Staff Software Engineer

Obsidian Security is the leading SaaS security platform, trusted by global enterprises like Snowflake, T-Mobile, and Algolia. We protect 200+ organizations across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, including many of the world’s largest Fortune 1000 and Global 2000 companies. Founded in 2017 and backed by top investors like Greylock, Obsidian was built to close a critical gap: securing SaaS apps where business happens—Microsoft 365, Salesforce, and hundreds more. The company does this by offering a complete SaaS security platform to reduce risk, detect and respond to threats, and prevent breaches at the source. Obsidian was built by leaders who redefined endpoint and identity security at CrowdStrike, Okta, Cylance, and Carbon Black. Now, they’re transforming how SaaS is secured. With AI driving rapid SaaS growth and complexity, agentic AI tools gain privileged access to sensitive data through integrations, creating new risks most security tools miss. Obsidian uniquely detects anomalous OAuth token activity and manages integration risks. Major announcements are on the horizon. Recognizing that SaaS security needs to evolve, Obsidian enables growing organizations to start with a lightweight, prevention-focused browser extension and expand coverage over time. With global momentum, a growing partner ecosystem including SentinelOne, Databricks, and Google Cloud, and a major fundraise ahead, Obsidian is scaling rapidly toward long-term growth and IPO readiness. About the Role - as a Staff Software Engineer at Obsidian, you'll: Own meaningful product and platform work across Obsidian's engineering stack, with scope that extends beyond a single team. This is a generalist role for someone who can move between backend services, data flows, APIs, product features, integrations, and production systems without getting stuck at the boundaries between them, and who can set technical direction that other engineers and teams align to. You'll work on systems that help customers understand activity, risk, and threats across their SaaS environments. Some problems will be well-defined. Others will start as a customer need, a security signal, or a vague product idea that needs technical shape. You should be comfortable turning that ambiguity into an architecture, a multi-team plan, and working software — and comfortable being the person others look to when the technical path forward is unclear. What You'll Do Own features and system architecture from problem definition through production, at a scope spanning multiple teams or the broader platformDesign and build backend services, APIs, data processing workflows, integrations, and product-facing capabilitiesSet technical direction and architectural standards that other engineers and teams build againstWork with product managers, designers, security researchers, and engineers to turn customer needs into shipped softwareImprove the performance, reliability, scalability, and observability of existing systems, and identify systemic risks before they become incidentsMake practical technical decisions with organization-wide impact and explain the tradeoffs clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholdersRaise engineering standards through code reviews, design discussions, mentoring senior and mid-level engineers, and documentationDebug the hardest production issues and drive teams to durable fixes, not just short-term patchesUse AI-powered tools effectively while maintaining high standards for correctness, security, and maintainability What's In It For You Direct, high-leverage impact on a core security product used by enterprises worldwideVariety across backend engineering, data pipelines, SaaS integrations, detection systems, cloud infrastructure, and customer-facing workflowsA chance to define the technical approach to current security problems around SaaS, identity, data movement, and AI usageStrong peers across product, engineering, security research, and go-to-market teamsA fast-moving environment where staff/principal engineers are expected to own ambiguous problems, influence direction across teams, and ship Required Skills & Experience 8+ years of experience in a software engineering role, with a track record of increasing technical scope and impactStrong proficiency in one or more modern programming languages such as Python, Go, TypeScript, or SQLDemonstrated experience designing and building backend services, APIs, distributed systems, data processing workflows, or production product features at scaleDeep understanding of relational databases such as Postgres, including performance and scaling tradeoffsExperience with cloud platforms such as AWS or GCP, including cost, reliability, and architecture tradeoffsFamiliarity with containerization and orchestration technologies such as Docker and KubernetesExperience with event-driven or streaming systems such as Kafka, Redis, or similar technologiesStrong ability to reason about system design, performance, reliability, security, and operational tradeoffs across multiple systems and teamsExperience setting technical direction and leading complex, cross-team technical initiatives without needing formal authorityStrong communication skills in code reviews, design discussions, and cross-functional planning, including with senior stakeholders Desirable Experience Experience with observability and monitoring tools such as Grafana, Prometheus, or similar platformsExperience with CI/CD pipelines and deployment tooling such as GitLab CI/CDDeep exposure to large-scale distributed systems, high-throughput ingestion, or data pipeline architectureBackground or interest in security, SaaS platforms, identity, threat detection, or data protectionExperience working across multiple engineering teams or across geographically distributed teamsExperience mentoring engineers, including senior engineers, and helping teams improve technical practicesExperience evaluating AI-generated code and using AI tools as part of an engineering workflow AI Skills & AI-Native Engineering Expectations As an AI-forward engineering organization, we expect staff/principal engineers to effectively leverage AI tools and understand foundational AI concepts to improve development efficiency, build AI-ready systems, and set the standard for how their teams use AI tools responsibly. AI Engineering Capabilities Leverage AI tools effectively to improve development efficiency and build AI-ready systemsCritically evaluate, test, and refine AI-generated outputs before they reach productionUnderstand core AI/ML concepts such as LLMs, embeddings, vector databases, inference, and evaluationExperience integrating AI/ML APIs or building systems that support AI-driven product workflowsEnsure quality, observability, reliability, security, and performance in systems that use or support AI capabilitiesHelp establish org-wide norms and best practices for AI-assisted engineering Employee BenefitsOur competitive benefits packages are designed to support our employees' well-being, both at work and at home. Our US based employees enjoy:Competitive compensation with equity and 401kComprehensive healthcare with dental and vision coverageFlexible paid time off and paid holiday time off 12 weeks of new parent or family leavePersonal and professional development resourcesFor more details on our US benefits, or for information on our international benefits, please see here.Pay TransparancyPlease note that the base pay range is a guideline and for candidates who receive an offer, the base pay will vary based on factors such as work location, as well as the knowledge, skills and experience of the candidate. In addition to a competitive base salary, this position is eligible for equity awards and may be eligible for sales commission or incentive compensation based on the role or function within the company.At Obsidian, we are proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. We value diversity and hire for talent, passion, and compassion. In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to submit satisfactory proof of identity and legal authorization. If you have a need that requires accommodation, please contact accommodations@obsidiansecurity.comInformation collected and processed as part of any job applications you choose to submit is subject to Obsidian’s Applicant Privacy Policy. Base Salary Range: $169,000 USD - $192,000 USD