Principal Software Engineer, Identity & AI Governance
GitHub · United States
- Hybrid
- Full-time
- $425,000 / year
- United States
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Job highlights
- Lead identity and AI governance architecture.
- Build secure, scalable authentication and authorization.
- Partner across security, platform, and AI teams.
- Influence design of complex product solutions.
- Ensure highest standards of security and reliability.
About the role
About GitHub
GitHub is the world’s leading platform for agentic software development — powered by Copilot to build, scale, and deliver secure software. Over 180 million developers, including more than 90% of the Fortune 100 companies, use GitHub to collaborate, and more than 77,000 organisations have adopted GitHub Copilot.Locations
In this role you can work from Remote, United StatesOverview
GitHub is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to shape the future of identity and enterprise AI governance across its platform. Identity is a critical foundation for GitHub’s agentic AI ecosystem, enabling secure interactions between users, applications, and AI agents. As AI adoption scales, systems must support trust, authorization, delegation, and policy enforcement at a global scale. In this role, you will lead the architecture of Tier-0 identity and governance services powering authentication, authorization, and policy enforcement for GitHub’s ecosystem. These systems must operate with the highest standards of security, reliability, and scalability, serving billions of requests daily. You will partner across Security, Platform, AI, and Product teams to define strategy, drive architecture, and build the identity and governance control plane for GitHub’s AI-powered future.Responsibilities
- Lead and influence design discussions for the overall system architecture of complex products and solutions, ensuring they meet security and compliance requirements.
- Establish and mentor others in best practices for testing and assuring the quality of solutions, defining success metrics, and producing maintainable code integrated with downstream dependencies.
- Provide technical leadership during code reviews to ensure solutions meet quality standards, are reliable, and are appropriate for the scale of the product feature.
- Partner with stakeholders such as project managers and technical leads to determine requirements for services or complex scenarios, leveraging feedback channels to incorporate insights into future designs.
- Act as an expert on debugging tools and methods, leading proactive and reactive code development to verify assumptions and resolve issues across products and teams.
- Optimize deployments across products to meet business objectives, ensuring solutions are deployed safely and adhere to GitHub's deployment standards.
- Lead efforts to improve development quality and team performance by driving the execution of strategies for developer tooling and automation, sharing best practices, and mentoring others in new tools and strategies.
- Lead the refinement of products through complex data analytics, making informed decisions to enhance engineering products and integrate data-driven insights into the development process.
- Develop and implement strategies for identifying and mitigating technical risks across projects and products. This includes establishing frameworks for assessing potential risks and creating contingency plans to address them proactively.
Qualifications
Required Qualifications
- 11+ years experience in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical discipline with proven experience maintaining and delivering production software coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Go, Ruby, Rust, or Python, OR Associate’s Degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Math, Physics, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field AND 10+ years experience in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical discipline with proven experience maintaining and delivering production software coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Go, Ruby, Rust, or Python, OR Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or related field AND 9+ years experience in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical discipline with proven experience maintaining and delivering production software coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Go, Ruby, Rust, or Python, OR Master's Degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Math, Physics, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field AND 7+ years experience in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical discipline with proven experience maintaining and delivering production software coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Go, Ruby, Rust, or Python, OR PhD Degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Math, Physics, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field AND 5+ years experience in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical discipline with proven experience maintaining and delivering production software coding in languages including, but not limited to, C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Go, Ruby, Rust, or Python, OR equivalent experience.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience building or operating enterprise AI governance platforms, including policy systems, compliance frameworks, and control planes
- Experience designing and implementing identity systems such as authentication services, authorization frameworks, and identity federation
- Familiarity with identity protocols such as OAuth, OIDC, SAML, and SCIM
- Experience with agentic or AI-driven architectures, including systems involving models, agents, or AI APIs
- Strong understanding of enterprise security, compliance, and risk management requirements
- Experience operating cloud-native systems in environments such as Azure, Kubernetes, or AKS
Compensation Range
