Staff Software Engineer – Platform (Cloud / Distributed Systems)

TL;DR

Staff Software Engineer – Platform (Cloud / Distributed Systems): Building and scaling platform services for certificate lifecycle management and machine identity at enterprise scale with an accent on distributed systems, security, and infrastructure. Focus on designing high-throughput architecture, evolving API contracts, resolving performance bottlenecks, and implementing resilience patterns.

Location: United States, Hybrid

Salary: $181,300/year - $225,000/year

Company

Global leader in identity security, a Palo Alto Networks company, securing human and machine identities with AI-powered platform.

What you will do

• Lead design and development of scalable backend services for certificate lifecycle management including issuance, renewal, and revocation
• Drive architecture for high-throughput distributed systems handling machine identities at scale
• Define and evolve API contracts and service interfaces across platform components
• Partner with platform, security, and infrastructure teams to build reliable systems
• Identify and resolve performance bottlenecks across application, database, and system layers
• Contribute to system reliability through observability, fault tolerance, and resilience patterns
• Mentor engineers and participate in technical design reviews

Requirements

• 8+ years of software engineering experience with strong backend focus
• Proven experience designing and building distributed systems at scale
• Strong proficiency in Java, Go, or similar backend languages
• Experience with APIs, microservices, and service-oriented architecture
• Deep understanding of system performance, concurrency, and reliability
• Experience with cloud platforms, distributed infrastructure, database systems (SQL/NoSQL), and debugging complex production issues

Nice to have

• Experience with PKI, x509 certificates, or certificate lifecycle systems
• Familiarity with protocols such as ACME, SCEP, or TLS
• Background in security platforms or identity systems
• Experience building control plane or platform-level services

Culture & Benefits

• Discretionary annual bonus and equity
• Wide range of medical, dental, vision, financial, and other benefits
• High-impact environment with experienced engineers
• Opportunity to influence long-term platform direction