Senior Director, Software Development Engineering

Senior Director, Software Development Engineering

San Jose, California, USA

Zscaler is a pioneer and global leader in zero trust security. The world’s largest businesses, critical infrastructure organizations, and government agencies rely on Zscaler to secure users, branches, applications, data & devices, and to accelerate digital transformation initiatives. Distributed across more than 160 data centers globally, the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange platform combined with advanced AI combats billions of cyber threats and policy violations every day and unlocks productivity gains for modern enterprises by reducing costs and complexity.

Here,
impact in your role matters more than title and trust is built on results. 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 champion an “AI Forward, People First” philosophy to help us accelerate and innovate, empowering our people to embrace their potential. If you’re driven by purpose, thrive on solving complex challenges and want to make a positive difference on a global scale, we invite you to bring your talents to Zscaler to help shape the future of cybersecurity.

We are looking for a Senior Director, Engineering to join our team. This is a hybrid role based in San Jose, CA (3 days a week), reporting to the VP, Engineering within the Engineering department. You will lead key initiatives for our flagship Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) platform, driving a culture of execution and quality. You’ll be the go‑to leader for balancing service stability with high‑impact feature innovation on a global scale.

• Leading and scaling engineering teams, driving a culture of execution and quality while balancing service stability with feature innovation.
• Serving as a strong mentor and coach to develop engineering talent and nurture technical excellence within the organization.
• Collaborating closely with product management to define, prioritize, and deliver on the strategic ZPA product roadmap.
• Partnering with customer‑facing organizations, including support and customer success, to improve service delivery and drive better outcomes.
• Evangelizing the ZPA product vision and strategy internally and externally, representing Zscaler engineering at all levels.

• 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. True ownership involves leveraging dynamic range: the ability to navigate seamlessly between high‑level strategy and hands‑on execution.
• You are a problem‑solver. You love running toward the challenges because you are laser‑focused on finding the solution, knowing that solving the hard problems delivers the biggest impact.
• You are a high‑trust collaborator. You are ambitious for the team, not just yourself. You embrace our challenge culture by giving and receiving ongoing feedback—knowing that candor delivered with clarity and respect is the truest form of teamwork and the fastest way to earn trust.
• You are a learner. You have a true growth mindset and are obsessed with your own development, actively seeking feedback to become a better partner and a stronger teammate. You love what you do and you do it with purpose.

• BS/MS in Computer Science or a related engineering/technical field.
• 15+ years of progressive experience in technical engineering roles, including significant experience in a senior leadership capacity.
• Deep domain expertise in Secure Web Gateway (SWG), L4‑L7 Proxy technologies, distributed systems, and authentication/authorization mechanisms.
• Proven experience operating high‑performance, large‑scale network security platforms within…