Senior Software Engineer - Identity & Authorization Platform
WFA Digital Insight
As the demand for specialized software engineers continues to soar, with a 25% increase in postings for identity and access management professionals in the past year, ClickHouse is poised to revolutionize the digital landscape with its cutting-edge technology. With its recent recognition on the Forbes Cloud 100 list and an impressive growth rate, ClickHouse is an attractive destination for top talent. To succeed in this role, candidates should possess a unique blend of technical expertise, particularly in designing and implementing authentication and authorization services, and a deep understanding of the evolving remote work landscape. Before applying, candidates should be prepared to showcase their proficiency in systems languages, experience with distributed systems, and a passion for innovative problem-solving.
Job Description
About the Role
The Senior Software Engineer position at ClickHouse is a pivotal role that involves designing and building the platform services that power authentication, authorization, and audit across ClickHouse Cloud. This is a unique opportunity to be part of a team that is committed to transforming how companies use data. The ideal candidate will have a passion for identity and access management and a proven track record of building production backend systems at scale.As part of the Platform Auth team, the successful candidate will be responsible for providing tools, processes, and expertise to create a unified access management experience. This will involve collaborating closely with engineering teams to simplify and standardize engineering patterns in the space. The role is remote, offering the flexibility to work from anywhere in the United States.
ClickHouse is one of the most innovative and fast-growing private cloud companies, with more than 3,000 customers and an impressive ARR growth rate of over 250 percent year over year. The company's sustained momentum has been validated by a $400M Series D financing round, and its customer base includes established brands such as Meta, Cursor, Sony, and Tesla.
What You Will Do
- Design and build platform services for authentication, authorization, and audit across ClickHouse Cloud
- Develop a unified RBAC/ReBAC service, token issuance, and session handling
- Create SDKs that product teams can embed to make authorization decisions
- Model permissions and access control primitives, including resources, roles, relationships, and policies
- Ship libraries and APIs that other engineers can build against
- Implement protocol-level support for SAML, SCIM, OIDC, OAuth2, and MFA/passwordless flows
- Own integrations for enterprise SSO and provisioning
- Build an audit and authorization-decision telemetry pipeline
- Partner with product engineering teams to migrate bespoke auth implementations onto the shared platform
- Design APIs that make adoption straightforward
- Carry the platform on-call rotation and own production reliability for critical systems
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to drive the company's mission forward
What We Are Looking For
- Minimum 4+ years of experience building production backend systems at scale
- Comfort with at least one systems language (Go, Rust, C++) and one application language (TypeScript, Python)
- Hands-on experience designing and implementing an authentication or authorization service
- Working knowledge of SAML, SCIM, OIDC, and OAuth2 at the protocol level
- Experience designing APIs and SDKs that other engineers depend on
- Experience operating distributed systems at scale, including caching strategies and multi-region concerns
- Familiarity with identity vendors as building blocks for a larger platform
- Strong production debugging instincts and a high bar for systems that are easy to develop against
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills
Nice to Have
- Experience building or contributing to a Zanzibar-style authorization system
- Experience designing a multi-tenant permission model that meets real customer requirements
- Experience shipping an SDK that product teams across an org have adopted
- Knowledge of cloud-based identity and access management solutions
- Experience with DevOps practices and tools
Benefits and Perks
- Competitive salary and equity package
- Comprehensive health insurance and retirement plan
- Flexible PTO and remote work arrangements
- Professional development opportunities and access to cutting-edge technologies
- Recognition and reward for outstanding performance
- Collaborative and dynamic work environment
- Access to mental health resources and employee assistance programs
- Annual budget for conferences, training, and education
How to Stand Out
- Ensure your resume and cover letter highlight specific examples of designing and implementing authentication and authorization services.
- Be prepared to discuss your experience with systems languages, such as Go or Rust, and application languages like TypeScript or Python.
- Familiarize yourself with the company's technology stack and be ready to ask informed questions during the interview process.
- Showcase your problem-solving skills by providing examples of complex issues you've resolved in previous roles.
- Demonstrate your knowledge of SAML, SCIM, OIDC, and OAuth2 protocols and how you've applied them in real-world scenarios.
- Prepare to discuss your experience with distributed systems, including caching strategies and multi-region concerns.
- Highlight any experience you have with cloud-based identity and access management solutions and DevOps practices.
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