Senior Manager, Software Development Engineering

Zscaler•San Jose, CA

22h•Hybrid

About The Position

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 Sr. Engineering Manager, API Platform to join our team. This is a hybrid role going into the San Jose, CA office 3 days a week. You’ll be reporting to the VPE for the API Platform team. You will play a pivotal role in delivering scalable, secure, and high-performing platforms and developer tooling to empower our engineering teams. Your focus will be on enhancing our platform’s efficiency, scalability, and developer experience while managing senior technical talent. What you’ll do (Role Expectations) Lead the vision and roadmap for the API Platform and developer tooling, ensuring alignment with organizational goals, technical scalability, and industry best practices Oversee the standardization, design, and governance of APIs, improving developer experiences and productivity across engineering teams and products Manage and coach a team of Senior Staff Engineers and highly skilled technical contributors, fostering a culture of collaboration and professional growth Ensure the delivery of microservices, SDKs, and developer tooling optimized for reliability, availability, and ease of integration across Java, Go, and JavaScript Work closely with Product Management and Security to build scalable and secure solutions that meet unique business objectives 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

8+ years of experience as an engineering leader, including 3+ years managing technical teams for developer tooling, API platforms, or cloud-based systems across multi-language ecosystems including Java, Go, and JavaScript
10+ years of overall software engineering experience, including hands-on proficiency in designing APIs and SDKs for containerized environments like Kubernetes and Docker
Deep understanding of distributed systems concepts such as caching, queues, and pub/sub architectures with cloud service experience in AWS, GCP, or Azure
Advanced understanding of API-first design principles and standards including OpenAPI/Swagger, REST, JSON, and Authn/z
Proven ability to translate technical goals into actionable results via collaboration with product managers and engineering leaders across diverse groups

Nice To Haves

Proven experience in the Cloud Security and Networking domain.
Experience driving engineering practices for workflow automation and developer productivity using open-source or proprietary tools
Proactive advocate of modern engineering practices such as DevSecOps, CI/CD, and Infrastructure-as-Code across large engineering organizations

Responsibilities

Lead the vision and roadmap for the API Platform and developer tooling, ensuring alignment with organizational goals, technical scalability, and industry best practices
Oversee the standardization, design, and governance of APIs, improving developer experiences and productivity across engineering teams and products
Manage and coach a team of Senior Staff Engineers and highly skilled technical contributors, fostering a culture of collaboration and professional growth
Ensure the delivery of microservices, SDKs, and developer tooling optimized for reliability, availability, and ease of integration across Java, Go, and JavaScript
Work closely with Product Management and Security to build scalable and secure solutions that meet unique business objectives