Back to jobs
tags.new

Principal Engineer (CC)

San Francisco, CA

About OPAQUE
OPAQUE is the Confidential AI company. Born from UC Berkeley’s RISELab, we solve the core challenge blocking AI adoption at scale: security concerns about data leaks or compliance violations. OPAQUE provides verifiable privacy and governance for AI so organizations can safely run models, agents, and workflows on their most sensitive data. Its Confidential AI platform delivers verifiable runtime governance backed by cryptographic proof that data, models, and agent actions remain private, governed, and compliant with approved policies throughout every AI workflow. This extends traditional data governance tools with real runtime verification, enabling teams to responsibly deploy AI using their most valuable proprietary data, and move from pilot to production 4-5X faster. Customers and partners include ServiceNow, Anthropic, Encore Capital, Accenture, and leaders across high tech, financial services, insurance, and healthcare.

Learn More at Opaque.co

Read about our Values at Opaque.co/about

 

ABOUT THIS JOB

As a Principal Engineer at Opaque Systems, you will play a critical role in shaping the architecture and driving the technical direction of the core OPAQUE platform, with a focus on the confidential computing infrastructure. You’ll collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to design, develop, and scale solutions for confidential AI. This is an opportunity to solve complex technical challenges while making a significant impact on the development of next-generation technologies.

Key Responsibilities

  • Lead the design, architecture, and implementation of core software components for Opaque’s confidential computing platform
  • Design, implement, and maintain end-to-end attestation services and infrastructure
  • Lead integration of TEE technologies (CNCF CoCo, hyperscaler CC offerings) with OPAQUE's platform
  • Design and operate multi-cloud CC deployments at the Kubernetes platform layer — runtime classes, TEE node pools, custom admission controllers, and service mesh security for confidential workloads
  • Define and enforce cryptographic standards: key derivation, signing schemes, secure channel establishment, and secrets management within TEE boundaries
  • Drive code quality and security review standards across the security engineering team — review at the correctness and side-channel level, not just design
  • Collaborate with product, engineering, and AI teams to deliver scalable, high-performance, and secure solutions.
  • Drive technical excellence across the engineering team, setting best practices for coding, architecture, testing, and deployment.
  • Mentor and guide junior engineers, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and technical innovation.
  • Work closely with stakeholders to define technical requirements and ensure alignment with business objectives.
  • Optimize system performance, scalability, and fault tolerance while ensuring the security and privacy of data in all phases of computation.
  • Stay ahead of industry trends and advancements in confidential AI and confidential computing
  • Act as a key decision-maker in technical strategies, contributing to both tactical and strategic goals.

Qualifications

  • 10+ years of software engineering experience, with a focus on distributed systems, cloud computing, or security.
  • Deep hands-on experience in confidential computing / TEE technologies (e.g., CNCF CoCo)
  • Fluency in attestation protocols: attestation quote generation and verification, RATS (RFC 9334), EAT/EAR standards
  • Systems programming at production scale in Go and/or Rust; kernel modules, ioctl interfaces, or TEE SDK integration code a strong plus
  • Cloud-native platform depth — Kubernetes operators, custom admission controllers, runtime classes, and TEE workload orchestration across multiple clouds
  • Cryptographic engineering fundamentals: key hierarchies, AEAD schemes, digital signatures, and the ability to reason about threat models at the hardware boundary
  • Expertise in system architecture and design, with a strong understanding of scalability, fault tolerance, and performance optimization.
  • Proven track record of delivering large-scale, high-performance, and secure software systems.
  • Strong communication skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across technical and non-technical teams.
  • Bonus: Track record of open-source contribution or standards engagement: CNCF CoCo, Project Oak, IETF RATS, or equivalent

Apply for this job

*

indicates a required field

Resume/CV*

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Cover Letter

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Education

Select...
Select...

What date are you able to start (MM/DD/YYYY)

Select...

Please share anything else you want us to know, such as your motivation to apply or additional context for your application.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Opaque Systems’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Select...
Select...
Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305
Page 1 of 1
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury
Select...

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.