Principal Software Engineer

See yourself at Twilio

Join the team as Twilio’s next Principal Software Engineer for Identity & Security Products, where you'll shape the future of our authentication, verification, and identity solutions that protect millions of users globally.

About the job

This position plays a pivotal role in supporting our growing Identity and Security product suite consisting of Authy, Verify and Lookup. We're investing in exceptional technical leaders like you to accelerate innovation and drive customer impact in an increasingly complex security landscape.

We're seeking an accomplished Principal Engineer who will work directly with our head of engineering, bringing hands-on technical depth, strategic vision, and a passion for building seamless, secure experiences. You'll thrive in this role if you excel at tackling complex technical challenges, making system-wide architectural decisions, while never losing sight of the customer impact of your work.  The security of our customers' users will be in your hands!

Responsibilities

In this role, you’ll:

• Drive technical excellence by designing, implementing, and optimizing highly scalable distributed systems that power Twilio's Identity and Security products

• Architect and build secure, reliable solutions that protect users against evolving threats while maintaining frictionless experiences

• Partner closely with engineering leadership to define and execute technical roadmaps, making critical technical decisions that balance innovation with reliability

• Lead incident response, root cause analysis, and remediation efforts, applying a methodical approach to solving complex production issues

• Proactively identify opportunities for system improvement, security enhancements, and performance optimization across our Identity and Security portfolio

• Advocate for thoughtful balance between feature development and technical debt reduction to ensure long-term system health

• Mentor engineers across multiple teams, fostering a culture of technical excellence, ownership, and continuous learning

• Communicate complex technical concepts effectively to diverse audiences, ranging from engineers to executive, while adjusting your approach based on the audience

• Stay abreast of industry trends and emerging threats in identity and authentication to ensure our products remain at the forefront of security best practices

Qualifications 

Twilio values diverse experiences from all kinds of industries, and we encourage everyone who meets the required qualifications to apply. If your career is just starting or hasn't followed a traditional path, don't let that stop you from considering Twilio. We are always looking for people who will bring something new to the table.

*Required:

• 10+ years of experience building and operating highly scalable, distributed systems with a focus on security, reliability, and performance

• Strong hands-on engineering skills and willingness to dive deep into code to solve complex problems

• Demonstrated expertise in designing and implementing resilient, fault-tolerant systems that can scale to millions of users

• Experience making high-impact technical decisions and leading cross-team technical initiatives

• Proven track record of driving technical excellence while keeping customer needs at the center of your work

• Strong collaborative skills with the ability to influence and align diverse stakeholders around technical strategy

• Deep understanding of software engineering best practices, including monitoring, observability, and building maintainable systems

• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences

• Experience mentoring engineers and elevating the technical capabilities of teams

• Degree in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent work experience

Desired:

• Experience with identity and access management, authentication protocols, and security architecture

• Familiarity with modern verification techniques including SMS/voice verification, biometrics, and TOTP

• Knowledge of technologies like OAuth, SAML, OIDC, WebAuthn, and zero-trust security principles

• Experience with fraud detection and prevention systems

• Background in developing APIs and SDKs with a focus on developer experience

• Understanding of telecommunications infrastructure and SMS/voice delivery systems

Location

This role will be remote, but is not eligible to be hired in CA, CT, NJ, NY, PA, WA.

Travel 

We prioritize connection and opportunities to build relationships with our customers and each other. For this role, you may be required to travel occasionally to participate in project or team in-person meetings.

What We Offer

Working at Twilio offers many benefits, including competitive pay, generous time off, ample parental and wellness leave, healthcare, a retirement savings program, and much more. Offerings vary by location.

The estimated pay ranges for this role are as follows:

• Based in Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Vermont or Washington D.C. :$184,500.00 - $230,700.00

• Based in New York, New Jersey, Washington State, or California (outside of the San Francisco Bay area): $195,300.00 - $244,200.00

• Based in the San Francisco Bay area, California: 217,000.00 - $271,300.00

• This role may be eligible to participate in Twilio’s equity plan and corporate bonus plan. All roles are generally eligible for the following benefits: health care insurance, 401(k) retirement account, paid sick time, paid personal time off, paid parental leave.

The successful candidate’s starting salary will be determined based on permissible, non-discriminatory factors such as skills, experience, and geographic location.

Applications for this role are intended to be accepted until June 30th 2025, but may change based on business needs.