Principal Engineer, Secure AI Gateway

Join the Future of Security at Netskope

Netskope (NASDAQ: NTSK) is a leader in modern security and networking for the cloud and AI era. We secure and accelerate cloud, data, and AI in real time, everywhere. Thousands of customers, including more than 30 of the Fortune 100, trust the Netskope One platform, its Zero Trust Engine, and the powerful NewEdge network to gain full visibility and control without performance trade-offs.

At Netskope, our technology is driven by our greatest strength: our people. We believe that belonging powers innovation, and success is both personal and organizational. We embrace differences in gender, ethnicity, beliefs, ability, and identity, creating an environment where every voice is heard and respected. We empower our employees to bring their authentic selves to work, grow their careers through continuous education and mentorship, and lead with transparency and curiosity. Join a team where you belong, where you are encouraged to be an entrepreneur, and where together, we continue to redefine the landscape of security.

Visit Careers at Netskope to learn more. Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Please note, this team is hiring across all levels and candidates are individually assessed and appropriately leveled based upon their skills and experience.

About the role

Netskope Cloud Data Plane engineers architect and design one of the most scalable, high-performance cloud API routing and orchestration platforms in the world, processing 10+ Gbps of traffic, performing intelligent routing and policy application across LLM providers and AI services using advanced techniques to detect threats and apply dynamic policies, all at line rate.

What's in it for you

In this role you will help lead the Netskope AI Security Gateway - a platform that empowers enterprises to securely unlock the transformative power of Generative AI and LLMs at scale. You will conduct technical research, collaborate with internal engineering and product management teams, collaborate with engineers in US, Taiwan and India to design, develop and integrate innovative security capabilities into our platform. You'll own architectural decisions that affect how the platform routes, transforms, secures and inspects API traffic across LLM providers, AI services and cloud platforms.

What you will be doing

• Design, architect and develop high performance, scalable cloud-based security systems to detect and mitigate threats on LLM APIs and Generative AI applications

• Setting and driving the overall architectural design and strategic technical directions for the Cloud API Gateway platform

• Define and drive best practices around scalable microservices, distributed systems, APIs and secure data flows across multiple LLM providers (Layer 3 to Layer 7)

• Lead and inspire a world-class engineering organization, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration and continuous improvement

• Partner with product management to understand customer requirements, lead the team and collaborate with other engineering teams to design and implement high-quality solutions

• Build scalable and performant services that route, transform and secure various API protocols (LLM APIs, REST, gRPC, etc.), using advanced data structures and algorithms in GoLang. Perform deep inspection of LLM API traffic in real-time to detect and mitigate attacks on AI services

• Design and implement dynamic routing algorithms for multi-provider LLM orchestration, intelligent request transformation, load balancing, and failover logic

• Integrate with security features including DLP, Threat protection, and UEBA for LLM-specific attack pattern recognition, content inspection and policy application

• Implement sophisticated credential and token management algorithms for secure multi-provider orchestration

• Perform architectural reviews, code reviews and mentor junior engineers

• Stay abreast of emerging GenAI and cybersecurity technologies, proactively propose innovative solutions

Required skills and experience

• 10 to 12+ years of experience in software engineering, with 5+ years in architectural or technical leadership role

• Deep expertise in backend engineering using Golang, or similar languages. Ability to review code in GoLang and similar languages, such as C and C++.

• Proven experience designing large-scale, secure and cloud-native systems

• Expertise in building high throughput and low latency data systems, such as networking from Layer 3 to Layer 7, web proxy, load balancing, request routing, API gateways, security, monitoring and observability, distributed systems, data processing, etc.

• Expertise in dealing with complex architectural problems across multiple products and at the same time handling design issues at module level

• Strong understanding of computer architecture – multi-threading, CPU scheduling, memory management with practical knowledge of Linux at system/kernel level

• Hands-on experience with Docker and Kubernetes, specifically debugging workloads, networking, and storage in on-prem or hybrid environments

• Hands-on experience handling complex and ambiguous customer issues. Persistence in accomplishing objectives despite uncertain situations, obstacles, and setbacks

• Excellent communication skills and the ability to position views and arguments appropriately to win support. The ability to negotiate skillfully in tough situations to win concessions without damaging relationships

• Confidence under pressure, a mature EQ, and the ability to show a high degree of self control while maintaining a positive attitude despite adversity

• Willingness to work with a globally distributed team in different time zones, including US, Taiwan and India.

• The ability to represent the company in appropriate external forums and industry events promoting technical thought leadership

• Startup experience in a fast-paced environment is a plus

Additional Skills and Knowledge

• Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills using debuggers like gdb and tools like Valgrind

• Proponent of TDD, knowledge of various unit testing frameworks

• Experience with LLM APIs, Generative AI platforms, and multi-provider orchestration

• Deep packet inspection and real-time content analysis at line rate

• Experience with threat detection, DLP, and security policy enforcement

• Deep knowledge of GenAI and cybersecurity convergence: prompt injection, jailbreak mitigation, LLM-specific threat patterns

• Experience implementing key management and credential handling algorithms

• Integration with security features such as DLP, Threat protection, and UEBA

• Knowledge of emerging GenAI and cloud service security challenges and best practices

Education

• BSCS or equivalent required, MSCS or equivalent strongly preferred

Compensation:

At Netskope, salary is one component of our competitive total rewards package. The salary range for this position is as listed below. This is a national range. For purposes of complying with applicable laws, the range applies to candidates in California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Washington, and other states.

The successful candidate’s starting pay will also be determined based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications, location, and market conditions.

For all sales roles, the posted salary range is the On Target Earnings (OTE) range for the role, which is the sum of base salary and target commission amount at 100% goal achievement.

In addition to salary, candidates may be eligible for other forms of compensation such as participation in a bonus plan (for non-sales roles) and a stock award program. Candidates may also be eligible for a comprehensive health plan and other benefits that can be reviewed at Netskope Benefits site.

Salary Range

$133,500—$272,000 USD

Netskope is committed to implementing equal employment opportunities for all employees and applicants for employment. Netskope does not discriminate in employment opportunities or practices based on religion, race, color, sex, marital or veteran statues, age, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, genetic information, pregnancy (including childbirth, lactation and related medical conditions), or any other characteristic protected by the laws or regulations of any jurisdiction in which we operate.

Netskope respects your privacy and is committed to protecting the personal information you share with us, please refer to Netskope's Privacy Policy for more details.

The application window for this position is expected to close within 50 days. You may apply by filling out the below information, or visiting our Netskope Careers site.