Senior Staff Software Engineer

About Ping Identity: 

At Ping Identity, we believe in making digital experiences both secure and seamless for all users, without compromise. We call this digital freedom. And it's not just something we provide our customers. It's something that inspires our company. People don't come here to join a culture that's built on digital freedom. They come to cultivate it. 

Our intelligent, cloud identity platform lets people shop, work, bank, and interact wherever and however they want. Without friction. Without fear. 

While protecting digital identities is at the core of our technology, protecting individual identities is at the core of our culture. We champion every identity. One of our core values, Respect Diversity, reminds us to celebrate differences so you are empowered to bring your authentic self to work. 

We're headquartered in Denver, Colorado and we have offices and employees around the globe. We serve the largest, most demanding enterprises worldwide, including more than half of the Fortune 100. At Ping Identity, we're changing the way people and businesses think about cybersecurity, digital experiences, and identity and access management. 

Position Overview:

We are seeking an experienced and highly motivated Senior Staff Software Engineer (IC4) with a strong focus on security, authentication, and authorization. This role demands a deep understanding of modern authentication protocols, identity lifecycle management, and secure software development. You will play a critical role in building and scaling robust, cloud-native microservices with a security-first mindset.

Responsibilities:

1. Security-Driven Design and Development

- Architect and implement secure authentication and authorization mechanisms using OIDC, OAuth, SAML, JWT, and other modern frameworks.
- Apply encryption standards to secure data in transit and at rest.
- Secure microservice communication and deployments in public cloud environments.

1. Authentication and Authorization Solutions

- Design and implement strategies for user and service authentication/authorization, including social identity provider integrations and multi-factor authentication (MFA).
- Ensure proper scope management, token handling, and cookie security for APIs and web applications.
- Develop identity lifecycle solutions, including provisioning, governance, and deprovisioning.

1. API and Microservices Development

- Design clean abstractions and API specifications focused on secure, scalable integrations.
- Develop polyglot microservices with robust session management, logging, and tracing.
- Contribute to the design of secure and high-performance distributed systems.

1. Testing and Quality Assurance

- Write efficient unit and integration tests to ensure system security and reliability.
- Leverage tools to automate security testing and integrate them into CI/CD pipelines.

1. Operational Reliability and Scalability

- Use Kubernetes and other cloud-native tools to deploy secure, scalable microservices.
- Ensure SLAs for uptime, latency, and throughput across distributed environments.
- Participate in an on-call rotation for autonomous services to maintain operational excellence.

Required Skills and Qualifications:

- Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
- 6+ years of software development experience with a focus on security and identity domains.
- Proven experience implementing secure authentication/authorization mechanisms using OIDC, OAuth, SAML, JWT, or other protocols.
- Expertise in securing microservices communications and deployments in public clouds (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP).
- Strong grasp of web security protocols, including authentication headers, scopes, and cookies.
- Hands-on experience with encryption standards, key management, and secure token handling.
- Proficiency in Kubernetes and cloud-native deployment strategies.
- Strong experience with CI/CD pipelines and integrating security testing into deployment workflows.
- Proficiency in Java SE/Java EE, with solid knowledge of concurrency, collections, streams, and JVM tuning.
- Familiarity with microservices frameworks like JAX-RS.
- Polyglot programming skills, including Python and Node.js, are a plus.
- Experience with identity lifecycle management and governance.
- Knowledge of best practices for managing API security and implementing role-based access controls (RBAC).

Why Join Us?

- Collaborate on cutting-edge technologies in the security and identity domain.
- Work on projects that prioritise secure design and cloud-native scalability.
- Be part of a fast-paced, innovative environment with opportunities for growth and leadership.

Life at Ping:

We believe in and facilitate a flexible, collaborative work environment. We’re growing quickly, but remain true to the innovative, can-do startup values that got us here. Most importantly, we keep hiring talented, smart, fun, and genuinely nice people because that’s who we want to succeed with every day. 

Here are just a few of the things that make Ping special:

• A company culture that empowers you to do your best work.
• Employee Resource Groups that create a sense of belonging for everyone.
• Regular company and team bonding events.
• Competitive benefits and perks.
• Global volunteering and community initiatives

Our Benefits: 

• Generous PTO & Holiday Schedule 
• Parental Leave
• Progressive Healthcare Options
• Retirement Programs
• Opportunity for Education Reimbursement 
• Commuter Offset (Specific locations) 

Ping is the collective sum of all our individual experiences, backgrounds and influences and we pride ourselves in growing and learning together. We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse environment where everyone’s individuality is respected and everyone has an Identity. In recruiting for new colleagues, we welcome the unique contributions you can bring and encourage you to be your best self.

We are an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex including sexual orientation and gender identity, national origin, disability, protected Veteran Status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.