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 Staff Software Development Engineer to join our Emerging Tech team.

This role is hybrid and based in our San Jose, CA office three days a week, reporting to the VP, Software Engineering- AI Security.

You are going to engineer the high-performance backbone of our AI platform, enabling secure access to all AI applications. The primary focus for this role is to develop a secure, low-latency infrastructure service optimized for both sub-millisecond speeds and extreme resilience. You will build an intelligent security intermediary, designed to inspect and secure AI traffic flows between users and LLMs at scale.

What you’ll do (Role Expectations)

• Design, implement, and optimize high-performance web proxy services and build and maintain low-latency, high-throughput networked systems

• Develop robust services using Go, with the option to utilize Rust or C where appropriate

• Work extensively with socket programming, HTTP/1.1 through HTTP/3, and TLS / mTLS

• Optimize performance related to concurrency, memory management, CPU usage, network I/O, and connection handling while ensuring system reliability, fault tolerance, and security

• Collaborate with AI/ML, platform, and infrastructure teams to review code, mentor engineers, and contribute to architectural decisions

Who You Are (Success Profile)

• You thrive in ambiguity, comfortable building the path as you walk it and seeing ambiguity as raw material to build something meaningful.

• You act like an owner, operating with integrity and navigating seamlessly between high-level strategy and hands-on execution.

• You are a problem-solver who seeks out challenges because you are energized by finding solutions that deliver the biggest impact.

• You are customer-obsessed, building deep empathy for internal and external customers and championing their needs from start to finish.

• You operate with urgency, understanding that speed and quality are not mutually exclusive and maintaining a bias for action to deliver high-impact results.

What We’re Looking for (Minimum Qualifications)

• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience

• Strong proficiency in Golang is preferred, though Rust or C experience is acceptable

• Deep understanding of network programming including sockets, TCP/UDP, and connection pooling

• Strong knowledge of HTTP and TLS internals with experience building high-performance, low-latency systems

• Solid understanding of concurrency and parallel programming with experience debugging complex production issues

What Will Make You Stand Out (Preferred Qualifications)

• Experience building AI infrastructure, gateways, or proxies

• Familiarity with gRPC, load balancing, reverse proxies, zero-copy I/O, and kernel networking optimizations

• Experience with Linux internals, performance profiling tools, and exposure to distributed systems and cloud-native architectures

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:

$129,500—$185,000 USD

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 Future of Work strategy, 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.