About Tailscale
Tailscale is making safe connection effortless by delivering software that makes it easy to securely interconnect people and their devices, no matter where they are. From hobbyists to multinational corporations, teams of every size use Tailscale each day to protect their networks, share access to internal tools, and more. We're building a future for the Internet that's easy, sensible, and safe, like it used to be. Founded in 2019 and fully distributed, we're backed by Accel, CRV, Insight, Heavybit, and Uncork Capital.
We’re seeking a talented software engineer, specializing in security and infrastructure, to help grow our product security team. We’re looking for people who can move Tailscale forward while making it safer to use. The abilities to think on your feet, collaborate with highly technical teams, and be comfortable working asynchronously are essential.
Key Responsibilities
- Design and build security controls across diverse layers (e.g., cloud platforms, OS, Kubernetes, networks, CI/CD) to defend against sophisticated adversaries and insider threats.
- Improve the security properties of Tailscale by identifying opportunities for security and privacy features, bug fixes, defense-in-depth, and implementing them across our codebase.
- Audit Tailscale infrastructure for technical security weaknesses, identifying mitigations or solutions, and driving them towards resolution.
- Support engineering decisions with threat modeling and security analysis and expertise.
- You will spend 25-50% of your time in this role writing software vs purely operational or governance security responsibilities.
What We Are Looking For
Technical
- Expertise in the security of cloud platforms (e.g., AWS), especially securing multi-cloud networks and infrastructure, and designing cloud agnostic systems
- Familiarity with container security, orchestration security, and authentication/authorization
- Familiarity with internet/web security fundamentals: WAF’s, TLS, PKI, DNS security, etc.
- Proficiency developing in at least one programming language (Tailscale uses Go) and Infrastructure as Code tooling (e.g. Terraform, Ansible)
- Prior experience in a safety-related technical role, e.g.:
- infrastructure security
- security operations
- threat modeling and prioritization
- digital forensics and incident response
- Knowledge of operating system internals and security mechanisms
- Knowledge of common networking protocols
- Act as a Subject Matter Expert during security incidents, focusing on infrastructure-level containment and remediation
Team Fit
- Ability to give and process constructive feedback
- Ability to work independently and collaboratively
- Flexibility to adjust to the dynamic nature of a startup
- Take a risk-based approach to building security controls, balancing your security expertise and broad technical skillsets with practical, usable solutions
As a company, we strive to maintain fair and equitable compensation practices within our team across all roles and all levels. Tailscale's compensation package includes base salary, equity, and comprehensive benefits. The salary range displayed on each job posting represents the target range for a new hire's base salary. Individual offers may vary based on experience and skill set.
Frequently cited statistics show that people who identify with historically marginalized groups are likely to apply to jobs only if they meet 100% of the qualifications. We encourage you to help us break that statistic!
What We Offer
- An inclusive, flexible environment where you can be your authentic self. We recognize the impact of diverse voices and backgrounds on the growth of our people, product, and company. And that flexibility in how and when you work empowers our team to integrate work and life.
- A competitive total compensation package. This includes a base salary, an equity incentive plan and variable commission (for quota-based roles).
- Comprehensive group benefits with no waiting period. Take advantage of coverage for health, vision, dental, and more for you and your family!
- Remote first company—most of our teams work fully remotely. Enjoy a change of scenery wherever you can get wifi, participate in virtual and in-person social events, and leverage our corporate co-working program to visit WeWork (or other similar spaces near you). Some roles require in-office collaboration depending on team needs, which will be clearly noted in the job description.
- Employer-funded retirement contributions. Tailscale will match your retirement contributions dollar-for-dollar, up to a maximum annual employer contribution equal to 0.75% of your eligible compensation.
- Connect with other Tailscalars IRL. Attend our annual company retreat, participate in team off-sites, and collaborate in person with teammates across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Singapore. We support intentional in-person connection through team travel and distributed collaboration.
- Support for your personal and professional development. Grow your career thoughtfully with $1500 USD annually for professional development, or take advantage of mentorship, coaching, and internal promotion opportunities.
- Paid time off and a healthy work-life integration. Our flexible, paid time off program supports you for any situation life throws your way, whether moving homes or travelling the world!
- A build-your-own home office setup. You choose your own company-owned laptop (Mac or PC), receive a monthly home internet reimbursement, and $500 USD to customize your workstation to make it your own.
- Paid parental leave program. We care about your life outside of work and encourage new parents to take advantage of parental leave top-ups (20 weeks for birthing parents, 16 weeks for non-birthing parents).
Tailscale is committed to providing an accessible and inclusive hiring process. If you require an accommodation at any stage of the recruitment process or related to any aspect of this role, please contact your recruiter.
Our hiring process uses AI-assisted tools to help screen and assess candidates. All hiring decisions are made by people.
Please be aware that legitimate emails from Tailscale's talent team will only originate from @tailscale.com, @greenhouse.io, and @interviews.modernloop.io email addresses. For more information about protecting yourself from impersonators and scams, please visit https://tailscale.com/scam-awareness.
Skills Required
- Expertise securing cloud platforms, especially AWS, multi-cloud networks, and infrastructure
- Ability to design cloud-agnostic systems
- Familiarity with container security and orchestration security
- Familiarity with authentication and authorization
- Knowledge of internet and web security fundamentals, including WAFs, TLS, PKI, and DNS security
- Proficiency developing in at least one programming language; Go experience is relevant
- Proficiency with Infrastructure as Code tooling such as Terraform or Ansible
- Prior experience in infrastructure security, security operations, threat modeling, digital forensics, or incident response
- Knowledge of operating system internals and security mechanisms
- Knowledge of common networking protocols
- Ability to act as a subject matter expert during security incidents, focusing on infrastructure containment and remediation
- Ability to give and process constructive feedback
- Ability to work independently and collaboratively
- Flexibility in a dynamic startup environment
- Ability to take a risk-based approach to building practical security controls
Tailscale Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Tailscale and has not been reviewed or approved by Tailscale.
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Fair & Transparent Compensation — Pay is framed as market-competitive across functions and geographies, with compensation bands and ranges frequently described in concrete terms. Salary-range transparency is also emphasized through openly posted ranges and an “equitable total rewards” positioning.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Time off is positioned as flexible, with paid holidays and an extended year-end closure window highlighted. This breadth is presented as enabling meaningful disconnect time rather than narrowly defined PTO only.
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Parental & Family Support — Paid parental leave is described as substantial, including top-ups for an extended period. Family-inclusive health benefits with immediate eligibility are also positioned as supportive for dependents.
Tailscale Insights
What We Do
For teams who want secure, private networks without weeks of setup and configuration, Tailscale makes it easy. Unlike existing corporate VPNs, Tailscale has no upfront cost, minimal latency, and works with their existing services.
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