The base salary range for this job is USD $160,200.00 - USD $425,000.00 /Yr. These pay ranges are intended to cover roles based across the United States. An individual's base pay depends on various factors including geographical location and review of experience, knowledge, skills, abilities of the applicant. At GitHub certain roles are eligible for benefits and additional rewards, including annual bonus and stock. These rewards are allocated based on individual impact in role. In addition, certain roles also have the opportunity to earn sales incentives based on revenue or utilization, depending on the terms of the plan and the employee's role. This position will be open for a minimum of 3 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.GitHub values
- Customer-obsessed
- Ship to learn
- Growth mindset
- Own the outcome
- Better together
- Diverse and inclusive
Manager fundamentals
- Model
- Coach
- Care
Leadership principles
- Create clarity
- Generate energy
- Deliver success
Who We Are
GitHub is the world’s leading AI-powered developer platform with 150 million developers and counting. We’re also home to the biggest open-source community on earth (and 99% of the world’s software has open-source code in its DNA). Many of the apps and programs you use every day are built on GitHub. Our teams are dreamers, doers, and pioneers, leading the way in AI, driving humanitarian efforts around the globe, and even sending open source to Mars (and beyond!). At GitHub, our goal is to create the space you need to do your best work. We’re remote-first and offer competitive pay, generous learning and growth opportunities, and excellent benefits to support you, wherever you are—because we know that people flourish when they can work on their own terms. Join us, and let’s change the world, together.EEO Statement
GitHub is made up of people from a wide variety of backgrounds and lifestyles. We embrace diversity and invite applications from people of all walks of life. We don't discriminate against employees or applicants based on gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, race, religion, age, national origin, citizenship, disability, pregnancy status, veteran status, or any other differences. Also, if you have a disability, please let us know if there's any way we can make the interview process better for you; we're happy to accommodate!Key skills/competency
- Principal Software Engineer
- Identity and AI Governance
- System Architecture
- Security and Compliance
- Production Software
- Cloud-native Systems
- Authentication and Authorization
- Policy Enforcement
- Developer Tooling and Automation
- Data Analytics
Skills & topics
- Principal Software Engineer
- Identity Management
- AI Governance
- System Architecture
- Security
- Compliance
- Authentication
- Authorization
- Cloud Native
- Software Development
- Go
- Rust
- Python
- C++
- Java
- JavaScript
- C#
- Ruby
- Azure
- Kubernetes
- Remote
How to get hired
- Research GitHub's culture: Study their mission, values, recent news, and employee testimonials on LinkedIn and Glassdoor.
- Tailor your resume: Highlight experience in identity, AI governance, system architecture, and production software, using keywords from the job description.
- Prepare for technical interviews: Be ready to discuss complex system designs, security protocols, and coding challenges in languages like Go, Rust, or Python.
- Showcase leadership: Emphasize your experience mentoring teams, influencing technical direction, and driving best practices in your application and interviews.
- Understand the role's impact: Clearly articulate how your skills can contribute to GitHub's agentic AI ecosystem and enterprise AI governance.
Technical preparation
Deep dive into identity protocols like OAuth, OIDC.,Practice designing scalable authentication systems.,Review CI/CD and cloud-native deployment strategies.,Prepare for complex system design discussions.
Behavioral questions
Describe a complex technical challenge you led.,How do you mentor junior engineers on quality?,How do you balance security with scalability?,Share an example of data-driven product refinement.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the salary range for a Principal Software Engineer at GitHub?
- The base salary range for this Principal Software Engineer, Identity & AI Governance role at GitHub is USD $160,200.00 - USD $425,000.00 per year. Actual compensation may vary based on factors like location, experience, and skills.
- What are the key responsibilities for a Principal Software Engineer at GitHub?
- The Principal Software Engineer at GitHub will lead the architecture of identity and governance services, focusing on authentication, authorization, and policy enforcement for GitHub's AI ecosystem. Responsibilities include defining strategy, driving architecture, ensuring security and scalability, and collaborating with cross-functional teams.
- What technical skills are most important for this Principal Software Engineer role at GitHub?
- Strong experience in software engineering, system architecture, and delivering production software is crucial. Preferred qualifications include experience with enterprise AI governance platforms, identity systems (OAuth, OIDC, SAML), agentic AI architectures, and cloud-native systems (Azure, Kubernetes).
- Does GitHub offer remote work for this Principal Software Engineer position?
- Yes, this Principal Software Engineer position is a remote role, allowing you to work from anywhere within the United States.
- What is the application process like for a Principal Software Engineer at GitHub?
- While specific details vary, GitHub typically looks for strong technical skills, leadership experience, and cultural fit. Expect to tailor your resume to highlight relevant experience and prepare for technical interviews focusing on system design and coding.
- What is GitHub's approach to AI and governance for this role?
- GitHub is a leader in AI-powered developer platforms. This role is central to shaping the future of identity and enterprise AI governance, ensuring trust, authorization, and policy enforcement within their AI ecosystem.
- What kind of team will I be working with as a Principal Software Engineer at GitHub?
- You will partner closely with Security, Platform, AI, and Product teams. This collaborative environment is designed to define strategy and build the control plane for GitHub's AI-powered future.