Sr. Software Development Engineer

About Zscaler

Zscaler is a pioneer and global leader in zero trust security. The world’s largest businesses, critical infrastructure organizations, and government agencies rely on Zscaler to secure users, branches, applications, data & devices, and to accelerate digital transformation initiatives. Distributed across more than 160 data centers globally, the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange platform combined with advanced AI combats billions of cyber threats and policy violations every day and unlocks productivity gains for modern enterprises by reducing costs and complexity.

Here, impact in your role matters more than title and trust is built on results. 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 champion an “AI Forward, People First” philosophy to help us accelerate and innovate, empowering our people to embrace their potential. If you’re driven by purpose, thrive on solving complex challenges and want to make a positive difference on a global scale, we invite you to bring your talents to Zscaler to help shape the future of cybersecurity.

We are looking for a Sr Staff Software Development Engineer. This is a hybrid role based in Bangalore, reporting to the Director, Software Development Engineering.

You will join the Central Authority team working on the control plane for the Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA) product, which has redefined how security services are delivered in the cloud. You will bring your expertise in security protocols and services to a team that built the world’s largest cloud security platform from the ground up.

• Design, develop, and optimize critical control path features within our global Cloud Infrastructure
• Own and scale components of a large-scale distributed system with a focus on high performance and reliability
• Leverage AI-powered tools to drive advanced problem solving and enhance engineering efficiency
• Mentor junior engineers to build technical excellence and maintain high standards across the engineering organization

• You thrive in ambiguity. You're comfortable building the path as you walk it. You thrive in a dynamic environment, seeing ambiguity not as a hindrance, but as the raw material to build something meaningful.
• 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. True ownership involves leveraging dynamic range: the ability to navigate seamlessly between high-level strategy and hands-on execution.
• You are a problem-solver. You love running towards the challenges because you are laser-focused on finding the solution, knowing that solving the hard problems delivers the biggest impact.
• 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 are a learner. You have a true growth mindset and are obsessed with your own development, actively seeking feedback to become a better partner and a stronger teammate. You love what you do and you do it with purpose.

• Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in Engineering or Computer Science with 8+ years of experience in C programming and proficiency in Go or Rust
• Deep technical knowledge of networking protocols including DNS, HTTP, TCP/IP, and SSL/TLS as well as authentication protocols like LDAP, SAML, and OAuth
• Advanced expertise in FreeBSD or Linux systems internals and significant experience with PostgreSQL
• Strong mastery of high-performance computing, distributed systems, event-based programming, and memory optimization
• Proven ability to architect systems with high fault tolerance and scalability in mind