Principal Engineer, Secure AI Gateway

Netskope•Santa Clara, CA

3d•$133,500 - $272,000

About The Position

Netskope Cloud Data Plane engineers architect and design one of the most scalable, high-performance cloud API routing and orchestration platforms in the world, processing 10+ Gbps of traffic, performing intelligent routing and policy application across LLM providers and AI services using advanced techniques to detect threats and apply dynamic policies, all at line rate. In this role you will help lead the Netskope AI Security Gateway - a platform that empowers enterprises to securely unlock the transformative power of Generative AI and LLMs at scale. You will conduct technical research, collaborate with internal engineering and product management teams, collaborate with engineers in US, Taiwan and India to design, develop and integrate innovative security capabilities into our platform. You'll own architectural decisions that affect how the platform routes, transforms, secures and inspects API traffic across LLM providers, AI services and cloud platforms.

Requirements

10 to 12+ years of experience in software engineering, with 5+ years in architectural or technical leadership role
Deep expertise in backend engineering using Golang, or similar languages. Ability to review code in GoLang and similar languages, such as C and C++.
Proven experience designing large-scale, secure and cloud-native systems
Expertise in building high throughput and low latency data systems, such as networking from Layer 3 to Layer 7, web proxy, load balancing, request routing, API gateways, security, monitoring and observability, distributed systems, data processing, etc.
Expertise in dealing with complex architectural problems across multiple products and at the same time handling design issues at module level
Strong understanding of computer architecture – multi-threading, CPU scheduling, memory management with practical knowledge of Linux at system/kernel level
Hands-on experience with Docker and Kubernetes, specifically debugging workloads, networking, and storage in on-prem or hybrid environments
Hands-on experience handling complex and ambiguous customer issues. Persistence in accomplishing objectives despite uncertain situations, obstacles, and setbacks
Excellent communication skills and the ability to position views and arguments appropriately to win support. The ability to negotiate skillfully in tough situations to win concessions without damaging relationships
Confidence under pressure, a mature EQ, and the ability to show a high degree of self control while maintaining a positive attitude despite adversity
Willingness to work with a globally distributed team in different time zones, including US, Taiwan and India.
The ability to represent the company in appropriate external forums and industry events promoting technical thought leadership
BSCS or equivalent required, MSCS or equivalent strongly preferred

Nice To Haves

Startup experience in a fast-paced environment is a plus
Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills using debuggers like gdb and tools like Valgrind
Proponent of TDD, knowledge of various unit testing frameworks
Experience with LLM APIs, Generative AI platforms, and multi-provider orchestration
Deep packet inspection and real-time content analysis at line rate
Experience with threat detection, DLP, and security policy enforcement
Deep knowledge of GenAI and cybersecurity convergence: prompt injection, jailbreak mitigation, LLM-specific threat patterns
Experience implementing key management and credential handling algorithms
Integration with security features such as DLP, Threat protection, and UEBA
Knowledge of emerging GenAI and cloud service security challenges and best practices

Responsibilities

Design, architect and develop high performance, scalable cloud-based security systems to detect and mitigate threats on LLM APIs and Generative AI applications
Setting and driving the overall architectural design and strategic technical directions for the Cloud API Gateway platform
Define and drive best practices around scalable microservices, distributed systems, APIs and secure data flows across multiple LLM providers (Layer 3 to Layer 7)
Lead and inspire a world-class engineering organization, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration and continuous improvement
Partner with product management to understand customer requirements, lead the team and collaborate with other engineering teams to design and implement high-quality solutions
Build scalable and performant services that route, transform and secure various API protocols (LLM APIs, REST, gRPC, etc.), using advanced data structures and algorithms in GoLang. Perform deep inspection of LLM API traffic in real-time to detect and mitigate attacks on AI services
Design and implement dynamic routing algorithms for multi-provider LLM orchestration, intelligent request transformation, load balancing, and failover logic
Integrate with security features including DLP, Threat protection, and UEBA for LLM-specific attack pattern recognition, content inspection and policy application
Implement sophisticated credential and token management algorithms for secure multi-provider orchestration
Perform architectural reviews, code reviews and mentor junior engineers
Stay abreast of emerging GenAI and cybersecurity technologies, proactively propose innovative solutions