Principal Software Development Engineer

Start free →

Or apply yourself on the official page →

About the role

Zscaler (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 at Zscaler. Role We are looking for a Principal Software Development Engineer to join our team. This is a Hybrid role, reporting to the Senior Director, Software Engineering in the ZPA department. You will lead the architecture, deployment, and evolution of large-scale Generative AI platforms and intelligent agent systems in production. As a hands-on technical leader, you will design high-performance AI systems that are scalable, secure, observable, and production-ready, while building critical platform components and partnering across multidisciplinary teams to deliver reliable AI capabilities at scale. What you’ll do (Role Expectations) • Build and maintain MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers to standardize secure interactions between LLMs, agents, enterprise tools, APIs, databases, and local resources • Design and deploy high-performance containerized Generative AI workloads in production using Docker, Kubernetes, model quantization, and KV-cache optimization to reduce latency and memory footprint • Define engineering standards, architectural patterns, and best practices for building robust enterprise AI systems 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) • Foundational understanding of AI/ML technologies and experience leveraging, securing, or positioning AI-driven solutions to optimize outcomes within your functional domain • Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience • 10+ years of software e

View the official posting →