Senior Software Engineer - Authzed

About AuthZed

We are the creators and maintainers of SpiceDB and the authorization infrastructure that companies around the world depend on to keep their engineering teams focused on what matters most—their own product.

We are a Series A company, fixing broken access control with products that eliminate complex permission management while delivering enterprise-scale performance and consistent access control.

We are a fully remote company with employees across the US, Canada, and Europe. We’re a hardworking and close-knit group with a software-driven culture where integrity, mutual trust, and open collaboration drive decision-making.

Company Values

• Agency: Everyone should have the capability, freedom, and confidence to bring about changes to our business and product. Organizational processes exist to clearly define our goals, not restrict how progress is made.
• Collaboration: Success is defined in various dimensions. Without valuing the opinions of others, finding compromises, and sharing mutual trust and respect, you cannot arrive at the best possible solution.
• Open-mindedness: We celebrate the representation of diverse perspectives and backgrounds as a catalyst for creating an inclusive work environment.

About the Role

At AuthZed, we’re building the infrastructure that makes fine-grained authorization possible at scale. As a Senior Software Engineer, you’ll work on SpiceDB and other open-source projects across the AuthZed ecosystem. You’ll tackle challenging problems at the intersection of distributed systems, databases, cloud infrastructure, and authorization—from query planning and execution to performance, scalability, reliability, and operability.

Key Responsibilities

• Build SpiceDB and the AuthZed OSS Ecosystem: Research, design, implement, test, and release features across SpiceDB and other open-source AuthZed projects.
• Champion Quality: Drive best practices in software development, testing, and CI/CD to ensure our platform is robust, scalable, and resilient.
• Operate What You Build: Take end-to-end ownership of your work from development to production operations, and participate in an on-call rotation.
• Problem Solve: Troubleshoot correctness, stability, or performance issues related to statement planning and execution in a complex distributed system.
• Work in the Open: Collaborate with users and contributors, review pull requests, participate in technical discussions, and help evolve our open-source projects and APIs.
• Continuous Improvement: Proactively identify opportunities to optimize processes, streamline operations, and elevate team performance.
• Collaborate and Mentor: Work closely with other engineers, product, and support teams to share knowledge and guide technical strategy.
• Technical Advocacy: Showcase your work through technical documentation, blog posts, and conference talks, representing AuthZed in the engineering community.

What You Bring

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years of software engineering experience using languages like Go, Python, or Java (experience with Go is preferred).
• Strong systems engineering background (distributed systems, operating systems, databases).
• Experience building and debugging complex production systems where correctness, reliability, and performance matter.
• Experience with cloud infrastructure and managing distributed databases in cloud-native environments.
• Hands-on experience with modern software development practices and tools (CI/CD, Docker, Git).
• Strong communication skills with a proven ability to articulate complex technical concepts to diverse stakeholders.
• Proven track record of thriving in a remote-first, cross-time-zone engineering environment.

Nice to Have

• Experience building Kubernetes controllers or operators.
• Deep familiarity with database implementation concepts (compilers, indices, query planning, optimization, materialized views).
• Familiarity with modern authorization systems and access control models (e.g., Google Zanzibar).

Benefits & Perks

• Competitive pay tailored to experience.
• Early-stage startup stock options (equity).
• Comprehensive healthcare and insurance plans (for US team members).
• Fully remote setup with flexible working hours.
• Twice-yearly team offsites focused on bonding and collaboration.