Senior Manager, Software Development Engineering - Control Plane

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 Senior Engineering Manager to join our team. This is a hybrid role based in Bangalore (3 days a week in office), reporting to the Vice President of Software Development in the Engineering department. You will work on the control plane for the Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA) and ZDX products, as well as the Zscaler Virtual Service edge product. In this role, you will lead the technical execution and strategic direction to ensure high availability and scalability for these critical security offerings. What you’ll do (Role Expectations) - Lead and mentor a high-performing team with a focus on end-to-end ownership, encompassing design, AI-driven development, qualification, and deployment - Oversee the design of autonomous, independently deployable services using modern frameworks to ensure a scalable and modular control plane - Manage CI/CD pipelines, container orchestration via Kubernetes and Docker, and Infrastructure-as-Code to streamline delivery and operations - Ensure high availability and system stability by implementing resilience patterns, monitoring service health, and resolving complex performance bottlenecks - Partner with architects and product managers to define service boundaries, enforce API standards, and align technical execution with business goals 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 degree in Computer Science or a related field with extensive software experience, including at least 2 years in a leadership or management role - Hands-on expertise in microservices architecture, RESTful APIs, and asynchronous messaging frameworks such as Kafka or RabbitMQ - Advanced proficiency with containerization and orchestration using Docker and Kubernetes, including experience with public cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, or GCP - Strong proficiency in SQL/NoSQL databases, distributed system design patterns, and modern security protocols such as OAuth 2.0 and JWT What Will Make You Stand Out (Preferred Qualifications) - Experience implementing AI-driven predictive scaling, anomaly detection, or intelligent log analysis within high-availability cloud con