Secure Every Identity, from AI to Human
Identity is the key to unlocking the potential of AI. Okta secures AI by building the trusted, neutral infrastructure that enables organizations to safely embrace this new era. This work requires a relentless drive to solve complex challenges with real-world stakes. We are looking for builders and owners who operate with speed and urgency and execute with excellence.
This is an opportunity to do career-defining work. We're all in on this mission. If you are too, let's talk.
We’re redefining Privileged Access Management (PAM) from the ground up, purpose-built for Cloud, SaaS, Databases, Containers, and any virtualized environment. Our mission is to simplify and secure workforce access with seamless, secure-by-default workflows that adapt dynamically to modern infrastructure. We eliminate standing privileges, enforce least privilege, and embed Zero Trust principles into every access workflow by default.
About the RoleWe are seeking a Staff Backend Engineer to serve as the core technical anchor and senior Individual Contributor (IC) for our newly established engineering pod in India. At the P4 level, your primary sphere of influence will be at the team level—taking ownership of complex, ambiguous problems and defining how to solve them cleanly, securely, and efficiently.
In this role, you will lead by example through hands-on architecture, high-velocity coding, and end-to-end execution. You will drive the implementation of secure database and network device connectors (routers, switches, firewalls) on top of our core Zero Standing Privileges (ZSP) platform. You will work closely with our local Technical Team Lead to elevate the pod’s engineering craft, acting as a technical multiplier for mid-level developers while ensuring tight architectural alignment with our global team.
What You’ll Be DoingExecution & Technical Impact- End-to-End Ownership: Consistently design, code, debug, test, monitor, and deploy performant backend services and connector plugins in Go.
- Define the "How": Take well-defined product goals and ambiguous technical challenges, break them down into modular technical designs, and execute them with minimal oversight.
- Component Architecture: Design reliable, scalable components for database scraping and network protocol management (SSH, Telnet, SNMP) using spikes, proof-of-concepts, and telemetry to back up architectural decisions.
- Guardian Support & Incident Ownership: Actively participate in global on-call rotation. Demonstrate system-level understanding to troubleshoot complex incidents, perform root-cause analysis, and build remediation automation.
- Drive Team Velocity: Identify tech debt, streamline CI/CD pipelines, improve observability/alerting, and establish technical documentation to keep the team moving fast over the long term.
- Risk Management: Proactively spot technical risks, dependency gaps, and performance bottlenecks in your team's projects before they impact delivery.
- Technical Mentorship: Elevate the team's craft by conducting thorough, constructive code reviews, establishing best practices in Go, and pairing with P2/P3 engineers.
- Global Collaboration: Partner with global Technical Leads to review major design proposals, manage dependencies, and ensure local execution matches global architecture strategy.
- 7+ years of software engineering experience, with 3+ years spent building high-scale, cloud-native backend systems.
- Proven Staff-Level (P4) Attributes: Demonstrated ability to independently own large tasks end-to-end, influence technical decisions across a team, and elevate the performance of surrounding engineers.
- Domain & Protocol Expertise: Experience in Privileged Access Management (PAM), Identity & Access Management (IAM), or deep networking infrastructure. Familiarity with credential management, asset discovery, or agentless communication patterns.
- Hands-on Go Proficiency: Strong engineering skills in Go (or deep expertise in C++/Rust/Java with a proven record of mastering Go quickly).
- Distributed Systems & Networking: Hands-on experience with networking protocols (SSH, Telnet, TCP/IP), database security, microservices, and asynchronous event-driven systems.
- Cloud & Operational Toolkit: Familiarity with AWS, Kubernetes, Docker, CI/CD automation, and modern telemetry/observability tools.
- Multiplier Mindset: High empathy, humility, and clear communication skills with a focus on sharing knowledge, soliciting feedback, and driving a positive engineering culture.
- Direct experience at domain leaders in security/PAM such as CyberArk, Delinea, or similar IAM space companies.
- Experience working with Graph databases (e.g., ArangoDB) or policy engines (e.g., OPA).
- Contributions to open-source infrastructure projects or technical blogging.
- Language: Go
- Infra: AWS, Serverless, Kubernetes
- Data: Postgres (RDS), ArangoDB (NoSQL)
- DevOps: GitHub Actions, Docker, Terraform, Helm
L1-Hybrid
P24965_3499455
The Okta Experience
- Supporting Your Well-Being
- Driving Social Impact
- Developing Talent and Fostering Connection + Community
We are intentional about connection. Our global community, spanning over 20 offices worldwide, is united by a drive to innovate. Your journey begins with an immersive, in-person onboarding experience designed to accelerate your impact and connect you to our mission and team from day one.
Okta is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, marital status, age, physical or mental disability, or status as a protected veteran. We also consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and convictions records, consistent with applicable laws.
If reasonable accommodation is needed to complete any part of the job application, interview process, or onboarding please use this Form to request an accommodation.
Notice for New York City Applicants & Employees: Okta may use Automated Employment Decision Tools (AEDT), as defined by New York City Local Law 144, that use artificial intelligence, machine learning, or other automated processes to assist in our recruitment and hiring process. In accordance with NYC Local Law 144, if you are an applicant or employee residing in New York City, please click here to view our full NYC AEDT Notice.
Skills Required
- 7+ years of software engineering experience
- 3+ years building high-scale, cloud-native backend systems
- Staff-level ability to independently own complex work, influence technical decisions, and elevate other engineers
- Experience with Privileged Access Management, Identity and Access Management, or deep networking infrastructure
- Strong Go proficiency, or deep expertise in C++, Rust, or Java with demonstrated ability to learn Go quickly
- Experience with SSH, Telnet, TCP/IP, database security, microservices, and asynchronous event-driven systems
- Familiarity with AWS, Kubernetes, Docker, CI/CD automation, and telemetry or observability tools
- Strong communication, empathy, humility, mentoring, and collaboration skills
- Experience with CyberArk, Delinea, or similar IAM/PAM companies
- Experience with graph databases such as ArangoDB or policy engines such as OPA
- Contributions to open-source infrastructure projects or technical blogging
Okta Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Okta and has not been reviewed or approved by Okta.
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Healthcare Strength — Health coverage spans medical, dental, vision, mental-health support, and income protection, complemented by preventive care options and wellness resources. These elements indicate robust coverage for both routine needs and more complex situations.
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Parental & Family Support — Policies include paid parental leave, adoption and surrogacy assistance, and fertility and family‑building benefits. Caregiving resources and flexible arrangements help employees navigate family responsibilities.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Flexible or unlimited PTO, separate sick time, paid holidays, and a company Wellbeing Week provide multiple avenues for time away. This breadth supports rest, recovery, and work‑life balance.
Okta Insights
What We Do
Okta is the leading independent identity provider. The Okta Identity Cloud enables organizations to securely connect the right people to the right technologies at the right time. With more than 7,000 pre-built integrations to applications and infrastructure providers, Okta provides simple and secure access to people and organizations everywhere, giving them the confidence to reach their full potential. More than 10,000 organizations, including JetBlue, Nordstrom, Siemens, Slack, T-Mobile, Takeda, Teach for America, and Twilio, trust Okta to help protect the identities of their workforces and customers.
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