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 troublesho