Principal Engineer – Authentication & Authorization (Cybersecurity)

Location: Hybrid, requiring 2–3 days per week on-site at USA - Sunnyvale, CA or USA - Redmond, WA.

Base salary: $195,000–$290,000 per year for U.S. candidates, plus eligibility for bonuses, equity grants, health insurance, 401(k), and paid time off.

Company

CrowdStrike is a cybersecurity company providing an AI-native cloud security platform and large-scale distributed security systems.

What you will do

• Own the technical strategy and roadmap for the Authentication Platform.
• Architect multi-tenant identity infrastructure supporting MSSP models, hierarchical tenancy, delegated administration, cross-tenant access, and fine-grained controls.
• Design and scale authentication and authorization systems handling millions of AuthN and trillions of AuthZ decisions with ultra-low latency and 99.999% availability.
• Lead cross-region AuthN/AuthZ architecture with consistent, secure, performant identity operations and failover guarantees.
• Drive passwordless, continuous authentication, device trust, Zero Trust, and AI-driven adaptive access initiatives, including ABAC, ReBAC, RBAC, and policy engines.
• Define standards for OAuth 2.0, OIDC, SAML, FIDO2/WebAuthn, and token lifecycle management; mentor senior engineers and partner with Product, Security, and Engineering.

Requirements

• 15+ years of software engineering experience, including 6+ years in identity and authentication/authorization systems.
• Deep expertise in multi-tenant SaaS architecture, including MSSP or hierarchical tenancy models and fine-grained access controls at scale.
• Proven experience building and operating high-volume authentication and extremely high-volume authorization systems handling millions of AuthN and trillions of AuthZ decisions with ultra-low latency and 99.999% availability.
• Experience designing cross-region identity and authorization architectures with strong consistency and failover guarantees.
• Experience with internal service-to-service and machine identity systems, as well as external user-facing AuthN/AuthZ systems at hyperscale.
• Hands-on experience or a strong vision for passwordless authentication, device trust, continuous verification, and AI-driven access policies.
• Strong knowledge of ABAC, ReBAC, RBAC, and policy engines including OPA and Cedar.
• Proficiency in Go, Python, or Java; experience with AWS, GCP, or Azure and Kubernetes.
• Ability to own technical strategy, influence across organizations, and communicate with technical and executive audiences; proven use of AI technologies to improve decision-making, workflows, efficiency, and business outcomes.

Nice to have

• Experience with Google Zanzibar-style authorization systems.
• Prior experience with cybersecurity SaaS or MSSP platform products.

Culture & Benefits

• Hybrid work with 2–3 days per week on-site at a posted location.
• Comprehensive physical and mental wellness programs.
• Competitive vacation, holidays, and paid parental and adoption leave.
• Professional development opportunities, employee networks, geographic neighborhood groups, and volunteer opportunities.
• Office culture with world-class amenities, plus health insurance, 401(k), and paid time off.