Staff Engineer - API & Cloud Platform

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:

Zscaler is looking for a talented and motivated Staff Engineer - API & Cloud Platform to join our team. This Unified API platform aims to provide a top-notch developer experience and support Zscaler’s current and future products with high availability and scalability. As a Staff Engineer, you will play a crucial role in understanding Zscaler’s array of products (ZIA, ZPA, etc.) to aid in developing a new unified API platform that caters to the evolving needs of Zscaler current and future products.

The successful candidate will actively participate in the development and delivery of a comprehensive suite of public and private APIs, ensuring a unified and efficient developer experience across Zscaler’s offerings. This includes the development of microservices, the enhancement of existing APIs, and the creation of client-side code that integrates seamlessly with various APIs.

This role requires effective collaboration with cross-functional teams and product managers, contributing to the strategic direction to achieve a balance between rapid feature development, timely business launches, and the minimization of technical debt.

Responsibilities:

• Contribute to the architecture and delivery of a unified API and developer platform for ZScaler products, emphasizing standardization, governance, and a seamless developer experience.
• Participate in the innovation and refinement of API development and integration processes, tools, and methodologies across ZScaler's product portfolio.
• Support the creation of a high-performing, distributed API platform, ensuring its high availability, observability, and operability.
• Engage in the development of scalable web and responsive applications, monitor system performance, and proactively troubleshoot and resolve issues.
• Adopt a mindset of service ownership by participating in continuous integration processes, encompassing software provisioning, deployment, testing, and version control, and focus on optimizing system performance to ensure reliability and security.
• Help build and maintain robust relationships with both internal and external stakeholders, contributing to the team’s move towards scalable, secure architectural solutions.
• Assist in mentoring and fostering an inclusive team culture, emphasizing innovation, best practices, and process standardization.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in Computer Science or a relevant field.
• Significant experience (6+ years) in the architecture, design, and development of API frameworks and cloud technologies.
• Strong understanding of API design standards, best practices (e.g., Swagger/OpenAPI 3.0, REST, JSON), and API-first design principles.
• Familiarity with evaluating open-source and proprietary technologies for workflow automation, developer environment setup, and digital feedback mechanisms.
• Background in message brokers, caches, queues, and pub/sub concepts.
• Proficiency in at least one programming language (Java, C++, Go, Rust, etc.) with a solid track record of development experience.
• Experience with container technologies (Kubernetes, Docker, etc.) and cloud computing platforms (AWS, GCP, etc.).
• Proven ability to collaborate with product managers on external-facing products and roadmap development.
• Excellent problem-solving abilities, analytical skills, and a practical approach to complex business challenges.
• Effective communication skills for engaging with cross-functional teams within ZScaler.