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.

Role

We are looking for a Principal Software Engineer to join our Platform Convergence team. This is a hybrid role based in either San Jose, CA or Bellevue, WA (3 days a week), reporting to the Sr. Director of Software Engineering within the Engineering department. You will bring your vision and passion to a team of architects and engineers building the world’s largest cloud security platform. You will help organizations worldwide harness speed and agility through a cloud-first strategy and a robust multitenant architecture.

What you’ll do (Role Expectations)

Lead, design, and implement scalable, high-performance backend services and APIs using Go while integrating with PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, and Redis

Ensure code quality through unit, integration, and performance testing while monitoring and optimizing system performance

Mentor junior engineers to foster their growth and lead code reviews to uphold high engineering standards

Partner with external teams to deliver integrated solutions and ensure seamless system functionality across the platform

Drive project success by contributing to Agile/Scrum processes, including sprint planning and retrospectives

Who You Are (Success Profile)

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.

What We’re Looking for (Minimum Qualifications)

12+ years of experience with proficiency in Go or Java, including expertise in concurrency, parallelism, GRPC, and Protobuf

Skilled in building large-scale distributed systems, RESTful API design, and web frameworks like Gin and Echo

Hands-on experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and cloud platforms such as AWS, GCP, or Azure

Solid understanding of SQL and NoSQL databases along with CI/CD pipeline implementation

Exceptional problem-solving skills and attention to detail for designing robust technical solutions

What Will Make You Stand Out (Preferred Qualifications)

Experience with systems languages like Rust or C/C++, particularly in performance-critical environments

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