Sr. Staff Software Development Engineer (C Programming & Networking)

Confirmed live in the last 24 hours

Zscaler

Bangalore, IND

Hybrid

Posted April 2, 2026

Job Description

About Zscaler

Zscaler accelerates digital transformation to ensure our customers can be more agile, efficient, resilient, and secure. As an AI-forward enterprise, we are constantly pushing the envelope, leveraging the world’s largest security data lake to power our cloud-native Zero Trust Exchange platform. This innovation protects our customers from cyberattacks and data loss by securely connecting users, devices, and applications in any location.

Here, impact in your role matters more than title and trust is built on results. We say, impact over activity. We seek innovators who actively use AI to amplify their impact and who thrive in an environment where we leverage intelligent systems to stay ahead of evolving threats. 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 value high-impact, high-accountability with a sense of urgency where you’re enabled to do your best work and embrace your potential. If you’re driven by purpose, thrive on solving complex challenges, and want to be part of the team that’s helping to secure the AI age, we invite you to bring your talents to Zscaler and help shape the future of cybersecurity.

Role

We are looking for a Sr Staff Software Development Engineer to join our Central Authority team. This role is a hybrid position based in Bangalore, reporting to the Sr. Director, Application Engineering - Central Authority.

You will work on the control plane for the Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA) product, which has redefined how security services are delivered in the cloud. Bring your vision and passion to our team of cloud architects and software engineers who are enabling organizations worldwide to harness speed and agility with a cloud-first strategy.

What you’ll do (Role Expectations)

Contribute to the design, development, and optimization of control path features in Cloud Infrastructure
Develop and own components of a large-scale distributed system with a focus on scalability
Use AI-powered tools for advanced problem solving and engineering efficiency
Mentor junior engineers to foster technical growth within the team

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)

Bachelor's or Master’s Degree in Engineering or Computer Science
8+ years of experience in C programming along with proven experience in Go or Rust
Strong knowledge of networking protocols including DNS, HTTP, TCP/IP, and SSL/TLS, as well as authentication protocols like LDAP, SAML, and OAuth
Advanced knowledge of PostgreSQL and FreeBSD or Linux systems internals
Strong fundamentals in high-performance computing, distributed systems, event-based programming, memory optimization, and fault tolerance

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