Principal Software Engineer (Control Path)

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 Principal Software Engineer, Control Path to join our team. This is a hybrid role in our San Jose office, reporting to the Senior Director, Software Development Engineering in the Engineering department. We are expanding our existing control path and looking for a software engineer to help drive the development of new features and enhanced functionality. You will play a pivotal role in evolving our architecture to ensure it meets the demands of our growing user base. What you’ll do (Role Expectations) - Define software design specifications and implement bug-free code using test-driven methodology and modern AI-based coding tools - Look for opportunities to refactor existing code in the interest of maintainability and reusability - Collaborate closely with cross-functional engineering teams including Security, UI, Platform, Analytics, and Quality Assurance - Partner with Product Management to drive detailed product requirements - Diagnose complex customer issues and take full ownership of issue resolution Who You Are (Success Profile) - You thrive in ambiguity by comfortably building the path as you walk it, viewing a dynamic environment as a meaningful opportunity to innovate. - You act like an owner with a deep passion for the mission, bringing a strong bias for action and seamlessly navigating between high-level strategy and hands-on execution. - You are a problem-solver who runs toward complex challenges, energized by discovering solutions that deliver maximum architectural impact. - You are a high-trust collaborator who is ambitious for the collective team, actively participating in a challenge culture centered on candid, respectful feedback. - You are a learner with a growth mindset, continuously seeking feedback to improve yourself, empower your teammates, and work with clear purpose. What We’re Looking for (Minimum Qualifications) - Demonstrated curiosity and active exploration of AI tools, with a proven history of integrating new technologies to enhance daily workflows and augment problem-solving - 12+ years of software development experience building large-scale, reliable, and scalable applications, preferably using Python or Golang - Hands-on experience with popular public cloud services infrastructure offerings such as AWS, GCP, or Azure - Solid knowledge of cloud networking, specifically Transit Gateway, IGW, NATGW, NACL, security groups, GWLB, ILB, Route53, and Azure DNS - Strong software design, profiling, and verification skills with exposure to optimizing for scale and performance What Will Make You Stand Out (Preferred Qualifications) - Experience implementing AI-driven automation or predictive scaling algorithms within distributed control path architectures - Strong distributed systems and SaaS development experience - Deep knowledge of Firewalls and Networking protocols #LI-Hybrid #LI-AJ1 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 $182,000—$260,000 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