Sr. Staff Software Engineer (C/C++ & Networking)

Zscaler•San Jose, CA

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

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. Staff Software Development Engineer to join our Zero Trust Exchange department. This is a hybrid role based in San Jose (3 days per week in-office), or may remotely based in the United States, reporting to Sr. Manager, Software Development Engineering. The Zscaler Client Connector (ZCC) team plans to modularize existing code into individual and separate libraries so that they can be better integrated into cross-platform releases, well unit tested and shared with other teams within the company. We are looking for engineers with C/C++ skillset who can work on this ambitious project. What you’ll do (Role Expectations) Modularize existing and new ZCC code into separate libraries Write well maintained and unit-testable code Use state-of-the-art technologies for better scalability and memory safety Who You Are (Success Profile) 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. You adapt to what’s needed, navigating seamlessly between high-level strategy and hands-on execution. 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 operate with urgency. You understand that in a high-growth environment, speed and quality are not mutually exclusive. You have a relentless focus on execution and a bias for action, delivering high-impact results quickly to win for the customer and the team. You are a pragmatic builder. You are obsessed with creating, iterating, and shipping. You aren't afraid to roll up your sleeves and build the first version yourself, balancing the drive for technical excellence with the need to deliver value to users quickly. You champion simplicity. You are skilled at distilling complex problems, user needs, and technical concepts into clear, simple, and actionable plans. You are a precise communicator who brings clarity and focus to every interaction.