Sr. Staff Software Development Engineer - Golang + Control Plane

Zscaler (NASDAQ: ZS) accelerates digital transformation so customers can be more agile, efficient, resilient, and secure. The Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange platform protects thousands of customers from cyberattacks and data loss by securely connecting users, devices, and applications in any location. Distributed across 200+ public data centers globally and thousands of private sites at the edge, the SASE-based Zero Trust Exchange is the world’s largest in-line cloud security platform.

We believe the future of work is Human + AI and are building an AI-native enterprise where human potential is amplified by machine intelligence to solve the world’s hardest security challenges. Driven by deep customer obsession, we are committed to the mission, outcome, and to each other. We bring these commitments to life through three core behaviors: ownership and collaboration, trust through outcomes and impact, and a challenge culture with ongoing feedback. Ready to make an impact at the company pioneering security transformation in the AI era? Join us at Zscaler.

Role

We are looking for a Senior Staff Software Development Engineer (C and Go) to join our Engineering team. This is a hybrid role based in Bangalore, (3 days a week in office), reporting to the Senior Manager, Software Engineering.You will work on the control plane for the Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA), ZDX products, which has redefined how security services are delivered in the cloud. 

What you’ll do (Role Expectations)

• Lead, grow, and mentor a high-performing team of 6–12 software engineers, including hiring, performance management, and career development
• Define and execute the technical roadmap ensuring alignment with business goals
• Develop and own components of a large-scale distributed system with a focus on scalability
• Use AI-powered tools for advanced problem solving and engineering efficiency
• Champion observability (metrics, logs, traces, SLIs/SLOs) and partner with SRE, Support, and Customer Success to reduce incidents and improve product quality.

Who You Are (Success Profile)

• You thrive in ambiguity. You're comfortable building the path as you walk it and see ambiguity as the raw material to build something meaningful.
• You act like an owner. Your passion for the mission fuels your bias for action, and you navigate seamlessly between high-level strategy and hands-on execution.
• You are customer-obsessed. You build deep empathy for the customer and anchor your decisions in solving their real-world problems.
• You are driven by innovation. You have a deep curiosity for how things work and are energized by solving complex technical challenges.
• You think at scale. You build solutions and processes that are built to last and support a high-growth, global organization.
• You have a unique blend of experience and interest in systems, architecture, network and software engineering.

What We’re Looking for (Minimum Qualifications)

• 10+ years of software engineering experience, programming in Go or Java
• Expertise in networking protocols and services like DNS, TCP/IP, SSL/TLS.
• Foundational understanding of AI/ML technologies and experience leveraging, securing, or positioning AI-driven solutions to optimize outcomes within your functional domain and experience with agentic AI systems and orchestration workflows
• Familiarity with monitoring tools (Prometheus, Grafana) and debugging complex, large-scale systems
• Deep understanding of Kubernetes (AWS EKS) and container infrastructure along with proficiency in designing high-throughput, low-latency, and horizontally scalable systems,

What Will Make You Stand Out (Preferred Qualifications)

• Hands-on experience with design patterns and frameworks for building control planes, and approaches for state management, reliability, scalability, RBAC etc.
• Experience with gRPC, Protobuf, or similar serialization/RPC frameworks.
• Experience integrating LLM capabilities into developer and control-plane workflows (e.g., RAG, vector stores, gRPC/REST services), with strength in model selection, evaluation, and cost/performance trade-offs

#LI-Hybrid #LI-AN4

At Zscaler, we are committed to building a team that reflects the communities we serve and the customers we work with. We foster an inclusive environment that values all backgrounds and perspectives, emphasizing collaboration and belonging. Join us in our mission to make doing business seamless and secure.

Our Benefits program is one of the most important ways we support our employees. Zscaler proudly offers comprehensive and inclusive benefits to meet the diverse needs of our employees and their families throughout their life stages, including:

• Various health plans
• Time off plans for vacation and sick time
• Parental leave options
• Retirement options
• Education reimbursement
• In-office perks, and more!

Learn more about Zscaler's hybrid working model and benefits  here .

By applying for this role, you adhere to applicable laws, regulations, and Zscaler policies, including those related to security and privacy standards and guidelines.

Zscaler is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all individuals. We strive to create a workplace where employees are treated with respect and have the chance to succeed. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy or related medical conditions), age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. See more information by clicking on the Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal link.

Pay Transparency

Zscaler complies with all applicable federal, state, and local pay transparency rules.

Zscaler is committed to providing reasonable support (called accommodations or adjustments) in our recruiting processes for candidates who are differently abled, have long term conditions, mental health conditions or sincerely held religious beliefs, or who are neurodivergent or require pregnancy-related support.