Staff Software Engineer – Backend (Machine Identity Security, SaaS Control Plane)

About CyberArk

CyberArk, a Palo Alto Networks company, is the global leader in identity security, trusted by organizations around the world to secure human and machine identities in the modern enterprise. CyberArk’s AI-powered Identity Security Platform applies intelligent privilege controls to every identity with continuous threat prevention, detection and response across the identity lifecycle. With Identity Security, organizations can reduce operational and security risks by enabling zero trust and least privilege with complete visibility, empowering all users and identities, including workforce, IT, developers and machines, to securely access any resource, located anywhere, from everywhere. Learn more at cyberark.com.

Copyright © 2026 CyberArk Software. All Rights Reserved. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

CyberArk is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to join our Machine Identity Security team, focused on backend systems that power the control plane of our platform. In this role, you will lead the design and evolution of scalable backend services, APIs, and integrations that enable secure machine identity and certificate lifecycle management at scale, supporting high-throughput, low-latency distributed systems handling large-scale request volumes and real-time system interactions.

You will operate at a systems level, shaping how control plane capabilities are built, exposed, and consumed across the platform. This includes defining APIs, managing service interactions, and ensuring reliability under load across distributed environments. This role requires strong technical depth, product awareness, and the ability to guide complex engineering decisions.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and development of backend services and APIs that power the Machine Identity Security control plane
• Own and drive backend architecture and system design for control plane services, with a focus on scalability, reliability, and extensibility
• Define and influence how control plane capabilities are exposed through APIs, SDKs, and integrations
• Build and guide the development of integrations between the control plane and external systems/tools (e.g., Terraform, Ansible, enterprise platforms)
• Design and operate high-throughput distributed systems supporting large-scale, multi-tenant SaaS control plane environments, with a focus on latency, reliability, and data consistency
• Optimize backend services for performance at scale, including request throughput, concurrency, and system efficiency under load
• Partner closely with product, platform, and security teams to evolve control plane functionality and user-facing capabilities
• Drive consistency and best practices across control plane services, including API design, service communication, and data handling
• Diagnose and resolve complex technical issues across distributed control plane services, setting patterns for others to follow
• Mentor engineers and contribute to raising the technical bar through design reviews and technical leadership
• Drive improvements in development workflows, CI/CD pipelines, and engineering standards
• Leverage modern AI-assisted development tools (e.g., Claude AI) to enhance engineering productivity, code quality, and system design workflows
• Contribute to evolving engineering practices that incorporate AI-assisted development responsibly, with attention to security, correctness, and maintainability

#LI- HA1

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience
• 8+ years of professional experience in software development, with demonstrated ownership of complex backend or control plane systems
• Strong experience building backend services and APIs using Java (primary); Go experience is a plus
• Deep experience designing and scaling distributed systems and microservices architectures
• Hands-on experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP), ideally in SaaS environments
• Strong system design expertise, including API design, performance optimization, and scalability patterns
• Experience building or operating systems under real production load, including high request throughput, concurrency, and performance optimization at scale
• Experience building and supporting APIs, SDKs, and integrations used by internal and external customers
• Experience with data streaming, messaging systems, or real-time processing (e.g., Kafka)
• Experience with CI/CD, containerization (Docker), and orchestration (Kubernetes)
• Familiarity with identity, authentication, or security systems (SAML, OAuth, certificate management) is a plus
• Experience or familiarity with AI-assisted development tools (e.g., Claude AI, GitHub Copilot) and an understanding of their role in modern engineering workflows
• Ability to critically evaluate AI-generated code and outputs, ensuring accuracy, security, and alignment with system design principles
• Ability to influence technical direction, mentor engineers, and drive alignment across teams
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to operate effectively in a collaborative, fast-paced environment

CyberArk is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected Veteran status. 

The salary range for this position is $181,000 – $225,000/year, plus bonus, which will be based on the employee’s performance and equity. Base pay may also vary considerably depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The compensation package includes a wide range of medical, dental, vision, financial, and other benefits.