Sr Software Engineer; Layer Security & Proxy

# Sr Staff Software Engineer (Layer 7 Security & Proxy)
Zscaler  
· zscaler.com Category:
Security Engineering

Location:

Santa Clara, California, USALevel:
Staff / Principal## Quality of life

What the posting states. Hover or tap a perk to see the line it came from.
* Learning budget
* Equity* 8 weeks parental leave
* Retirement match
* Unlimited PTOZscaler (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 eWe are looking for an Sr Staff Software Development Engineer (Layer 7 Security Proxy) to join our team. This is a hybrid role (minimum 3 days a week in Santa Clara, CA office), reporting to the Director, Software Development Engineering in the Zero Trust Exchange department.

This architect role is essential to provide technical leadership for the ZIA proxy architecture, with a strong focus on advanced Layer 7 protocols and SSL inspection. You will help improve the quality of code shipped to production by driving sound architectural decisions, implementing innovative solutions, and raising the overall engineering bar for the team. Additionally, you will play a key role in modernizing the ZIA code base by addressing technical debt, fixing existing issues, and rewriting components where necessary.

Ultimately, this role is critical for supporting and accelerating the delivery of key proxy roadmap features on a strong and scalable foundation.

What You’ll Do (Role Expectations)
Support end-to-end QUIC/HTTP/3 and HTTP/2 proxy and TLS/SSL architecture in ZIADefine and evolve ZIA proxy architecture

Partner with Product Management and engineering on solution design, trade-offs, and end-to-end delivery of core ZIA functionality

Establish reference architectures and design patterns for ZIA components and integrations

Provide technical leadership, mentoring, and architectural governance across virtual and product teams

Who You Are (Success Profile)
You thrive in ambiguity, comfortably building the path as you walk it and viewing dynamic environments as the raw material to create something meaningful.

You are customer-obsessed, building deep empathy for both internal and external users while anchoring your decisions in solving real-world problems.

You are driven by innovation, bringing deep curiosity to complex technical challenges and constantly seeking better, more secure, and scalable solutions.

You think at scale, connecting your daily work to the larger mission to build solutions that support a high-growth, global organization.

You lead with integrity by holding yourself and others to high standards of accountability and building trust through consistent, transparent action.

What We’re Looking for (Minimum Qualifications)
Foundational understanding of AI/ML technologies and experience leveraging, securing, or positioning AI-driven…