Staff Software Engineer (AI-Core)

TL;DR

Staff Software Engineer (AI-Core): Design and implement backend APIs and services for a scalable agentic AI platform that enables agents to run engineering work with secure identity, delegated access, orchestration, and governance. Focus on building distributed systems and secure authentication/authorization patterns, observability for agent behavior, and safety controls for tool calls and human-in-the-loop approvals.

Location: San Francisco, California

Salary: $194,000 — $267,000 USD (annual base)

Company

Okta builds trusted identity infrastructure that helps organizations securely adopt AI.

What you will do

• Design and implement backend APIs and services for an agentic AI platform.
• Build agent identity and machine-to-machine authentication, including credential management and delegated access flows.
• Create an agent knowledge base and memory layer for retaining context across sessions.
• Develop observability for agents (tracing, cost tracking, audit logs, dashboards) to debug production behavior.
• Implement governance and safety (policy enforcement on tool calls, content filtering, PII protection, human-in-the-loop approvals).
• Build orchestration for multi-step agent workflows with state persistence and error recovery.

Requirements

• 5+ years of software engineering experience building production backend systems.
• 1+ years of exposure to AI/ML or agentic applications.
• Strong proficiency in backend languages such as Python, TypeScript/Node.js, Go, or similar.
• Hands-on experience designing and operating distributed systems (APIs, microservices, container orchestration, serverless).
• Security-conscious mindset for credential handling and trust boundaries; familiarity with OAuth, OIDC, or modern auth patterns.
• Comfort operating in ambiguous, fast-moving environments where abstractions are still evolving.

Culture & Benefits

• Hybrid work arrangement.
• Annual base salary range plus equity (where applicable), bonus, and comprehensive health benefits.
• 401(k), flexible spending account, and paid leave including PTO and parental leave.
• In-person onboarding experience.