Director, Software Development Engineering
TLDR
Lead the gateway/datapath engineering organization while driving the technical strategy and execution for critical dataplane capabilities that impact customer experience.
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 Director, Software Engineering to join our team. This is a hybrid role based out of our San Jose HQ (minimum 3 days a week on Tue, Wed, Thu), reporting to the VP, Engineering for the Zero Trust Branch (Zero Trust Exchange) department.
In this role, the Director of Software Engineering will lead the gateway/datapath engineering organization, owning the architecture, delivery, and operational excellence of high‑performance, highly reliable traffic processing systems. This role drives the technical strategy and execution for critical dataplane capabilities, ensuring scalable, secure, and observable performance that directly impacts customer experience and platform stability.
What you’ll do (Role Expectations)
- Set technical direction and architecture for the gateway/datapath, driving scalable, high-performance designs while balancing across considerations such as latency, throughput, resiliency, and cost
- Lead and grow the engineering organization, hiring and developing a strong high performing team, and building a culture of accountability, execution, and continuous improvement
- Drive delivery of critical dataplane capabilities, translating business priorities into clear roadmaps, milestones, and measurable outcomes, and consistently shipping high-quality releases
- Own operational excellence for production systems, improving reliability, observability, incident response, and SLO/SLI discipline to meet availability and performance targets
- Partner cross-functionally with Product, QA, Security, SRE, and peer engineering teams to align priorities, manage dependencies, and ensure end-to-end customer impact
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. You adapt to what’s needed, navigating seamlessly between high-level strategy and hands-on execution.
- You are customer-obsessed. You build deep empathy for the customer—both internal and external—and anchor your decisions in solving their real-world problems. You champion their needs from start to finish, knowing their success is our success.
- You are a positive force. You approach hard problems with constructive energy and a 'can-do' spirit that is contagious, inspiring your team to stay focused on the solution.
- You operate with urgency. You understand that in a high-growth environment, speed and quality are not mutually exclusive. You have a relentless focus on execution and a bias for action, delivering high-impact results quickly to win for the customer and the team.
What We’re Looking for (Minimum Qualifications)
- 15+ years of software engineering experience, including 7+ years leading engineering teams delivering complex, production-grade systems
- Proven experience building and operating high-performance gateway/datapath or networking systems (e.g., L4–L7 proxies, firewalls, VPN/tunneling, packet processing, routing/switching, traffic steering) with strong fundamentals in performance and reliability
- Demonstrated ability to set technical strategy and drive execution across multiple workstreams, with a track record of shipping impactful capabilities on predictable timelines
- Strong production ownership experience: operating mission-critical services, driving SLOs/SLIs, incident management, root-cause analysis, and continuous reliability improvements
- Excellent cross-functional leadership and communication skills, able to align engineering, product, and operations stakeholders around priorities and tradeoffs
What Will Make You Stand Out (Preferred Qualifications)
- Strong experience designing, building, and operating SD-WAN datapaths and control/data plane interactions (overlay networking, tunnel encapsulation, traffic steering, QoS, path selection, failover, and telemetry)
- Experience delivering gateway/datapath capabilities in cloud-native, multi-tenant environments, including robust observability and automated safe rollout strategies
- Strong experience with routing and switching fundamentals and implementations (e.g., BGP/OSPF, ECMP, VRFs, VLANs) in high-scale production environments
#LI-Hybrid
#LI-CM3
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.
At Zscaler, we are committed to building a team that reflects the communities we serve and the customers we work with. We foster an inclusive environment that values all backgrounds and perspectives, emphasizing collaboration and belonging. Join us in our mission to make doing business seamless and secure.
Our Benefits program is one of the most important ways we support our employees. Zscaler proudly offers comprehensive and inclusive benefits to meet the diverse needs of our employees and their families throughout their life stages, including:
- Various health plans
- Time off plans for vacation and sick time
- Parental leave options
- Retirement options
- Education reimbursement
- In-office perks, and more!
Learn more about Zscaler’s Future of Work strategy, hybrid working model, and benefits here.
By applying for this role, you adhere to applicable laws, regulations, and Zscaler policies, including those related to security and privacy standards and guidelines.
Zscaler is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all individuals. We strive to create a workplace where employees are treated with respect and have the chance to succeed. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy or related medical conditions), age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. See more information by clicking on the Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal link.
Pay Transparency
Zscaler complies with all applicable federal, state, and local pay transparency rules.
Zscaler is committed to providing reasonable support (called accommodations or adjustments) in our recruiting processes for candidates who are differently abled, have long term conditions, mental health conditions or sincerely held religious beliefs, or who are neurodivergent or require pregnancy-related support.
Zscaler is a leader in zero trust security, providing a cloud-native platform that enables organizations to secure users, applications, and data while driving digital transformation. Our Zero Trust Exchange platform leverages advanced AI and the largest security data lake to combat cyber threats, reducing complexity for enterprises and enhancing their operational resilience.
- Founded
- Founded 2007
- Employees
- 500+ employees
- Industry
- Internet Software & Services