Staff Machine Learning Engineer

About Zscaler

Zscaler accelerates digital transformation so our customers can be more agile, efficient, resilient, and secure. Our cloud native Zero Trust Exchange platform protects thousands of customers from cyberattacks and data loss by securely connecting users, devices, and applications in any location.

Here, impact in your role matters more than title and trust is built on results. We believe in transparency and value constructive, honest debate—we’re focused on getting to the best ideas, faster. We build high-performing teams that can make an impact quickly and with high quality. To do this, we are building a culture of execution centered on customer obsession, collaboration, ownership and accountability. 

We value high-impact, high-accountability with a sense of urgency where you’re enabled to do your best work and embrace your potential. If you’re driven by purpose, thrive on solving complex challenges and want to make a positive difference on a global scale, we invite you to bring your talents to Zscaler and help shape the future of cybersecurity.

Role

We are looking for an experienced Staff Machine Learning Engineer to join our Digital Experience team. This is a hybrid role based in Bangalore, reporting to the Senior Manager, Machine Learning Engineering. This role is critical to shaping the next generation of Digital Experience with world-class tools to identify insights and root causes while enabling advanced agentic AI functionalities. You will bring your vision to a team of architects and security experts who are enabling organizations worldwide to harness speed and agility through a cloud-first strategy.

What you’ll do (Role Expectations)

• Frame high-impact use cases, design agent workflows—including tool use, planning, memory, and context—and build the frameworks for all products

• Evaluate and integrate advances in LLMs/SLMs, retrieval, fine-tuning, and inference optimization to deliver reliable, cost-efficient production features

• Design, implement, and operate microservices that are observable, resilient, and performant, spanning APIs, data pipelines, orchestration, and caching

• Partner with Product, UX, and customers to turn ambiguous problems into measurable wins with clear SLAs, telemetry, and feedback loops

Who You Are (Success Profile)

• You thrive in ambiguity. You're comfortable building the path as you walk it. You thrive in a dynamic environment, seeing ambiguity not as a hindrance, but as the raw material to build something meaningful.

• You act like an owner. Your passion for the mission fuels your bias for action. You operate with integrity because you genuinely care about the outcome. True ownership involves leveraging dynamic range: the ability to navigate seamlessly between high-level strategy and hands-on execution.

• You are a problem-solver. You love running towards the challenges because you are laser-focused on finding the solution, knowing that solving the hard problems delivers the biggest impact.

• You are a high-trust collaborator. You are ambitious for the team, not just yourself. You embrace our challenge culture by giving and receiving ongoing feedback—knowing that candor delivered with clarity and respect is the truest form of teamwork and the fastest way to earn trust.

• You are a learner. You have a true growth mindset and are obsessed with your own development, actively seeking feedback to become a better partner and a stronger teammate. You love what you do and you do it with purpose.

What We’re Looking for (Minimum Qualifications)

• BS in Computer Science or a related field with 5+ years of experience, or an MS/PhD with 6+ years of experience solving real-world problems leveraging AI/ML and distributed systems

• Exceptional problem-solving skills driven by first-principles thinking, with deep expertise in programming, data structures, algorithms, and machine learning

• Proven experience in the full ML model lifecycle, including building, deployment, monitoring, and optimization

• Hands-on experience with modern GenAI stacks such as LangChain/LangGraph, CrewAI, vector stores, RAG, prompts/memory, and evaluators

• Experience designing and operating distributed microservices using Kubernetes/Docker, CI/CD, and observability across AWS, GCP, or Azure, with production-grade code in Python, Go, or Java

What Will Make You Stand Out (Preferred Qualifications)

• Experience fine-tuning and serving proprietary SLMs/LLMs at scale with a focus on latency, cost, safety, and evaluations

• Prior delivery of agentic systems in production, including context engineering and memory management strategies

• Track record of building high-throughput, fault-tolerant systems with clear SLOs

#LI-AN4 #LI-Hybrid

At Zscaler, we are committed to building a team that reflects the communities we serve and the customers we work with. We foster an inclusive environment that values all backgrounds and perspectives, emphasizing collaboration and belonging. Join us in our mission to make doing business seamless and secure.

Our Benefits program is one of the most important ways we support our employees. Zscaler proudly offers comprehensive and inclusive benefits to meet the diverse needs of our employees and their families throughout their life stages, including:

By applying for this role, you adhere to applicable laws, regulations, and Zscaler policies, including those related to security and privacy standards and guidelines.

Zscaler is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all individuals. We strive to create a workplace where employees are treated with respect and have the chance to succeed. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy or related medical conditions), age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. See more information by clicking on the Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal link.

Pay Transparency

Zscaler complies with all applicable federal, state, and local pay transparency rules.

Zscaler is committed to providing reasonable support (called accommodations or adjustments) in our recruiting processes for candidates who are differently abled, have long term conditions, mental health conditions or sincerely held religious beliefs, or who are neurodivergent or require pregnancy-related support.