Senior Software Engineer (API/Middleware)

Proofpoint

About The Position

We’re seeking a Senior Software Engineer to architect and operate backend APIs and data services for the Sender Security and Authentication product group. This is a high-impact role building foundational features used across products – balancing greenfield design with pragmatic modernization, adopting an AI-first mindset to accelerate delivery and quality, and working in a collaborative, high-ownership culture focused on outcomes and excellence. You’ll partner closely with product and cross-functional teams to translate requirements into reliable, observable, and scalable services.

Requirements

Languages: Strong proficiency in Node.js (JavaScript/TypeScript) and/or Go; willingness to learn the other.
API design: Deep experience with REST/gRPC, versioning, schema design (OpenAPI), and backward compatibility.
Security fundamentals: Authentication/authorization (OAuth2/OIDC/SSO/JWT), secrets management, secure coding practices.
Deep authz knowledge: RBAC/ReBac; caching/consistency strategies for check and list operations.
Data expertise: Advanced SQL with PostgreSQL, schema design, performance tuning; familiarity with Redis or similar caching.
Cloud & platform: Hands‑on with AWS (RDS, S3, SNS/SQS), Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform; CI/CD (Jenkins/GitHub Actions or similar).
Reliability mindset: Observability (metrics/tracing/logging), capacity planning, resilience patterns, and on‑call ownership.
Large-scale migrations: Proven track record shipping complex, low-risk migrations in production with observability and rollback.
Collaboration & leadership: Strong code review habits, architectural thinking, and ability to mentor peers.
Education: Must have a minimum of a Bachelor of Science degree from an accredited school in an engineering related field.

Nice To Haves

Internet/mail domain: Familiarity with SMTP/DNS and email authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC).
Platform tooling: API gateways, developer SDKs, feature flags, progressive delivery.

Responsibilities

Design and build scalable, secure REST/gRPC APIs and microservices
Own services end‑to‑end across design, implementation, code reviews, testing, deployment, observability, and on‑call.
Model and optimize data with PostgreSQL (SQL DDL/DML, indexing, query tuning, caching), ensuring performance and cost efficiency.
Operate in AWS/Kubernetes (EKS, RDS/Postgres, S3, SNS/SQS, IAM) with Docker and Terraform.
Establish core platform components that are reusable, extensible, and flexible across product teams.
Collaborate cross‑functionally with product, design, security, and data teams to deliver business outcomes.
Adopt AI‑First practices to speed development, testing, and ops, and safely integrate GenAI where it adds value.