanding of concurrency and parallel programming with experience debugging complex production issues
What Will Make You Stand Out (Preferred Qualifications)
- Experience building AI infrastructure, gateways, or proxies
- Familiarity with gRPC, load balancing, reverse proxies, zero-copy I/O, and kernel networking optimizations
- Experience with Linux internals, performance profiling tools, and exposure to distributed systems and cloud-native architectures
#LI-YC2 #LI-Hybrid
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.
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 Future of Work strategy, 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.
Top Skills
Zscaler New York, New York, USA Office
250 West 34th Street 3rd Floor, Suite 303, New York, NY, United States, 10119
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