Sr. Staff Software Engineer

San Jose, CA, United States

About Zscaler

Zscaler (NASDAQ: ZS) accelerates digital transformation so that customers can be more agile, efficient, resilient, and secure. The Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange is the company’s cloud-native platform that protects thousands of customers from cyberattacks and data loss by securely connecting users, devices, and applications in any location.

With more than 10 years of experience developing, operating, and scaling the cloud, Zscaler serves thousands of enterprise customers around the world, including 450 of the Forbes Global 2000 organizations. In addition to protecting customers from damaging threats, such as ransomware and data exfiltration, it helps them slash costs, reduce complexity, and improve the user experience by eliminating stacks of latency-creating gateway appliances.

Zscaler was founded in 2007 with a mission to make the cloud a safe place to do business and a more enjoyable experience for enterprise users. Zscaler’s purpose-built security platform puts a company’s defenses and controls where the connections occur—the internet—so that every connection is fast and secure, no matter how or where users connect or where their applications and workloads reside.

Job Description

As a Sr. Staff Software Engineer, you will be working on the requirements, design and code components of a very large scale distributed system with a keen sense for high performance and scalability, troubleshoot issues with  hawkish acumen, work with Operations and Support (as needed) to help manage a healthy cloud and happy customers and at the end of the day – display accountability and a sense of ownership in areas assigned to you.

We develop innovative solutions that are transforming the internet security business, and millions of users rely daily on our service for data protection and comprehensive security. We also provide real-time analytics to our customers for unmatched visibility and maintain a state-of-the-art NOC. The development team works on the complete L1-L7 n/w stack, Zscaler OS, Device Drivers, web filtering, policy enforcement, next-gen firewall, sandboxing, DLP, Digital Experience and mobile user solutions. Being responsive to our customers and delivering industry-leading, mission-critical solutions require precise engineering and a philosophy of continuous improvement- both areas in which Zscaler engineers excel

What you'll be working on...

As a Senior Staff Engineer - Branch Connector, you will play a crucial role in designing, developing and enhancing functionality for ZScaler Zero Trust Branch Connector applications. The Zero Trust Branch Connector provides Zero Trust Security for users and application traffic originating from a remote branch to internet, cloud or another remote branch or data center. The Branch Connector eliminates the network attack surface by establishing direct branch-to-internet and branch-to-private app connections using a full proxy architecture. It also simplifies branch communications by eliminating complex routing, virtual private networks (VPNs), and firewalls while allowing for flexible forwarding and simple policy management by using the proven Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA) and Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) policy framework.

You will be expected to participate in all phases of the product development cycle, from definition, design, through implementation and testing. Develop functional specifications, assess task requirements and scheduling, and participate in the development, debugging and support.

Qualifications

BS or MS degree in CS/CE or equivalent is required

Minimum 10 years software development experience in building large-scale commercial networking and security applications

Strong hands-on programming in C and in depth knowledge in Data-Structures and Algorithms.

Hands on Experience in troubleshooting networking issues using tools like Wireshark, tcpdump, curl, wget etc.

Good Unix/Linux Kernel & file system knowledge

Good working experience in virtual appliance platforms like ESXi Hypervisor, KVM infra

Strong software design concepts - HA, failover redundancy, load balancing, optimizing for scale and performance.

Network device driver development on Linux/FreeBSD

L2/L3 switching -   NIC teaming/bonding , VLANs.

Experience with Linux Embedded OS Development using Yocto Linux.

Experience with package management, integration and development of OSS

Experience writing control plane software to communicate with other daemons/HW components on the physical device.

Experience with Virtual Switching software solns such as OVS, VPP.

Knowledge of networking protocols and services - DNS, HTTP, TCP/IP, SSL/TLS

Effective communication skills

Ability to work with remote teams,  prioritize and meet deadlines

Must be a strong team player , able to work independently, and also mentor and guide junior engineers.

Desired Skills

Experience with FreeBSD based networking solutions.

Experience developing platforms for networking devices .

Experience with software defined networking solutions like SDN, SD-WAN, etc

Experience with developing networking solutions on hardware devices .

Good exposure in developing services on at least one of the cloud platforms - AWS/AZURE/GCP.

#LI-JM1

Zscaler’s salary ranges are benchmarked and are determined by role and level. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations and could be higher or lower based on a multitude of factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

The base salary range listed for this full-time position excludes commission/ bonus/ equity (if applicable) + benefits.

Base Pay Range $178,500—$210,000 USD 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 proud to be an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all of our employees. All qualified applicants will receive consideration 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 characteristics 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. For additional information about the federal requirements, click here .

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.