Senior Staff Software Development Engineer

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 Development Engineer to join our team. This is a Hybrid role based in Bangalore, reporting to the Senior Manager, ZIA Core Engineering in the ZIA Cloud department. You will make ZIA software run in Public Cloud Infrastructure, bringing strong public cloud infrastructure knowledge, technical expertise in network security, hands-on development experience, and proven leadership capabilities. You will bring your vision and passion to our team of experts who are enabling organizations worldwide to harness speed and agility with a cloud-first strategy through the world's largest cloud security platform. What you’ll do (Role Expectations) * Participate in the design, development, and optimization of firewall/SWG platforms in Cloud Infrastructure * Execute the technical roadmap for firewalls/SWG in Cloud Infrastructure, ensuring alignment with business goals * Work closely with engineering teams to enhance platform support for virtualized environments * Drive professional development and growth initiatives for team members Who You Are (Success Profile) * You thrive in ambiguity and feel comfortable building the path as you walk it, seeing dynamic environments not as a hindrance but as raw material to build something meaningful. * You act like an owner, letting your passion fuel a bias for action while navigating seamlessly between high-level strategy and hands-on execution. * You are a problem-solver who seeks out challenges and is energized by finding solutions to the hardest problems to deliver the biggest impact. * You are a high-trust collaborator who is ambitious for the team, giving and receiving ongoing feedback with clarity, candor, and respect. * You are a learner with a true growth mindset, actively seeking feedback to continuously develop yourself, become a stronger teammate, and work with purpose. 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 experience in designing and implementing networking security software and public clouds infrastructure * Direct experience working on C programming and firewall technology * Strong understanding of VPN, Tunneling, IPSec, and IKEv1/v2 protocols * Experience in designing how NGFW/SWG solutions integrate with or extend native public cloud services including Firewall/IPS, FreeBSD, and OpenSSL * Technical knowledge in BSD/Linux operating systems and their application in platform development What Will Make You Stand Out (Preferred Qualifications) * Mastery of Network Security Fundamentals including TCP/IP, DNS, Http(s), VPN technologies, NAT, and load balancing * Proven experience with Virtualisation technologies #LI-Hybrid #LI-RG 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.

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 Development Engineer (C and Go) to join our team. This is a hybrid role based in Bangalore (3 days a week in office) role, reporting to the Senior Director of Software Development in the Engineering team department. You will work on the control plane for the Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA) and ZDX products, which has redefined how security services are delivered in the cloud. What you’ll do (Role Expectations) * Practice technical leadership in design, development, and optimization of control path features in Cloud Infrastructure * Define and execute the technical roadmap ensuring alignment with business goals * Develop and own components of a large-scale distributed system with a focus on scalability * Use AI-powered tools for advanced problem solving and engineering efficiency * Mentor other engineers Who You Are (Success Profile) * You thrive in ambiguity. You're comfortable building the path as you walk it. You thrive in a dynamic environment, seeing ambiguity not as a hindrance, but as the raw material to build something meaningful. * You act like an owner. Your passion for the mission fuels your bias for action. You operate with integrity because you genuinely care about the outcome. True ownership involves leveraging dynamic range: the ability to navigate seamlessly between high-level strategy and hands-on execution. * You are a problem-solver. You love running towards the challenges because you are laser-focused on finding the solution, knowing that solving the hard problems delivers the biggest impact. * You are a high-trust collaborator. You are ambitious for the team, not just yourself. You embrace our challenge culture by giving and receiving ongoing feedback—knowing that candor delivered with clarity and respect is the truest form of teamwork and the fastest way to earn trust. * You are a learner. You have a true growth mindset and are obsessed with your own development, actively seeking feedback to become a better partner and a stronger teammate. You love what you do and you do it with purpose. 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 * 10+ years of software engineering experience, programming in Go or Java * Deep expertise in networking protocols (DNS, HTTP, TCP/IP, SSL/TLS) and designing high-throughput, low-latency, horizontally scalable systems * Proficiency in cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud with a deep understanding of Kubernetes (AWS EKS) and container infrastructure * Operational excellence with familiarity in monitoring tools like Prometheus and Grafana for debugging complex, large-scale systems What Will Make You Stand Out (Preferred Qualifications) * Experience implementing AI-driven predictive scaling, automated code-generation guardrails, or anomaly detection architectures within low-latency distributed control paths * Knowledge of PostgreSQL and hands-on experience with design patterns for building scalable, reliable control planes including state management and RBAC * Experience with gRPC, Protobuf, and serialization frameworks alongside fundamentals in high-performance computing, distributed systems, event-based programming, and memory optimization #LI-Hybrid #LI-AN4 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.