Principal Software Development Engineer

Zscaler•San Jose, CA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Zscaler is a pioneer and global leader in zero trust security. The world’s largest businesses, critical infrastructure organizations, and government agencies rely on Zscaler to secure users, branches, applications, data & devices, and to accelerate digital transformation initiatives. Distributed across more than 160 data centers globally, the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange platform combined with advanced AI combats billions of cyber threats and policy violations every day and unlocks productivity gains for modern enterprises by reducing costs and complexity. Here, impact in your role matters more than title and trust is built on results. 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 champion an “AI Forward, People First” philosophy to help us accelerate and innovate, empowering our people to embrace their potential. If you’re driven by purpose, thrive on solving complex challenges and want to make a positive difference on a global scale, we invite you to bring your talents to Zscaler to help shape the future of cybersecurity. Role We are looking for a Architect Software Development Engineer to join our ZIA Cloud team. This is a hybrid role, reporting to the Senior Director, ZIA Core Engineering. You will be responsible for ensuring ZIA software runs seamlessly in Public Cloud Infrastructure. You will leverage your deep expertise in network security and public cloud environments to drive hands-on development and provide technical leadership. What you’ll do (Role Expectations) Practice technical leadership in design, development, and optimization of firewall/SWG platforms in Cloud Infrastructure Define and 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. 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.

Requirements

Proven experience in designing and implementing networking security software and public clouds infrastructure
Deep understanding of VPCs, Subnets, Route Tables, Security Groups, NACLs, Transit Gateway, Elastic Load Balancing, Route 53, and Network Firewall WAF
Proven experience in designing how FW/SWG solutions integrate with or extend native cloud services
Demonstrated success in designing, optimizing, and troubleshooting high-throughput, low-latency network security products
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field

Nice To Haves

Proficiency with Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, or GCP Deployment Manager for provisioning and managing cloud infrastructure
Mastery of TCP/IP, DNS, Http(s), VPN technologies (IPSec, SSL VPN), NAT, and load balancing
Knowledge of BSD/Linux operating systems, virtualization technologies, and DPDK or similar kernel bypass techniques

Responsibilities

Practice technical leadership in design, development, and optimization of firewall/SWG platforms in Cloud Infrastructure
Define and 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