Principal Software Development Engineer (Control-Plane)

Zscaler•San Jose, CA

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

Zscaler is looking for a Principal Software Development Engineer (Control-Plane) to join their Engineering team. This is a hybrid role, requiring a minimum of 3 days per week in the Santa Clara, CA office. The role reports to the Director, Software Development Engineering. The primary focus will be on expanding the existing control path, driving the development of new features, and enhancing functionality. The engineer will play a key role in evolving the architecture to meet the demands of a growing user base. The company emphasizes a culture of ownership, collaboration, trust through outcomes, and a challenge culture with ongoing feedback, aiming to amplify human potential with AI to solve security challenges.

Requirements

12+ years of experience designing and building large-scale, highly reliable, and scalable software systems, preferably in Python and/or Go.
Strong hands-on experience with public cloud infrastructure across AWS, GCP, and Azure.
Deep understanding of cloud networking concepts and services, including Transit Gateway, Internet Gateway, NAT Gateway, NACLs, security groups, GWLB, ILB, Route 53, and Azure DNS.
Foundational knowledge of AI/ML technologies, with experience applying, securing, or positioning AI-driven solutions to improve outcomes within the functional domain.
Strong software design, profiling, and verification skills, with exposure to optimizing systems for scale and performance.

Nice To Haves

Strong experience designing and building distributed systems and SaaS platforms, with a proven ability to develop highly available, resilient, and scalable services in production environments.
Deep understanding of firewalls, network security principles, and core networking protocols, with the ability to troubleshoot complex traffic flows and enforce secure, high-performance connectivity.
Hands-on familiarity with architecting and building Firewall-as-a-Service solutions on major cloud platforms, including AWS, GCP, and Azure, with an understanding of cloud-native networking and security services across each environment.

Responsibilities

Define software design specifications and implement bug-free code using test-driven methodology and modern AI-based coding tools.
Design, develop, and optimize the system, including networking and security features, to support high-performance applications.
Perform unit testing and automation to ensure quality.
Apply strong software design principles and deep troubleshooting expertise to deliver scalable, resilient, and impactful improvements to Zscaler’s Zero Trust Security Services.
Work directly with Engineering Architects, Product Managers, Customers, and Solution Architects to understand customer use cases, review PRDs, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to identify and resolve system-related issues.
Coach and mentor junior team members and ensure the highest level of quality deliverables.