Senior Manager Software Engineering

Zscaler•San Jose, CA

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

Zscaler is seeking a Senior Manager Software Engineering to lead and grow a team of engineers within the Exposure Management & Security Operations department. This hybrid role (3 days in office, San Jose, CA) focuses on delivering high-quality, scalable products in a security-focused environment. The ideal candidate will combine technical expertise with people leadership, including talent development, mentoring, and removing roadblocks. This manager will partner with product and engineering leadership to shape strategy, improve processes, and ensure the platform can reliably process petabytes of data for customers. The role emphasizes ownership, collaboration, trust through outcomes, and a challenge culture.

Requirements

Foundational understanding of AI/ML technologies and experience leveraging, securing, or positioning AI-driven solutions to optimize outcomes within your functional domain.
5+ years of engineering management experience, including managing engineers across multiple skill levels (Software Engineer through Principal) in a mature organization.
Direct technical experience with enterprise web applications and high-performance data processing systems, with the ability to meaningfully support the team in a technical capacity (Ruby/Rails).
Proven track record of building, growing, and retaining high-performing engineering teams, including recruiting, setting measurable goals, and holding teams accountable to delivery commitments.
Strong communication skills with the ability to present technical information to diverse audiences, from individual contributors to executive leadership and external customers.
Experience driving department-level initiatives and process improvements, including technology evaluations, development process optimization, and cross-functional collaboration with product and engineering leadership.

Nice To Haves

Experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS) and Infrastructure-as-Code practices, with a strong understanding of scalability, reliability, and operational excellence.
Experience in the cybersecurity domain, particularly with MDR platforms focused on threat detection, incident response, or processing large-scale security telemetry data.
A track record of mentoring and developing other engineering managers, not just individual contributors, and demonstrated ability to raise the leadership bar across an engineering organization.

Responsibilities

Build, grow, and develop a high-performing engineering team by developing quality engineers, conducting meaningful 1:1s, setting clear measurable goals, and fostering individual ownership and career growth from Software Engineer through Principal.
Drive delivery and accountability by tracking team performance against requirements, schedules, and commitments while holding the team accountable and removing roadblocks that impede progress.
Partner with product management and engineering leadership to build cross-functional relationships and deliver high-quality results to customers.
Champion engineering excellence beyond your team by shepherding department-wide initiatives including process improvements, technology evaluations, architecture reviews, and development of system-level performance metrics.
Provide hands-on technical guidance by leveraging direct experience with enterprise web applications and high-performance data processing to support the team technically, participating in architecture and design reviews, and identifying technical gaps with practical solutions.